Sniper [3.5 Base Class]

[FireInTheSky]

Thanks, that's a really nice analysis. 

And the Creator said, "Be fruitful and multiply ...your crit damage."

[FireInTheSky]

Yeah, yeah, gimme some of dat Thread Necro...


I was just reading through this again, and had a couple ideas for Epic Trick Shots:

• Energetic Shot [Epic]: Some of the damage is Force damage.
• Energetic Shot [Epic]: All of the damage from one attack is of the type you choose at the time of the attack. It can be any of the types for which you've taken the trick previously.
• Energetic Shot [Epic]: Each arrow can be a different type, and all of the damage from that arrow is of the type you choose. Choose each type before rolling any attacks. Each can be any of the types for which you've taken the trick previously.
• Penetrating Shot [Epic]: Ignore 10 additional points of DR, and ranged attacks count as having the [Epic] descriptor for the purposes of overcoming DR.

Anyone have any other ideas?

[Maat Mons]

Okay, I'm rehashing a 3-year-old argument here, but the rule is that bonus damage expressed as dice is not multiplied on a critical hit, but other bonus damage is.  Whether or not it's precision damage has nothing to do with it. 

I don't really object to making an exception.  But it should probably say "Unlike other bonus dice of damage above and beyond a weapon's base damage, the extra damage from this ability is multiplied on a critical hit." 

You can keep the bit about it not being revision damage if you like.  People would tend to assume it is, and there are lots of restrictions on precision damage. 

If you want create an ability that also allows sneak attacks and such to be multiplied on a critical hit, you could model it after the "burst" weapon abilities. 

Critical Precision

Prerequisite: Sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish class feature. 

Benefit: When you score a critical hit when using sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish, you deal even more damage.  For each extra +1d6 damage the ability normally adds, you add an additional +1d10 on a critical hit.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x3, the extra damage is instead +2d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x4, the extra damage is instead +3d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  (And so on, for higher critical multipliers.) 

Normal: The extra damage from sneak attack, sudden strike, and skirmish is not improved on a critical hit. 

Special: This extra damage does not apply to any creature that is immune to the base ability (sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish), unless you have some means of bypassing that immunity.  Likewise, creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits do not take this extra damage either, unless you have some means of bypassing their immunity to critical hits. 

[EjoThims]

Critical Precision

Prerequisite: Sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish class feature. 

Benefit: When you score a critical hit when using sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish, you deal even more damage.  For each extra +1d6 damage the ability normally adds, you add an additional +1d10 on a critical hit.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x3, the extra damage is instead +2d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x4, the extra damage is instead +3d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  (And so on, for higher critical multipliers.) 

Normal: The extra damage from sneak attack, sudden strike, and skirmish is not improved on a critical hit. 

Special: This extra damage does not apply to any creature that is immune to the base ability (sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish), unless you have some means of bypassing that immunity.  Likewise, creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits do not take this extra damage either, unless you have some means of bypassing their immunity to critical hits.

I very well may be stealing this... 

[SorO_Lost]

Benefit: When you score a critical hit when using sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish, you deal even more damage.  For each extra +1d6 damage the ability normally adds, you add an additional +1d10 on a critical hit.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x3, the extra damage is instead +2d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  If the weapon's critical multiplier is x4, the extra damage is instead +3d10 per +1d6 the ability normally adds.  (And so on, for higher critical multipliers.)

I very well may be stealing this... 

The examples imply you use the d10 instead but the phasing of the ability says you add both.

Also imagine Karoti Resin turning 10d6 SA into 30d10 (165 avg) on something like a Keen Scimitar which has a 30% chance to Crit. Snag some levels in Disciple of Dispater to really pump your Crit chance and a level of Rogue to bypass SA immunity and Maat has created an a reliable ubercharger that doesn't need to charge anyone and can instead use Rapid Blitz to jog around the battle field killing everyone in a way an Iaisitsu Master wishes he could.

Edit - This also becomes pretty handy to replace the OP's Class too. Imagine a CL18 Hunter's Eye and Hunter's Mercy on a character using a Deadly Precision Assassinate Karoti Bow while wearing a Bracers of the Hunter, Rogue's Vest, and Gloves of the Shadow Hand. Their next shot from a bow is automatically a Critical Hit with a +214 damage bonus. It's a one hit kill sniper shot that any Ranger can employ.

[Maat Mons]

The examples imply you use the d10 instead but the phasing of the ability says you add both.

I meant for the d10s to be in addition to the d6s.  Sorry if I worded that wrong.  Actually, I was copying the wording of Flaming Burst.  Does that weapon quality not give both the +1d6 and the +d10 on a critical hit? 

And here I was only worrying I'd screw up the interaction with that feat that converts sneak attack dice to d8s. 

Also imagine Karoti Resin turning 10d6 SA into 30d10 (165 avg) on something like a Keen Scimitar which has a 30% chance to Crit.

Kaorti resin has no market price, so I'm not sure how to reliably get a weapon made of it. 

Snag some levels in Disciple of Dispater to really pump your Crit chance

Disciple of Dispater only boosts the crit chance of weapons made of iron or steel. 

and a level of Rogue to bypass SA immunity

I may have worded it incorrectly, but I meant it to work such that the halving of your dice pool from Penetrating Strike would carry over to this feat as well.  So, for example, if you have sneak attack +10d6, and Penetrating Strike is cutting that down to +5d6, the feat would only add +5d10 (for a weapon with a x2 multiplier), not +10d10. 

Also, I endeavored to word the feat such that, in order to get the extra damage, you not only needed the capacity to deal sneak attack damage, but also the capacity to deal extra damage with a critical hit.  Penetrating Strikes only takes care of half of that.