Marksman

Bows, crossbows, rifles and more; ranged weapons come in handy in a lot of situations, especially those where you don’t want to get directly involved in the fighting. That’s where Marksmanship comes into play. A highly trained marksman can hit the shot almost every time, and it’s almost always lethal.

Primary Stats: Dexterity, Constitution

Bonus to Skill Checks: Concentration, Listen, Stealth

Basic Abilities

Opening this talent tree grants you the following powers and abilities.

Sniper’s Mark: You have the ability to mark an enemy. Once you have, so long as it that enemy is within range of your weapon, you always know where it is. No one else can see the mark as it’s a mental mark, but you never lose track of the target, sometimes even if they become invisible or teleport.

Weapon of Choice: While you’re adept at using all kinds of ranged weapons, you have one that you’re better with. Choose one type of ranged weapon, be it a longbow, a hand crossbow, a rifle, a pistol, whatever. You are better with this type of ranged weapon than with any other type. It gives you an advantage when you use it. If this were DnD, you would have a proficiency of +1 with ranged weapons and a +4 with this particular weapon.

Mastery: Mastery is a measure of your overall power and ability in a given talent branch. Each rank raises your ability a bit higher, and grants you greater power and access to more abilities further down the line. You must purchase each rank in order. Each rank is explained in detail below.

Rank 1: Your accuracy is slightly improved and your shots do slightly more damage. In addition, you can use your weapon at ranges that are slightly closer and farther away than you would normally be able to use them, though accuracy goes down the further out of range you are with your weapon. 10 points.

Rank 2: Your accuracy is slightly improved and your shots do slightly more damage. You can use your weapon at ranges that are slightly closer and farther away than you would normally be able to use them, though accuracy goes down the further out of range you are with your weapon. In addition, you can reload slightly more quickly, allowing you to fire more rapidly. 20 points.

Rank 3: Your accuracy is improved and your shots do more damage. You can use your weapon at ranges that are closer and farther away than you would normally be able to use them, though accuracy goes down the further out of range you are with your weapon. In addition you can mark up to three targets with sniper’s mark. You gain a +2 to Dexterity. 30 points.

Rank 4: Your accuracy is greatly improved and your shots do a great deal more damage. You can use your weapon at ranges that are much closer and farther away than you would normally be able to use them, though accuracy goes down the further out of range you are with your weapon. In addition, you can reload more quickly, allowing you to fire more rapidly. 40 points.

Rank 5: Your accuracy is greatly improved and your shots do a great deal more damage. You can use your weapon at ranges that are much closer and farther away than you would normally be able to use them, even using a bow on something that is directly in front of you, or shooting up to a mile farther than you should be able to, though accuracy goes down the further out of range you are with your weapon. You can reload almost instantly. In terms of DnD, reloading has become a free action. You can mark up to 5 different targets with sniper’s mark. You gain a +3 to Dexterity. 50 points.

Marksman Branch Abilities

Critical Shot: Adds a bonus to accuracy and damage when making a shot against a target marked with sniper’s mark. This ability greatly improves your chances of hitting a target for deadly damage instead of extra damage. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 10 points. 

Hunter’s Discipline: You have a chance to recover certain types of ammunition from fallen targets. This won’t work for all types of ammo, but will work very well with crossbow bolts and arrows. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Ranger: You can target and shoot just as easily on the move as you can while being stationary. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 10 points.

Deadly Aim: If you are concealed, stealthed, or invisible and you sneak up behind someone, you do a great deal more damage. This would be the equivalent of doing normal damage to dealing deadly damage. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 25 points.

Eagle Eye: You can easily and clearly see up to 2 miles away in great detail, as though looking through a telescope or binoculars, without any technological help. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 25 points.

Objects in Space: You have excellent special and geometrical recognition. You can make bank shots, ricochet shots, and know pretty much where your enemies are, even if you can’t always see them. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 25 points.

Sniper’s Calm: With a deep breath in battle, you can speed your mind up to slow time down and take careful, steady shots. This only lasts a few moments, but in action could see you sniping more than one target. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 30 points.

Power Shot: With careful aim, you make a shot really count, adding enough force to not only critically wound a target, but stunning or knocking them back. Requires Master Rank 3 and 35 points.

Bullseye: On a target marked with your sniper’s mark, you can now mark a specific area on their body to hit, dealing much more damage, or allowing you to stun, paralyze, or otherwise incapacitate the target. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 35 points.

Unload: You can shoot in massive bursts, sending thousands of shots out in a spray. Imagine you doing that “block out the sun” thing from movies that you see, but by yourself in an instant. Your accuracy is reduced during this, but hell, you’re bound to hit something. This is very difficult and takes a great deal of energy, so you won’t be doing this more than once in a battle, or possibly, more than once a day. Requires Mastery Rank 5 and 50 points.