Just because: Knight Variant: Sharpshooter

[IGTN]

Anything not mentioned as changed is the same as the Knight (E: except for special abilities, in which case table trumps old text).

Hit Die: d8

Class Skills:
Remove: Diplomacy, Knowledge (Nobility)
Add: Hide, Move Silently

Level Special
1 Draw Bead, Bonus Feat
2 Adaptive Shots (Magic), Damage Reduction
3 Energy Resistance, Inclement Weather Shooting
4 Pierce Concealment
5 Bonus Feat, Extended Range (Long)
6 Adaptive Shots (Everything)
7 Superior Covering Fire
8 Track Target
9 Extended Range (Sight), Dimensional Arrow
10 Legend

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Light armor only, no shields. Weapons unchanged.

Draw Bead: As Knight's Challenge, except that you need not announce your action to your target, and it does 1d6 bonus damage per odd class level you've achieved (related prestige classes count), not per class level.

Bonus Feat: Pick: Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot, Sniper, or Zen Archery, at level 1 and again at level 5. At level 5 you may also pick Blitz, instead of the above. If you already have all options, good for you, pick any other Combat feat you qualify for.

Archer's Pride: You take immense pride in your skills and bodily condition. As such, you refuse to change shape, or to use poison, even poisoned arrows. You also refuse to give trophies taken from your kills (such as magic items) to others unless you know they will be well-treated. Doing any of these demoralizes you until you atone, keeping you from using any of your Sharpshooter abilities that require actions.

Adaptive Shots: At 2nd level, your ranged weapons always count as Magic for purposes of overcoming damage reduction and hitting incorporeal targets. At 6th level, all attacks that gain bonus damage from Draw Bead ignore damage reduction and hardness. Additionally, when targeting incorporeal creatures you have drawn a bead on from 6th level up, 50% chances to damage them from different sources (this ability, a magic weapon, and the Ghost Hunter feat), for instance, stack, to 3/4, 7/8, or potentially higher chances to damage incorporeals.

Damage Reduction: When you use Draw Bead and are 2nd level or better, you gain Damage Reduction x/-, where x is half your class level, until the end of your next turn, due to your intense focus.

Energy Resistance: By bracing yourself for attack in lieu of aiming, you may grant yourself energy resistance equal to your class level to any one energy type until you change it as a swift action after third level. You gain your damage reduction as though you used Draw Bead on turns where you change your energy resistance.

Inclement Weather Shooting: At 3rd level, you gain the ability to shoot through inclement weather, even magically altered, as though it were clear. This even applies to effects such as Wind Wall. Go nuts, your entire character can't be countered by a low-level spell.

Pierce Concealment: As long as you know which square your target is in, you do not suffer any miss chance from normal concealment, and only a 20% miss chance from Total Concealment, from 4th level onward.

Extended Range: At 5th level, you can draw a bead on targets out to Long range. At 9th level this increases to allow you to draw a bead on any target you can see.

Superior Covering Fire: You may lay down covering fire using an attack of opportunity out to your first range increment from 7th level onward. Make the attack of opportunity immediately before (interrupting) your enemy's attack of opportunity.

Track Target: At 8th level and up, once you Draw a Bead on a target, you gain the benefits of True Seeing that allows you to see through illusions covering your target or between you and them, until the ability fails or expires. You also gain the ability to see through anything short of solid objects granting total cover between you and them (i.e., smoke clouds or arrow slits), but only to see them, and automatically succeed at spot checks to see them. This means, among other things, that you have no risk of targeting the wrong square, and can ignore concealment-related miss chances.

Dimensional Arrow: When you inflict bonus damage to a creature using Draw a Bead, if you are at least 9th level or higher, that creature must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Character level + your DEX mod) or be Dimensionally Anchored until the end of its next turn. The effect lingers afterwards for up to a day, but the lingering effect can be beaten by a caster level check (DC 11 + your character level), and, once beaten, is permanently shrugged off.

Legend: At 10th level, you get to take your place among the legendary archers of the world, and study under the spirits of those before you, or invent a new style. This gives you a special ability, parallel to the Knightly Orders.

[ubernoob]

I think you're giving true seeing and seeking a little early. I'd say shift them back a little and add in the ability to have your bow always (1/3) level appropriate. Also, I could see adding some minor stealth and scaling back the offense a little. Seems glass bullet-ish right now.

Edit: Forgot knights get some minor DR and energy resistance. Yeah, aside from wanting to add an ability to make bows magic, I more or less like what I see.

[IGTN]

I meant to take all of the Knight's defensive special abilities off (pretty much the entire table, actually, although I didn't really say it; instead what I meant for the BAB, Saves, Hit Dice portion of the class could get interpreted to apply there), replacing Code of Conduct with Pride, DR with Adaptive Arrow and so on, but if needed I can give some of them back.

I don't see where I gave full Seeking, just the ability to always target correctly.

[ubernoob]

I meant to take all of the Knight's defensive special abilities off (pretty much the entire table, actually, although I didn't really say it; instead what I meant for the BAB, Saves, Hit Dice portion of the class could get interpreted to apply there), replacing Code of Conduct with Pride, DR with Adaptive Arrow and so on, but if needed I can give some of them back.

I don't see where I gave full Seeking, just the ability to always target correctly.

Seeking and ignoring miss chance are pretty much the same thing. But yeah, feels kind of fragile right now. The DR and energy resistance would probably be enough to make it less so.

I could see scaling back the bonus damage to 1/2 levels though since the enemy doesn't have a real way to counteract it.

[IGTN]

Alright, how about this:

DR back on as long as you've used Draw Bead on your last action (flavor it as intense concentration or whatever). Maybe ER back on, also activating DR.
Pierce Concealment nerf to only go one step (Total -> Regular -> None).
Bonus damage nerf to half, bringing the Sharpshooter to par with the Barbarian.

[ubernoob]

Alright, how about this:

DR back on as long as you've used Draw Bead on your last action (flavor it as intense concentration or whatever). Maybe ER back on, also activating DR.
Pierce Concealment nerf to only go one step (Total -> Regular -> None).
Bonus damage nerf to half, bringing the Sharpshooter to par with the Barbarian.

Yeah, I think that works pretty well. I can't think of too much else the class would need.

[Kaelik]

Archer Pride is shit.

And level 2 Adaptive Arrow is also shit.

Poison arrows are a staple of Archery, and always magic for DR is worthless, because you can just have a magic bow 90% of the time.

[Judging__Eagle]

I'd just make Adaptive Arrow go like this

Adaptive Shots: A Knight's Arrows can pierce the surface of any creature.

Any target of your Draw Bead ability are denied their Hardness and Damage Reduction against your ranged attacks.

It's less mucking about in terms of when they get what, and when; and it keeps it more level appropriate. Plus it's easier to remember what they get to bypass, everything.

[IGTN]

Archer's Pride is there because of the Knight's Code. Not really a good reason, so it goes. That said, the poison arrow archer is probably an assassin, since they do the poison thing much better.

Level 2 Adaptive Arrow isn't necessarily shit at the level you get it, since you won't have a magic bow then (the Wizard can make yours magic for a couple minutes, but that's it). I'll upgrade level 6 Adaptive Arrow as JE suggested.

[Judging__Eagle]

Tranquilizers are poison.

A Forest Ranger, or a Biologist doing studies on animal populations that uses a Tranq Rifle isn't exactly evil. It's not even considered dishonourable.

However, a knight has a more rigid code of conduct than what other people do, so they probably won't use them. They don't even gain the benefits from Flanking. They... probably shouldn't be able to use their ranged attacks if they are hidden, or using abilities that make them harder to notice.

This is of course, if you want this to be a "Knightly" type of class. Simply changing to to Sharpshooter is a better way to make a clean break from having to keep Knight based artifacts, such as their CoC and their restriction on Poisons.

I'd suggest looking at Monk Fighting styles; and spells of specific character levels from spell-caster lists to give you more ideas for level-appropriate abilities.