Hey guys!
I posted this over at the WOTC forums, but I thought I'd post it here too so I could get the word 'from the horse's mouth' as it were.
I recently came across the Mongoose publishing Modern Playaids: Sniper supplement and had a look through.
Personally, I think it's great. Well thought out and captures exactly what a sniper is - a stealthy, highly skilled marksman with an unmatched ability to kill from hiding with a single well-placed shot.
Now, when I showed it to a couple of friends of mine, they took a quick look at it and said 'BROKEN! BROKEN! BROKEN!'
The points of contention:
1) The Elite Sniper gets Critical Strike at 9th Class Level. The Soldier, by comparison, doesn't get it until 10th.
2) Trademark Weapon: +1 to attack rolls, and a damage bonus equal to Elite Sniper level to damage. (+10 at max). Trademark weapon can be changed every level.
3) Cover use: Sniper can spend a full round action to conceal himself better, treating the cover bonus granted to him as one step better. So, half cover would become 3/4, and 9/10 would become total.
4) Ranged Killer: At 10th Class Level, can make a ranged coup de grace attack up to the standard range increment of the rifle. Must make an attack roll as normal in order to hit.
At first glance, they may have a point. However:
1) The Sniper can't be taken until at least one level later than the Soldier as it has a BAB requirement of +4 as opposed to +3. Therefore, when both characters are 13th level, they both get access to the Critical Strike ability.
2) The Trademark Weapon is limited to longarms. Can't be used with assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or anything else. So, in other words, the damage bonus applies to a weapon that can only realistically make a single shot in a round whilst an assault rifle can make multiple.
3) Cover use helps protect the sniper from retribution after taking his killshot. Snipers go to great lengths to hide before, during and after their shot. This class feature helps reflect that skill better than a simple hide check, as a sniper's chosen firing position is often difficult to hit without carpet bombing.
4) Ranged coup de grace is nasty, granted. However, there's a lot of 'ifs' associated with it. Not only has the sniper got to be in an advantageous position to take the shot, but the target has got to be totally unaware of the sniper's presence, which simply isn't going to happen in a regular firefight. This ability only really comes into play in a solo 'assassination' mission where the sniper is operating independently deep behing enemy lines.
So, what do the denizens of the board think?
Personally, I think the class beautifully captures what a true sniper is: Stealthy, skilled and deadly. The ranged coup de grace attack will not come up very often in normal play, and in regular firefights the Elite Sniper is going to be less useful than the Soldier, unless he can get into a good position.
I'm not brilliant at explaining myself, I know, but this is a class I'd love to play.
I posted this over at the WOTC forums, but I thought I'd post it here too so I could get the word 'from the horse's mouth' as it were.
I recently came across the Mongoose publishing Modern Playaids: Sniper supplement and had a look through.
Personally, I think it's great. Well thought out and captures exactly what a sniper is - a stealthy, highly skilled marksman with an unmatched ability to kill from hiding with a single well-placed shot.
Now, when I showed it to a couple of friends of mine, they took a quick look at it and said 'BROKEN! BROKEN! BROKEN!'
The points of contention:
1) The Elite Sniper gets Critical Strike at 9th Class Level. The Soldier, by comparison, doesn't get it until 10th.
2) Trademark Weapon: +1 to attack rolls, and a damage bonus equal to Elite Sniper level to damage. (+10 at max). Trademark weapon can be changed every level.
3) Cover use: Sniper can spend a full round action to conceal himself better, treating the cover bonus granted to him as one step better. So, half cover would become 3/4, and 9/10 would become total.
4) Ranged Killer: At 10th Class Level, can make a ranged coup de grace attack up to the standard range increment of the rifle. Must make an attack roll as normal in order to hit.
At first glance, they may have a point. However:
1) The Sniper can't be taken until at least one level later than the Soldier as it has a BAB requirement of +4 as opposed to +3. Therefore, when both characters are 13th level, they both get access to the Critical Strike ability.
2) The Trademark Weapon is limited to longarms. Can't be used with assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or anything else. So, in other words, the damage bonus applies to a weapon that can only realistically make a single shot in a round whilst an assault rifle can make multiple.
3) Cover use helps protect the sniper from retribution after taking his killshot. Snipers go to great lengths to hide before, during and after their shot. This class feature helps reflect that skill better than a simple hide check, as a sniper's chosen firing position is often difficult to hit without carpet bombing.
4) Ranged coup de grace is nasty, granted. However, there's a lot of 'ifs' associated with it. Not only has the sniper got to be in an advantageous position to take the shot, but the target has got to be totally unaware of the sniper's presence, which simply isn't going to happen in a regular firefight. This ability only really comes into play in a solo 'assassination' mission where the sniper is operating independently deep behing enemy lines.
So, what do the denizens of the board think?
Personally, I think the class beautifully captures what a true sniper is: Stealthy, skilled and deadly. The ranged coup de grace attack will not come up very often in normal play, and in regular firefights the Elite Sniper is going to be less useful than the Soldier, unless he can get into a good position.
I'm not brilliant at explaining myself, I know, but this is a class I'd love to play.
