The Advanced Character Guide Arcane Archer is a bit different then what I expected from that name. Instead of talking the prestige class and building options off of it this book redefines and presents new ways to mix archery and magic that are separate from that class. The focus of the book is more on the concept of the class and presenting new ways to do then on the class itself.
Advanced Character Guide Arcane Archer is a PDF by Secular Games. It is their first book they have put out and it is a nice introduction to the company and the type of work to be expected from them. The book is done in full color but they have included a print version of the PDF as well. Both versions are book marked. The color one as nice art and it is very colorful through out. The art is very well done with a nice anime style. The layout and production values in this book are a bit higher then many PDFs and that is commendable.
The book starts off with a 20 level Arcane Archer base class. The class looks pretty good reminding me of an alternative to the ranger class. It does not have any woods skills or great skill points but the archer abilities and spell casting ability is similar. Many of the abilities are very similar to what the Arcane Archer gets and the addition of some spell ability is a good touch.
The next chapter covers feats and many of the feats can be used to increase the abilities of the Arcane Archer. The feats are all archer based and the sixteen feats presented here all look good. Many expand on the class nicely given the character ability to develop certain abilities more then others.
There are nine schools of archery presented in the book. The really is not a lot of detail on them. They are presented like feats that can only be taken at first level and only one may be selected. I like the ideas of the schools and development of them and possible rivalries, philosophies, and teachers would have been a very good addition to the book. As they are presented they are little more then feats.
Prestige classes come next though they refer to the chapter as traditions. There is one for Crossbows though it is specifically for Drow. I would have hoped that one for Dwarves could also be presented and they use Crossbows as well although the book really does not leave the elf feel of the original prestige class.. There is a Blizzard Archer for artic elves. A Deepwood Guardian class that is written for wood elves. A Divine Archer that is the dive equivalent of the Arcane Archer. The Eldritch Bow for Grey Elves that has more magic in it and a little less archery skill. A Psychic Archer that is very self explanatory. An Untamed Hunter which is for Wild Elves and more martial then magic. The prestige classes are very similar having a few alternative powers The background for the classes is good though the classes themselves really start to look a like. The book finishes up with some spells, NPCs, and a few new magical items.
The PDF is a nice expansion on the idea of the Arcane Archer. It gives alternative prestige classes that more readily fit with the many types of elves. The rules seem sound enough and the product does a nice job with the ideas of the original class. I did want more options for the original Arcane Archer but instead just end up with nice alternatives.
