Golden Hand Archer
GOLDEN HAND ARCHER CREATURE 3
[UNCOMMON] [MEDIUM] [HUMAN] [HUMANOID]
Golden Hand archers serve as scouts, lookouts, trackers, and quiet enforcers. They are chosen less for loyalty than for discretion and skill. A Golden Hand archer prefers to see a fight before being seen, strike from favorable terrain, and leave someone else to explain the bodies.
Perception +11
Languages Common
Skills Acrobatics +10, Deception +9, Stealth +12, Survival +10, Thievery +10
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +1
AC 19
Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +10
HP 42
Items leather armor, shortbow, 40 arrows, shortsword, thieves' tools, Golden Hand badge
Speed 30 feet
Ranged ◆ shortbow +12 (deadly d10, range increment 60 feet), Damage 1d6+4 piercing
Melee ◆ shortsword +12 (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 1d6+4 piercing
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Sneak Attack
The Golden Hand archer deals an additional 1d6 precision damage to off-guard creatures.
Golden Hand Ambush
On the archer's first turn of an encounter, creatures that have not yet acted are off-guard to the archer's ranged Strikes.
Quick Draw ◆
The archer draws a weapon and then Strikes with it.
Skirmishing Shot ◆◆
The archer Steps, makes a shortbow Strike, and then Steps again. The archer cannot use Skirmishing Shot if their Speed is reduced below 20 feet.
Find the Gap ◆
The archer studies one creature they can see within 60 feet. Until the beginning of the archer's next turn, the first shortbow Strike they make against that creature ignores lesser cover and treats standard cover as lesser cover.
If the target is adjacent to one of the archer's allies, it is also off-guard to that Strike.
Slip Away ↻
Trigger An adjacent enemy misses the archer with a melee Strike.
Effect The archer Steps.
TACTICS
Golden Hand archers begin from cover or elevation whenever possible. They use Golden Hand Ambush to deliver an opening Sneak Attack, then continually reposition with Skirmishing Shot.
They favor enemies engaged by Golden Hand mercenaries, using those allies to make targets off-guard for their precision damage.
If an enemy closes into melee, the archer uses Slip Away whenever possible and retreats toward another firing position rather than trading blows.
An archer reduced below 12 HP attempts to escape unless protecting an especially important employer or objective.
RECALL KNOWLEDGE & INVESTIGATION
Recall Knowledge — Society DC 18
Success The character recognizes the archer's equipment and tactics as those of a trained scout or private security operative rather than an ordinary highwayman.
Critical Success The character notices the archer's hand-and-serpent badge is designed to be easily removed. Other identifying marks have deliberately been stripped from their gear.
GM NOTES
Role: Ranged skirmisher / scout.
Creature Level: 3.
Adventure Use: Golden Hand archers work well in pairs with mercenaries. The fighters hold choke points while the archers attack from scaffolds, log piles, balconies, trees, or excavation platforms.