Archer

Users of bows for purposes of combat. Developed for use in hunting, bows allowed mortals to strike from a greater distance than clubs or spears, thus allowing for safer hunting of more dangerous animals. As class society developed, these weapons were adapted to use in warfare to a much greater extent, becoming especially decisive eventually to many militaries as the development of the longbow allowed for armor-piercing attacks. As firearms developed, they became less favored.

Equipment

Bow

Longbow

Horsebow

Crossbow

Bowyer

Arrow

Fletching

Military Use

Archery Corps

Snipers

Scouts

Riding Archers

Use in Hunting

Recreational Use

Athletics

Contests

Archery Performances

Esoteric Variants

Variant	Energy	Type	Weapons	Powers	Origin	Notes
Yrseggr	Shavev Mashkalran	Shebvic				See judge.
Weaponmaster	D'qiarsea	Shebvic	Any	Weaponmasters are those who use d'qiarsea to improve their skills and power via ritual conflicts. A bowmaster would generate the power through archery contests or duels, gaining skill and relevant stats with each conflict (though not necessarily victory, if they live).	The first weaponmasters were among the minotaurs who fought for survival against everyone around them.	A weaponmaster who uses bows is specifically a bowmaster, obviously. For other weapons, see other occupations or weaponmaster.
Arquere	Emotional Resonance	Nommic	Any bow			See ennead.
Chainshot	Ethereal Essence	Poioumenonic	Any bow	Ethereal essence is difficult to use, as it bonds very quickly. That speed, however, is used to good effect with a chainshot, who uses it to make each arrow bond to the one fired before, if fired quickly enough, so that they hit the same spot. Each successive shot gains +3 to-hit, max +9.	Developed by the stiegerians to use against heavily mechanized or stone targets that needed multiple hits to break.	They wear special gloves to prevent bonding to their own arrows and have very high reaction speeds. See bondsmage.
Ghazi	Fate Energy	Poioumenonic	Any bow			See seer.
Hou Yi	Menab'e	Shebvic	Any bow			See gatherer.
Kyduoka	Kor	Poioumenonic	Any bow	Like a dialectician or samurai, a kyduoka uses kor to view into the past and draw skills from the warriors of yore.	Dialecticians who decicded to take on the personas of ancient archers.	See dialectician for how kor works.
Tiratore	Fortune	Poioumenonic	Any bow or firearm	To sense the winds of fortune, one must either have a good luck charm, a special card or gambling device, special boots, or simply good luck, but if one can, one can use the knowledge of which way those winds blow to make very difficult shots.	Developed naturally from soldiers or hunters who carried good luck charms with them.	Usually, it simply means taking the high die, but it can have various other effects on the dice. However, a roll is always required when the energy of fortune is at play. See rambler.
Trickshot	Unfugl	Poioumenonic	Any bow or firearm	The first shot is always pure skill. The surprise the skilled shot generates provides the unfugl to make the next shot even more impressive. This builds and builds, up to a +12 to-hit bonus and no called shot penalty, but only if there is an appreciative audience.	Mostly used in roadshows, where the practice originated.	See Grinning Mage.
Marskman	Euphotonia	Celestial	Any bow or gun	By using either a special lens, eyedrop, or blessing, a marksman is able to see either very long distances or very fine details. This gives them, if they use their power, upwards of +15 to-hit.	Early communities of muses were often beset by heavily armored men seeking to kidnap them as "brides" (sex slaves) or to take their land. Adapting their arts of euoptics to improve their archery allowed them to take advantage of weaknesses in that armor.	Markswomen or markspersons are also possible. I'm just being lazy, and I don't like the meter of marksperson. See visionary.
Bueskytte	Waarheid	Celesital	Any bow or rifle	There are three methods used by bueskytte: one is to take a vow of honesty and keep it; another is to write their True Name on their bow, arrow, or eyelid; and finally they may simply devote themselves to fighting against deceptions. Regardless how they do it, the result is, if they do it well, that their arrows fly true, almost never missing. Effectively, +3 to +12 to hit.	Amongst aerligians, the practice became common during early wars of resistance against imperial oppressors, especially as being deceived was a major part of their oppression.	It is both very difficult to build up the waarheid to make this method effective and very easy to lose it. Bueskytter have to be extremely devoted to the truth. See truespeaker.
Strelec	Razdavit'	Infernal	Any bows	A warrior of Vesturia who steals power from those they have tormented and oppressed and taken from, usually focusing on drawing on their eyesight, hearing, willpower, patience, and understanding of archery.	The earliest uses of razdavit' date back to when Vesturia was a wild land of warring national factions.	Bonuses increase at a decreasing rate. One slave is +1 to a stat. 10 slaves is +6. 100 is +12. 1,000 is +25. See veliky.
Tafatafa	Elysian Essence	Celestial	Any projectile weapon	A tafatafa rolls their basic to-hit score for almost every attack, but if the shot is impossible, they have a chance at a miracle.	No one even knows if they are a tafatafa. They may know they have made miraculous shots before, and they may have had profound, miraculous expriences, but the concept is generally only known within circles where Kehin Ireti is worshiped fervently. One becomes a tafatafa after experiencing a miracle and thus having lingering Elysian essence around them. Sometimes it hangs around a long time. Sometimes it fades quickly. There is no controlling it.	The GM may decide how to determine if a miracle occurs, but the shot must not merely be 10 above their score. It must be absurdly difficult. This may also be invoked via narrative karma. See miracleman.
Cecchine	ArcaneShadow	Poioumenonic	Any small bow, often a small crossbow	The many ways an arcanist can mask their attacks are put to use by cecchine in order to hide either themselves or their arrows in order to make them harder to dodge. To-hit bonuses range from +3 to +9.	Like most arcane arts, this was developed by Theresans at an unknown time.	Each cecchine practices a specific art of arcanum, but it varies by cecchine. See arcanist.
Sagittarian	Poioumenon	Poioumenonic	Any strong bow	Sagittarians tap into the poioumenonic flow by regularly sharing legends and tales amongst each other, drawing it to them, then invoking the lore by repeating the rites of their forebears by burning herbs, singing and drinking sacred songs, and painting themselves with special pigments. This draws legendary archer skill into them.	Centaur healers developed the power while defending their camps against raids.	The rites seem simple enough, but it is very easy to fail at them, and even more easy to run out of the power before using it. Furthermore, one may easily get lost in the legends in their mind. See wyrder.
Sharpshooter	Kakraohy	Shebvic	Any very good bow or rifle			See wabeno.
Mizraklad	TykvaVlast	Aether	Any wooden weapon	A mizraklad uses TykvaVlast to shape fallen wood into weaponry. Some choose to create bows, as it is a common wooden weapon, if they have the appropriate string to go along with it. This simply means they have access to such weapons anywhere wood lies upon the ground, but unfelled by mortal hands.	See aetherial artisans.	See taiga mage.
Cassielian	Celeste Water	Celestial	Arrows dipped in celeste water; swords of celestial lightning	A type of warrior-angelologist who serves angels of celestial weather. Their service grants them access to their celestial weaponry, which causes extreme damage to infernal beings (+1 to +12).	The angel Cassiel appeared unto the warrior Dahem Mishraq, a warrior of the great prophets, and tasked him three quests. Upon the completion of each, he was granted a weapon: bow, then arrow, then sword. He was deemed worthy to serve, and became the first cassielian.	Service to angels is very difficult to achieve and sustain, and cassielians must have a very strict code of conduct to maintain their weaponry. See angelologist.
Artashir	Ma'Dhahabi	Aether	Arrows surrounded by solar flame and golden bows	Using a technique know as "solar focus", al-ruma (sing. artashir) draw ma'dhahabi to the tips of their arrows and let loose golden fireballs that cause massive damage to enemy forces. A group of al-ruma can turn a field of battle into a wildfire. Their golden(fajari) bows make their focal powers possible.	In ancient Tara'hin, the parhelions were tasked by the third emperor to find a way to repel invasion from the demonic armies of the demon Pripoldnica, and they showed him this art.	Arrows will be consumed in a round if not fired, possibly damaging the archer or the bow, so must be shot quickly once aflame. See parhelion.
Gagti	Dumaqu	Cesletial	Arrows tipped in sharpened jewels	Gagtis are sworn to defend those they love. They attain a jewel of dumaqu through their devoted love to one or more people, then use it to fletch nine holy arrows that will protect those they love. They show their devotion through blood sacrifice in a temple of Hili Kar. Effectively, they have +3 to +9 when defending a loved one for to-hit, stun, and wound, and no penalties for called shots except with esoteric interference.	Gagti was an astartean warrior who fell in love with a gallae priestess. During a war with a neighboring kingdom, Gagti's lover was captured while traveling along a road near the border. Gagti vowed to save her, spilling her blood to seal the vow, and the blood turned to jewels cut to sharp points for her arrows. Her quest is part of the ancient lore of the inannans.	Though a vow in a temple of Hili Kar is required, one does not need to be a worshiper of her. They must accept that she exists and not be in a state of rejection or blasphemy, though. See lapidarist.
Al-Siham	Hamasat al-Sahra	Aether	Arrows tipped with molten glass	Those whose voices make the sands dance sometimes have the patience and determination required to make the sands dance til they melt into hot glass. They capture this super-heated sand into their arrow tips, which they preserve with cold sand. When they need them, they have burning, clinging arrows that come with +5/+5 heat damage and can be affected by their voices as it flies.	Anzilaq seeking ways to blind enraged sandworms found that this method worked, after many deaths.	Present with different names in every desert culture on Shem. The name simply means "arrow", referring to their special arrows. See samaaeat.
Sheshou	Bailaohu Jinghua	Aether	Arrows tipped with one of the nine great metals	Sheshou have special gloves made from bailaohu, which gives them a resonance with the tips of their arrows that allows them to guide them after being fired, making subtle corrections with a flick of their fingers.	Ancient Unbulese shimisi made arrowheads for the armies of the emperor, but the arrows kept missing because of the heaviness. So they made them lighter, and gave the archers their bailaohu gloves.	Many of the gloves now used are the same as were made thousands of year ago. See shimisi.
Ke' Ban Tia	Liberation Power	Celestial	Bow or rifle	Part of a chain of tagapagpalaya, ke' ban tia are always involved in active, armed resistance against oppressors or invaders. As such, they generate liberation power for every attack they make, which allows them to target more and more powerful foes. Because they are snipers, they often work alone, but they are always connected to their people or unit.	During the Agikaani occupation of Vada'dar, these snipers became such a terror for their oppressors that they became folkloric heroes and legends.	They have a bad reputation in other parts of the world, as their liberation struggle was much misunderstood. See tagapagpalaya.
Cuauhtli	Tenyocan	Celestial	Bow, atlatl, spear	The eagle warriors of central Palhur are elite infantry soldiers who are bonded to their namesake animal. They are devoted to their nation. Unlike other units in the militaries of the area, they allow anyone to join if they have shown sufficient bravery. This bravery earns them the right to go through a trial to test their courage by capturing an eaglestone. If they do, they are bonded to an eagle and given special training. They gain further powers for every act of valor they perform.	The original eagle warrior was an ancient warrior who sacrificed himself, along with his sibling the jaguar warrior, to bring the sun back from the dead. The zazotleins have a long history of animal-warriors. Cuāuhmeh developed as the need for larger military elites grew, as their early empires expanded. They became revered figures for their bravery and constant defiance against more powerful enemies.	For more on the weaponry, customs, and culture of cuāuhmeh, see zazotleins, ocelotl, and cuauhtli.
Schutter	Feirua	Infernal	Bows or guns	Eugenically produced archers or gunmen who are imbued with feirua. If they are considered "pure" by the twisted standards of their people, they gain strength and skill (with many downsides).	Eugenic experiments in Stolzen.	These are essentially ranged supersoldiers who do not live very long. See gemmarius.
Vadasz	B'qar	Shebvic	Bows, hunting knives	See shebvic rangers.	See shebvic rangers.	See vadasz.
Thornguard	Thorn Energy	Infernal	Bows, swords, poisons, and thorn-whips	As archers, Thornguards (the elite bodyguards of the Aeldian Uchel Frenin) are exceptional. They use their thorn gardens to drain archery skill, strength, speed, perception, and other relevant qualities from victims in order to be extremely skilled. They are also well versed in poisons.	The first Thornguards date back Ages, but the model currently used started under the Uchel Frenin who became Haeddiannol, whose name is forbidden to be spoken for fear of their wrath.	See doppelganger and dewin drain for more info.
Moonguard	Lunar Aether	Aether	Crescent blades and longbows	Moonguards are warriors of the Moons who meditate long hours in the night in order to draw upon lunar aether. If they have attuned themselves to it, it will come when they call it. They use it mostly with their blades in melee combat, but if they use it on their arrows, it helps the arrow move without much wind resistance, adding +3/+3 to +9/+9 in stun/wound and +3 to +6 in to-hit, depending on environment.	Lunar warriors who came to Shem found they needed to defend themselves better and adapt to the new atmosphere. They meditated for many nights on it until their powers came to them.	Moonguards are mostly women, but not always. see lune, urlator, and arktos.
Arbalist	D'qiarsea	Shebvic	Crossbows
Marine	Conflueverant	Aether	Crossbows	Those attuned to the currents can sense metaphorical ones, and thus, can use those senses to find targets. Marines learn how to command conflueverant such that their bolts flow along those currents during battle, allowing them to alter the currents by taking out significant targets. To do this, they must soak their weapons and their bodies, if they are not in water or on a ship.	Adapted from arts taught to landdwelling mortals by merfolk.	The "currents of battle" are essentially "who is winning?" and "how do I change that?" See metapol.
Baoh	Bedrog	Infernal	Displaced arrows	A baoh uses Bedrog generated from the creation of their own False Name to etch their arrowheads, which causes the arrows to appear to come from a direction they do not come from, giving a +6 to-hit and blinding targets who receive a special wound or better.	Ancient Dabusenese hunters stalking tigers, which were much faster than they were, eventually resorted to more evil means to kill their prey.	See illusionist for information on generating a False Name.
Dreamguard	Dream Energy	Poioumenonic	Faeriewood longbows	Mostly fey warriors (but not always), the dreamguard enter the dreams of others to fight their nightmares. They do this by capturing their own dreams in nets, and using them to bond with their target as they sleep, draping the net over both of them. In dreams, their archery skills are drawn from that which they have in the waking world. Some dreamguards do not have archery skills, but use other weapons.	In the wars of the Dream Realm, long ago, the dreamguard were created by the legendary fairy Thaegwyl.	See dreamguard for other powers.
Laochra	All Poioumenon	Poioumenonic	Faeriewood longbows
Queensguard	Dream Energy / Poioumenon	Poioumenonic	Faeriewood longbows	See Queensguard.	See Queensguard.	See Queensguard.
Boghdoir	Dream Energy	Poioumenonic	Faeriewood short bows or darts	The fey can tap into dream energy in many ways, mostl through the lore, which they use to tip their arrows with it, making them put people to sleep without causing much harm.	Originally developed for use against large targets, such as aurochses, which needed to be calmed or stopped without killing them.	More common amongst the smaller kinds of fairies. See fairies.
Snowguard	Hvittdogg	Aether	Frost-rimed arrows and suuri bows	Using an art known as "brumal focus", a meditative practice enabled by the esoteric metals their bows are made from, the Snowguard are able to coat their arrows in hvittdogg, creating an aura of frost and cold. This amplifies the damage (+3/+3 to +9/+9), makes wounds impossible to cauterize, and can cause limbs to freeze solid.	The Snow Queen Snedronning granted her elite guards with this power.	See snowguard for more information.
Equestrian	Livadi	Aether	Horsebows	See aetherial messengers.	See aetherial messengers.	See equestrian.
Kharvaach	Aemoa	Celestial	Horsebows	See shamans.	See shamans.	See shamans.
Qishe Shou	Euergasia	Celestial	Horsebows	Mounted archers who split labor between drawing, aiming, and firing so that they build euergasia with every strike, and they work in unison, in order to amplify it further. By the ninth strike, they usually have enough to make their leads impervious to attack and thus able to lead a charge safely.	During the Unbulese Revolution, this tactic developed among groups of workers and peasants who had learned via their earlier efforts how to become unifiers.	Groups smaller than 20 are less effective. See unifier.
Poacher	Thorn Energy	Infernal	Hunting bows	See infernal rangers.	See infernal rangers.	See poacher.
Bow Wall	Gebvel	Shebvic	Longbows
Cupilin	Ashar	Aether	Longbows and arrows coated in argentfire	One drop of an elf's blood has enough ashar in it to make a quiverful of arrows erupt into argentflame. This fire does not burn except infernal targets or those who are about to kill another. So no penalty to other shots (it still works as an arrow), but bonuses to infernal or killer targets ranging from +1 to +12.	In times so long past none now recall, an elven archer faced an undead dragon and needed some way to defeat it. Seeing no other way to draw upon the lifeforce needed, they cut their own palm and soaked their arrow in it. Unexpectedly, the arrow became rimed in argentflame, and they knew they were saved.	"About to kill another" is up to GM's discretion. Often most useful during an interrupted action. As such, cupilins often have high reaction scores.
Pitati	Poarta	Aether	Myrrh-coated arrows	Though myrrh is often used as a medicinal, it also holds sacred purposes to Nbt-Hwt's followers. The myrrh used by servants of Death often soaks up poarta, and the pharoah has this given to his armies. Thus, pitatis use it to coat their arrows, giving them instant-kill powers (power equal to freshness of myrrh, from 7 to 17).	During wars between rival factions in Azet, the pharaoh was often asked for military assistance. He formed the archer unit of pitatis as a fast-moving strike force to lend to allied rulers. To make sure they were feared, he requested of the priests of Nbt-Hwt that they give some aid, and they sent him the myrrh left over from their ceremonies.	Roll power of myrrh vs. WIL, meaning a wounded target is easier to kill. See ucigash.
Strael-bora	Vile Energy	Infernal	Poisoned arrows	The strael-bora often simply coat their arrows in various poisons, but many also have the ability to tap into their infected blood to coat arrows with vile energy, which they can then amplify through focus.	Use of poisons in warfare between Vendale and neighboring countries started sometime around the first Vendale Dynasty.	Power of the vile energy varies by how infected the blood of the user is. See plague-bearer.
Gung Sool	Radiance	Celestial	Prismatic bows and arrows of rainbow light			See prismatic mage.
Leraje	Infernum	Infernal	Putrefying arrows	Leraje are those who make a deal with demons to become great archers. The price for this is usually the souls of many dead, and so they are given weapons (arrows that cause putrefying wounds is the preferred one - power 16+ against STR) to do just this. These deals vary slightly, but the end result is usually an archer score of 19+.	A demon by the name of Leraje made a deal with a mortal, and the trend followed from there.	A leraje may be a demonologer or simply someone who is a client of one.
Dog Soldier	Virtue	Celestial	Rifle and bow
Saethwr	Cacophony	Infernal	Screaming arrows	Screaming arrows made from screaming trees can be controlled by the voices of cacosingers and others who learn their arts, and thus can be amplified in power to shatter stone through rapid vibration or to sever metaphysical connections (one's connection to one's family or the fact that you have a job, for instance).	The hunters of Shrike Wood learned to make arrows for this purpose when they needed to kill some of the more dangerous prey in the area, especially those who could create metaphysical bonds to make themselves stronger.	Severing metaphorical connections only happens if aimed at the head, heart, or some symbolic object or body part for the relationship in question. See cacosinger.
Charioteer	Mashoaab	Shebvic	Short bows
Neishe	Soul Energy	Nommic	Short bows			See sohei.
Alastalidohi	Yahas	Celestial	Standard bow	Bonded together with others in a small band of hunters so that they work in perfect unison. They have internal, silent communication; skill and senses sharing; and coordinated attacks.	Very early in nunnehi society, this practice developed as a way to improve their hunting and thus the survival of the entire community.	Never fewer than three in a hunting band. Distinct from a ranger as they do not bond to or necessarily protect the environment.
Clan Archer	Banaru	Celestial	Various bows	Amongst the clans, these archers are bonded into a unit devoted to protecting their families and the clan at large. Their bond is emotionally based, and thus, they can feel what the others are feeling (which allows them to know when another is feeling fear, and thus in danger). It also allows them take wounds for one another and to instantly recognize a clan member. When defending the clan, their united emotional state gives them up to +9 to-hit bonus and defense.	Among the northern clans, survival depended so heavily on closeness within the clan that bonding via banaru became very common. As need for defense of the clan developed, so too did use of the bonds to perfect engaged, united combat.	"Clan" is a generic term and can be applied across different groupings, communities, and families, but with a cultural/national connection. See clan mage.
Pemanah	Flux	Paradoxical	Vysolite crossbows			See alteror.