Crossbow InfiltratorSource Battlecry! pg. 56Crossbow infiltrators are typically highly trained members of specialized units or organizations who favor stealthy tactics and quiet weapons. Whether you were trained as an assassin, a spy, or for some other purpose related to espionage and infiltration, you specialize in using unobtrusive forms of crossbow weaponry to eliminate targets.
While all crossbow infiltrators learn to use the
hand crossbow and
gauntlet bow, some take part in more aggressive and dangerous infiltrations and request specialized equipment like the
repeating hand crossbow or
crescent cross—a unique weapon that combines a bladed gauntlet with an arm-mounted crossbow apparatus—to complete their objectives. It’s also incredibly common for crossbow infiltrators to either have access to poisons and poison training from the organizations they serve, or to have their own supplier to supplement their tool sets.
The use of small, easily concealed or disposed-of weapons and tools makes it easy for crossbow infiltrators to slip into a location unnoticed, complete whatever objective they have been given, and then slip away without being detected, either climbing over a castle wall or blending into a crowded marketplace.
Crossbow Infiltrators in the Inner Sea
Most crossbow infiltrators in the Inner Sea region of Golarion come from either Ustalav, where the techniques started as a specialized form of
vampire hunting, or the Five Kings Mountains, where dwarven ingenuity spurred the advancement of several kinds of specialized crossbows.
Other crossbow infiltrators typically come from nations close to one of these two locations, where the equipment and techniques spread along trade routes. Andoran and Taldor both include “special operations” units within their military and espionage hierarchies; the members of such units are supplied with specialized equipment from their nations’ dwarven allies that is then supplemented with deadly poisons that dwarven engineers didn’t consider implementing due to their own ancestral resistance to poisonous substances.
Additional Feats
Source Player Core pg. 215 2.0Some archetypes include a list of “Additional Feats” that appear in other sources. The list includes each feat’s level, which might be different than normal when gained from the archetype. You can take the feat as an archetype feat of that level, meaning it counts toward the number of feats required by the archetype’s dedication feat. When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class’s trait (such as the fighter trait) doesn’t have that class trait.
Click here for the full rules on Additional Feats.
Archetype Dedication Source Battlecry! pg. 56Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites trained in
Stealth
You have mastered stealthy weapons that allow you to strike carefully from a distance far enough to avoid reprisal, yet close enough to confirm your kills. You have familiarity with the
gauntlet bow,
hand crossbow, and
repeating hand crossbow, treating the repeating hand crossbow as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency and the gauntlet bow as a simple weapon for the purposes of proficiency. If you're at least an expert in any of these weapons, you gain access to that weapon's critical specialization effect. You also gain the Infiltrator's Draw action.
Infiltrator's Draw [one-action] Frequency once per round;
Effect You Interact to draw a gauntlet bow, hand crossbow, or repeating hand crossbow, then Strike with it. Alternatively, you can Strike with a loaded hand crossbow or repeating hand crossbow you're already holding and then Interact to stow it.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 56Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication
You have familiarity with the
crescent cross, an ingenious weapon that combines an arm-mounted, multi-chamber crossbow with a crescent-shaped blade. For the purposes of proficiency, you treat both its configurations as simple weapons.
Feats and abilities from this archetype that normally work with a gauntlet bow also work with your crescent cross, treating the melee form of the crescent cross as a gauntlet where appropriate. You gain the Crescent Spray action.
Crescent Spray [two-actions] (flourish)
Requirements You are wielding a crescent cross;
Effects You Strike up to three times with the ranged version of your crescent cross. If it is currently in its melee configuration, you can swap it to its ranged configuration as a free action before attempting these Strikes. You must have a bolt already chambered for each Strike and can Interact to swap to a different capacity chamber as a free action between each Strike. Each attack counts toward your
multiple attack penalty, but you do not increase your penalty until you have made all your attacks.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 56Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication
The specific needs of your organization or mission warrant your use of the latest in ingenious crossbow technology. You gain access to
repeating hand crossbows and
repeater bandoliers. If you have
Running Reload or a similar feat that allows you to reload and perform another action or activity as a single action, you can use that action more efficiently with a repeating weapon. You can use the action as a 3-action activity to reload a magazine into a repeating weapon after you perform its other granted action, or as a 2-action activity if you use a magazine from a repeater bandolier.
Archetype Source Player Core 2 pg. 196 1.1Archetypes Dual-Weapon Warrior,
Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication* This version of the Dual-Weapon Reload feat is intended for use with an Archetype and has a different level for access than the
original feat.
You carry your ammunition in a way that allows you to reload while holding two weapons. While you're wielding two one-handed weapons, each in a different hand, you don't need a free hand to reload a one-handed ranged weapon you're wielding.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 56Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication; expert in
Stealth
You specialize in reloading while preparing for the next step in your infiltration. Interact to reload a weapon you have familiarity with from this archetype, then either
Hide,
Sneak, or
Take Cover.
Archetype Flourish Manipulate Source Battlecry! pg. 57Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator DedicationRequirements You're wielding an unloaded
hand crossbow or an unloaded
gauntlet bow.
You can fire off a single shot even when it seems like you are unprepared. You Interact to reload your hand crossbow or gauntlet bow and attempt a ranged Strike with it.
Special If you have the
Repeating Hand Crossbow Training feat, you can use this feat with a repeating hand crossbow to load an entire magazine, but the speed means you can fire only one bolt before the magazine jams and becomes useless. You must fully replace a magazine as normal before firing with a repeating hand crossbow after using this ability.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 57Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication; trained in
Crafting
You've learned more than the use of hand crossbows. During your daily preparations, you can prepare a dose of
lethargy poison from ordinary materials in a wilderness or urban area. If you're an expert in Crafting, you can instead craft a dose of
stupor poison. You can prepare two doses (of either poison) if you're a master in Crafting and three doses if you're legendary in Crafting. The save DC for this poison is equal to your class DC. Only you can use these poisons, and they expire the next time you make your daily preparations. The GM might decide that the area you're in is too barren to provide the materials you need for this feat.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 57Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator DedicationRequirements You're wielding a loaded
gauntlet bow.
With a high-priority target in reach, you quickly move to eliminate them. Make a melee Strike using your gauntlet bow as a gauntlet. If the Strike is successful, you automatically latch onto the target, giving them the
grabbed condition, then make a ranged Strike against them with your gauntlet bow. This Strike does not trigger reactions normally triggered by ranged attacks. If you are holding or wearing an injury poison, you can apply it to the bolt used in the attack as a free action before making the ranged Strike.
Flourish Ranger Rogue Source Player Core pg. 160 2.0Archetypes Crossbow Infiltrator,
Drow Shootist* This version of the Skirmish Strike feat is intended for use with an Archetype and has a different level for access than the
original feat.
Your feet and weapon move in tandem. Either
Step and then
Strike, or Strike and then Step.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 57Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication
Your attacks are deadly, silent, and nearly untraceable. The first time each round that you attempt to Strike a target you are undetected or unnoticed by while using a weapon you have familiarity with from this archetype, you are
hidden from the target after the attack, as they cannot tell where the attack came from.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 57Archetype Crossbow InfiltratorPrerequisites Crossbow Infiltrator Dedication
Though your training is meant to ensure you don't get caught by your enemies, your missions are often high risk, and sometimes the only option you have left when things go wrong is to unleash a blistering torrent of violence while running away as fast as possible.
You can attempt to
Escape any effect that is currently
immobilizing you. You gain a +10-foot circumstance bonus to your Speed and can Stride up to three times. At any point during each of these Strides, you can Strike with a weapon you have familiarity with from this archetype and can then immediately Interact to reload that weapon.
After using Infiltrator's Blitz, you become fatigued for 1 minute.