D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 Ranger & Druid

[Shadow Kurimeki]

What type of action is it to reload a bow and what feats would be good for a lv 3 ranger? Also what feats are good for a lv3 Druid?

 

[xigbar]

What type of action is it to reload a bow and what feats would be good for a lv 3 ranger? Also what feats are good for a lv3 Druid?

It depends on what kind of bow is being used, and the Rapid Reload feat can shorten this time. As for the Druid, Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible

 

[Shadow Kurimeki]

Sorry, its a longbow.

 

[Greenfield]

For a long or short bow, it's part of the firing sequence, since they allow multiple attacks in a round.

From the SRD

RAPID RELOAD [GENERAL]
Choose a type of crossbow (hand, light, or heavy).
Prerequisite: Weapon Proficiency (crossbow type chosen).
Benefit: The time required for you to reload your chosen type of crossbow is reduced to a free action (for a hand or light crossbow) or a move action (for a heavy crossbow). Reloading a crossbow still provokes an attack of opportunity.
If you have selected this feat for hand crossbow or light crossbow, you may fire that weapon as many times in a full attack action as you could attack if you were using a bow.
Normal: A character without this feat needs a move action to reload a hand or light crossbow, or a full-round action to reload a heavy crossbow.
Special: You can gain Rapid Reload multiple times. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of crossbow.
A fighter may select Rapid Reload as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Also...

Crossbow, Heavy: You draw a heavy crossbow back by turning a small winch. Loading a heavy crossbow is a full-round
action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
Normally, operating a heavy crossbow requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a heavy crossbow with one hand at a –4 penalty on attack rolls. You can shoot a heavy crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two one-handed weapons. This penalty is cumulative with the penalty for one-handed firing.
Crossbow, Light: You draw a light crossbow back by pulling a lever. Loading a light crossbow is a move action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
Normally, operating a light crossbow requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a light crossbow with one hand at a –2 penalty on attack rolls. You can shoot a light crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two light weapons. This penalty is cumulative with the penalty for one-handed firing.
Crossbow, Repeating: The repeating crossbow (whether heavy or light) holds 5 crossbow bolts. As long as it holds bolts, you can reload it by pulling the reloading lever (a free action). Loading a new case of 5 bolts is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
You can fire a repeating crossbow with one hand or fire a repeating crossbow in each hand in the same manner as you would a normal crossbow of the same size. However, you must fire the weapon with two hands in order to use the reloading lever, and you must use two hands to load a new case of bolts.

No such mention of actions is included in any of the other entries for long or short bows.

 

[Shadow Kurimeki]

So would you say free action? or more like a swift action to reload?

 

[domino]

"When using a bow, a character can draw ammunition as a free action," Only slings and crossbows require an action to be taken to load up.

 

[Greenfield]

Not exactly. It's part of the firing action.

Many have argued that you can't take the same Free action multiple times in the same round. The old "Free mount/dismount teleport" trick explains why.

Swift actions aren't even addressed in the SRD, though I believe they have a similar limit.

But you can draw and load your longbow as many times per round as you have attacks, which with Rapid Shot, can be quite a few.

 

[Tharkon]

The limit of the amount of free actions per round is set by the DM and common sense.
Talking is normally a free action but it makes sense that a conversation would take multiple rounds. It's up to the DM to set the exact limit depending on how important it really is for what's going on.
Swift and immediate actions were explained when the Complete Series were released. This does not mean they can't apply to the original books if the players and DM are aware of how they work.

You can take one swift or one immediate action per round.
You can only take swift actions during your turn, you can take immediate actions whenever you want.
An immediate action taken when it's not your turn counts towards your action limit of your upcoming turn.

Drawing a handbow can be done multiple times per round, therefor it is neither a swift nor an immediate action.
It can be done without firing a bow (common sense) so it is not necessarily part of the firing action.
Usually the need to draw and nock an arrow can be ignored to smoothen gameplay, but if you want a clear answer, depending on the situation I'd consider it one of the following:

• A draw action (either move, or part of move for BAB 1+)
• Part of each attack in a full-attack action
• Part of a ready action
• Part of an attack action

In the case of the draw action I might allow rapid reload to function as quick draw.

Feats really depend on which way you want to go with a character.
Especially rangers, they could be archers or two-weapon fighters.

For archers Point Black Shot is useful on its own and as prerequisite for other features (especially since Favored Enemy already has the same 30 ft. range limit). For two-weapon fighters, perhaps Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting if you prefer one-handed weapons, or Weapon Finesse if you prefer light weapons (two-weapon fighting will require a high Dexterity eventually making weapon finesse more and more useful). For archers and melee alike, Weapon Focus can prove useful at low levels, but consider the fact you might end up with a different weapon in the future.
For druids Natural Spell is an excellent spell after they learn Wild Shape, since it allows them to combine their two main abilities (Wild Shape and spells).
At lower levels focus on whatever aspect your character mainly uses. For my Halfling Druid with a wolf as Animal Companion I chose Mounted Combat. If your druid is an avid summoner consider some conjuration metamagic (Spell Focus (Conjuration) & Augment Summoning).

 

[gorfnab]

What type of action is it to reload a bow and what feats would be good for a lv 3 ranger? Also what feats are good for a lv3 Druid?

Here are two handbooks that may help you find some feat ideas.
Ranger Handbook
Druid Handbook