Shooting in Rain and from a moving Carriage?

[Trench]

So it finally happened. The quivalent of a car chase scene in my police procedural Ptolus campaign.

So what kind of penalties are we looking at for a) leaning out the side of a cart, b) shooting while it's raining, and c) trying to keep yourself steady as they barrel down roads at breakneck speeds?

So far, I have -4 total to hit for everyone. -2 for weather and -2 for the cart movement. Just curious what others think.

 

[cmanos]

don't forget that bow strings and wet don't get along at all.....

 

[Elethiomel]

The SRD says:

Rain

Rain reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a -4 penalty on Spot and Search checks. It has the same effect on flames, ranged weapon attacks, and Listen checks as severe wind.

Looking at Severe Wind, it says the penalties are -4 to ranged attacks and Listen checks.

So -4 from the weather, and then another penalty for shooting from a moving carriage.

Regarding bowstrings, I'd think that a society living in a world rife with magic and special beasties would find a way to make a bowstring that isn't ruined by a little rain.

 

[TheGogmagog]

And in the Combat while mounted section:
"You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a –4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed), at a –8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally."

These modifiers seem to imply riding a horse, and riding in a carriage might take less concentration. But since they are leaning for advantagous position in a carriage not intended to support ranged attack, I would apply the same modifiers.

So your total penalty would be -8 if moving quadruple speed, -4 for rain, half range increment for the bow so another -2 for every 50' or so. So -12 within 1/2 range and -14 up to whatever your normal range increment is.

 

[Deset Gled]

If you want to get pendantic about it, you could also impose greater penalties based on the weapon and position on the carriage. For a right-handed longbowman, I would expect it would be much easier to shoot backwards from the driver's side* than from the passenger's side.

*That's driver's side from an American definition, you nancy ponce.

 

[Darklone]

Strange, in one of my PbP games we had a similar situation yesterday...

 

[lukelightning]

For moderate rain, I'd give a -2 to hit.

And for a moving carriage, I'm tempted to treat that like mounted archery, but I recall that's something like -6 to hit, right? That seems too severe; with mounted archery you're controlling your mount AND shooting, while the carriage sounds like it was being driven by someone and you're just shooting off of it.

How about this: every round the driver has to make an appropriate skill check* (I'd make the DC relatively low, since it's likely the person doesn't have many ranks, and might be doing it untrained); if the driver passes the passengers have only a -2 to hit, if he/she fails then they have -4.

*Appropriate skills: Profession: Driver, or charioteer, or chauffer.... I think ride would be appropriate too, since I am a "lumper" when it comes to skills and prefer fewer skills with broader use, so "ride" would cover any sort of animal-powered transportation.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

be careful though, if you add to many negatives even if a -8 might be in the rules -4 for rain -4 for double move mount... It could take away the swashbuckling thrill. If i was taking a -8 on ranged attacks, i would probably resort very quickly to, "I jump to the other carriage"

 

[pallandrome]

be careful though, if you add to many negatives even if a -8 might be in the rules -4 for rain -4 for double move mount... It could take away the swashbuckling thrill. If i was taking a -8 on ranged attacks, i would probably resort very quickly to, "I jump to the other carriage"

And leaping from cart to cart, in the rain, while barreling down the road at breakneck speeds, would make it less swashbuckly how?

 

[Murrdox]

For moderate rain, I'd give a -2 to hit.
How about this: every round the driver has to make an appropriate skill check* (I'd make the DC relatively low, since it's likely the person doesn't have many ranks, and might be doing it untrained); if the driver passes the passengers have only a -2 to hit, if he/she fails then they have -4.

*Appropriate skills: Profession: Driver, or charioteer, or chauffer.... I think ride would be appropriate too, since I am a "lumper" when it comes to skills and prefer fewer skills with broader use, so "ride" would cover any sort of animal-powered transportation.

Great idea.

I'd give the standard -4 penalty for shooting in rain, and another penalty based on whether or not the driver of the carriage passes his drive check.

So, you're looking at -6 to -8, which I think "feels" about right.

It's not relevant for shooting arrows, but I'd give everyone a -2 circumstance bonus to reflex saves for being on the carriage.

To make things more interesting, you have to make things more interesting for the carriage driver.

Plan out the road. Put in smooth-riding areas that give a positive circumstance bonus to the drive skill check. Then put in pot-holes that give a penalty. Make the road such that if the two carriages are driving side-by-side, one of them is forced into the ditches/potholes. Then the drivers can make checks to try to force the other carriage into the ditch.