Ammunition Woes

[burntgerbil]

Hi All -

I played an archer in 3.5 and I have found the same problems now in 4e than I did then - there seems to be a set of rules in place to dictate the amount of ammunition and how it is used, but no method to procure more. I have seen 1st level adventurers set out with 450 arrows on them. This is just plain dumb. We never hear of players running out of ammunition mid-adventure - as a matter of fact I think many groups allow the ranger just to "fill up" when he is in town - that's the limit of ammunition management for them. I am playing a ranged ranger in 4e and I flat out refuse to keep track of mundane ammunition - it's a detail that the character would know about - but as a player, my goal is to advance the story and to interact with my friends.

It frustrates me that many people appear to play one way and the book implies another - this is compounded by the fact that this only applies to a single build of a single class to be completely impotent when out of ammo. Magical thrown weapons return to the user, why not arrows - at least in a way that is not tedious.

Short of having a barrel o' arrows, does anyone else have any suggestions on how to handle this ? I considered just forgetting the whole ammunition count thing when I run a game - as most archers worth their salt would be equipped either through purchasing or crafting (not possible in 4e) new arrows - especially since 100% of them break after use now.

 

[On Puget Sound]

I just assume the rangers in my games craft replacements during their extended rest. The only time I would make an issue of it is if part of the plot involved being out of supply or trapped somehow, in which case water might be a bigger worry than arrows. For general gaming, ammunition procurement can fade into the same background as armor repair and calls of nature...assumed to be taken care of, since it doesn't advance the story.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Hi All -

I played an archer in 3.5 and I have found the same problems now in 4e than I did then - there seems to be a set of rules in place to dictate the amount of ammunition and how it is used, but no method to procure more.

Buy more with money? You're limited by how much you can carry weight-wise, which means you can have a lot in 4E, though I can see you rolling your eyes after the third quiver.

And in 3E's defense, craft, a skill available to almost every class in the game. You can take 10 on it, DC for regular arrows was something like 15 (no books, d20srd.org isn't opening *cries*), so with just a small investment, any concerned archer can spend some time each day making more arrows if the materials are present.

In my groups, we generally don't bother tracking ammunition, though. In fact, when one guy made his first ever archer and stridently insisted on keeping track of every single arrow fired, we all just sort of laughed.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yeah food, water, ammo IMC there is just enough in the good old bag of holding.

If they need to run out story wise, maybe. But otherwise we don't track them

 

[babinro]

There is no real way to challenge the player with this problem. Crafting is probably the best way to go. DM could use the DMG pg 42 (I think) DC's and apply whatever check feels most appropriate for the quality of arrows you intend to create.

If you wanted to be real mean and bog down the game, you could implement a rule of some sort which provides penalties to players who actively carry inventory that would be awkward to physically hold while they fight. This would prevent the purchase of 10 quivers since it would provide countless penalties.

 

[Starfox]

Hi All -

I flat out refuse to keep track of mundane ammunition - it's a detail that the character would know about - but as a player, my goal is to advance the story and to interact with my friends.

There is your solution already!

 

[Kordeth]

Nthing the "as long as the player has a quiver, he has all the mundane ammo he needs." Wizards don't need to worry about running out of bat poo, fighters don't have to worry about mending nicks in their sword blades, and rogues don't have to worry about their lockpicks breaking, so there's no compelling reason to worry about tracking an archer's ammo.

The endless quiver magic item doesn't exist in my campaign--but if you're looking for the RAW answer, it's a level 9 wondrous item in Adventurer's Vault.

 

[Baumi]

Twin Shot can reduce even the biggest Quivers in no-time, which is a bit of a headache if your GM want you to track your Ammunition.

The best solution would be a GM-Rule to ignore mundane things like that, but if he doesn't want you too than you can still work around it.

-) Take more than one Quiver. Two or Three should possible without becoming too unrealistic.

-) Let others carry Quivers for you. I'm sure there are at least one player in your Group who could carry one for you.

-) Buy a bag of holding or an endless Quiver. The endless Quiver stops all the ammunition problems for you, but bag of holding can be used for everyone and still have more then enough space to take a dozen quivers in it.

 

[Bleoberis De Ganis]

I'd just rule that arrows don't break and if they can get to where they fired them (not over a cliff) then they can just pick them up (pull them out.) That is if they won the combat and didn't have to run away.

That should solve most of the pain.

 

[Anthraxus]

I'd just rule that arrows don't break and if they can get to where they fired them (not over a cliff) then they can just pick them up (pull them out.) That is if they won the combat and didn't have to run away.

That should solve most of the pain.

Yeah, they could be retrieving arrows during their short rest between encounters.