Archer assistance
- Thread starter Belbarrus
- Start date
Magic Slim
First Post
dagger said:
IIRC you can carry 60 arrows, 18 javelins and 6 bows in there. Just fill them all up with arrows instead, and you should be set.
Slim
I think that ignoring the issue of ammunition for projectile weapons is a little bit more of a balance issue than not keeping track of torches or melee weapons wearing out, personally. Yes, it can be an annoying bit of reality intruding, but the use of those weapons is designed with that fact in mind.
Without keeping track of ammunition, every projectile weapon is effectively a magical one that produces ammunition automatically, which is a pretty impressive improvement over the ordinary kind.
Anyway, while a magic item that provides around a hundred arrow storage capacity is certainly handy, the “4 levels” of time scenario still means that they will all be fired and broken before the end of the trip. It is not hard for an archer to go through 15 in an encounter. Some way of repairing or producing arrows is still likely to be necessary.
Without keeping track of ammunition, every projectile weapon is effectively a magical one that produces ammunition automatically, which is a pretty impressive improvement over the ordinary kind.
Anyway, while a magic item that provides around a hundred arrow storage capacity is certainly handy, the “4 levels” of time scenario still means that they will all be fired and broken before the end of the trip. It is not hard for an archer to go through 15 in an encounter. Some way of repairing or producing arrows is still likely to be necessary.
Zad
First Post
It's not that you completely ignore it. But at mid and high levels, if the players take reasonable steps to manage their ammo based on how much they use, then that's good enough and you don't have to count every arrow fired/retrieved/fixed/etc.
Player: "Hm, I'm up to 4 attacks a round and using a lot of ammo. I buy a bag of holding and load it with arrows"
DM: Ok good enough.
The idea of a magical item to help archers is one I thought a lot about. Here is a suggestion from my website that may help you.
Page 179 of the Player's handbook talks about how wizards can research independant spells. it also mentions that Bard's and Sorcerer's can learn unusual spells. With this in mind it is easy to follow these rules to convert the Psionic spell BOLT into an arcane spell. Once this is done, the GM can use the magic item creation chart on page 285 of the DMG to creat a bow of nevernending arrows. The spell would be use-activated which is spell level x caster level x 2000. This price is them multipled by the duration of the spells. Since the wizard, bard or socerer would need the Craft arms and armor feat the caster level would be a minimum of 5th. The BOLT spell has a duration of 2 round. So the cost would be 0 (spell level) x 5 (caster level) x 2000 x 4 = 40,000 gp. You would need to add in the cost of a +1 weapon. So we add 2,000 to the cost for a total of 42,000 gp. The item would look smething like this:
Name:
Bow of Neverending arrows
Decription:
These cherry oak long bows +1 are etched with elven runes. When the string is drawn back the runes glow and an arrow is created. These arrows are nonmagical in nature. If a magical arrow is notched in the bow it fires as normal and an arrow is not created.
Caster Level:
10th
Prerequisites:
Craft Wondrous Item; minor creation
Market Price:
42,000 gp
Caster Cost in GP:
21,000
Caster Cost in XP:
1680
If the GM wishes he/she may use the Minor Creation spell in place of the Bolt spell. I hope this helps
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cristo
www.d20stuff.com
Page 179 of the Player's handbook talks about how wizards can research independant spells. it also mentions that Bard's and Sorcerer's can learn unusual spells. With this in mind it is easy to follow these rules to convert the Psionic spell BOLT into an arcane spell. Once this is done, the GM can use the magic item creation chart on page 285 of the DMG to creat a bow of nevernending arrows. The spell would be use-activated which is spell level x caster level x 2000. This price is them multipled by the duration of the spells. Since the wizard, bard or socerer would need the Craft arms and armor feat the caster level would be a minimum of 5th. The BOLT spell has a duration of 2 round. So the cost would be 0 (spell level) x 5 (caster level) x 2000 x 4 = 40,000 gp. You would need to add in the cost of a +1 weapon. So we add 2,000 to the cost for a total of 42,000 gp. The item would look smething like this:
Name:
Bow of Neverending arrows
Decription:
These cherry oak long bows +1 are etched with elven runes. When the string is drawn back the runes glow and an arrow is created. These arrows are nonmagical in nature. If a magical arrow is notched in the bow it fires as normal and an arrow is not created.
Caster Level:
10th
Prerequisites:
Craft Wondrous Item; minor creation
Market Price:
42,000 gp
Caster Cost in GP:
21,000
Caster Cost in XP:
1680
If the GM wishes he/she may use the Minor Creation spell in place of the Bolt spell. I hope this helps
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cristo
www.d20stuff.com
Belbarrus
First Post
Just using the Core rules (ver 3.5), I thought of using Nizuls Wonderous Pigments (sp?). The magic item that lets you "paint" something that becomes real. I thought of carrying 2-3 pots of this. If I run out of arrows, I just paint up a few hundred more. You can make normal items up to 2000gp value. You cannot make 'valuable' material like gems or mithral, but you can make mundane items.
Two problems though. From the description, you can only make ONE item. It can be up to 100 square feet (or something like that), but it can only be one item. Also, the pigments required a Craft (Painting) DC 15 check.
I think if the DM allowed the magic pigments to 'paint' 2000gp worth of ordinary arrows, then this could help with the problem
B
Two problems though. From the description, you can only make ONE item. It can be up to 100 square feet (or something like that), but it can only be one item. Also, the pigments required a Craft (Painting) DC 15 check.
I think if the DM allowed the magic pigments to 'paint' 2000gp worth of ordinary arrows, then this could help with the problem
B
FrankTrollman
First Post
Since a single casting of Fabricate will get you upwards of ninety cubic feet of arrows, and that's thirty-two thousand, four hundred arrows - the only real question is how you are going to carry them all, and/or make them magical.
Assuming that you are using some version of my Cleric Archer - you are going to be looking at probably having to cast at most two Greater Magic Weapons in a day.
If you've gone to the 3.5 rule set, you'll want to be cast Align Weapon spells as well.
In any case, you can carry 200 arrows at a time without difficulty, and once you are cast GMW you don't even need your arrows to be high quality. Have your party wizard cast Fabricate once every couple of weeks - that should be plenty.
Craft Fletching is usable untrained, so your Wizard should be able to make the requisite skill checks by taking 10.
-Frank
Assuming that you are using some version of my Cleric Archer - you are going to be looking at probably having to cast at most two Greater Magic Weapons in a day.
If you've gone to the 3.5 rule set, you'll want to be cast Align Weapon spells as well.
In any case, you can carry 200 arrows at a time without difficulty, and once you are cast GMW you don't even need your arrows to be high quality. Have your party wizard cast Fabricate once every couple of weeks - that should be plenty.
Craft Fletching is usable untrained, so your Wizard should be able to make the requisite skill checks by taking 10.
-Frank
Zaruthustran
The tingling means it’s working!
Zad said:
Yep. My DM uses this rule for ammunition, food, water, and other mundane expendables:
Don't track it. It's not important until it is.
Which means that arrows and food and such just don't matter most of the time. The characters can forage, or take such items from enemies, or spend a few silver pieces and replenish, or make their own, or whatever.
But if you're suddenly shipwrecked, or fighting an unstoppable horde, or stripped and locked in a cell--when the story makes it necessary--then and only then must every consumable be tracked.
Because at that point it's fun.
When it's not fun don't bother tracking it.
Or, like someone else suggested, look at is this way: do you really think that the spell component pouch purchased at 1st level is still supplying that Archmage with material components? No way. But it's assumed that mage regularly replenishes his component pouch or gets new pouches. Same goes for the Fighter's "Traveller's outfit" that has survived acid pools, lava, falls down mountains, a passage into and out of a dire shark's mouth, multiple fireballs, and hundreds of weapon wounds.
Whatever. Details. Play the game!
-z
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