Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 5611574" data-attributes="member: 13966">Yes, a reasonably well-trained archer could.  But a green recruit (i.e. 1st-level or the like) who only barely knows how to use a bow properly is going to be relatively slow at loading, pulling, aiming, and firing the bow (especially if the target is moving, which any creature not immobilized, surprised, or helpless is automatically assumed to be doing, even if only within his or her individual 5-foot combat space).If he trains enough (Rapid Shot feat or reaching 6th-level etc.), he'll get comfortable enough with the weapon to handle the whole process faster and smoother.  And given the abstraction of rounds and turns, a standard action is more like 3-1/2 or 4 seconds, with a move action being roughly 2-1/2 seconds or so of the turn.Also, note that attacks/round are somewhat abstract in D&D; the one attack per round with a standard action is the one "good" attack that actually has a chance of hitting something rather than just being a brief feint or set-up or the like.  D&D combat is abstract, and always has been.  Doesn't always make perfect sense, but there's a balance that needs to be struck between realism, game-balance, and practicality in game mechanics.If you want to just do away with the normal action-limits per round as a houserule, that's your prerogative when DMing.  But if you allow 2 standard actions per round, then combats are going to get a lot quicker and deadlier for PCs and NPCs alike (plus, it'll make the extra attack from a +6 BAB on full-attack actions worthless, unless you decide to have full-attacks at +6 BAB and higher simply add on to the 2 regular attacks per round that would be doable with 2 standard actions in the same round).When the orc barbarian closes in on your buddy's rogue, that rogue is gonna die twice as quick and quite possibly before the party's cleric can heal him enough (though with 2 standard actions allowed per round, at least the cleric could then cast 2 Cure spells per round, if the rogue survives the barbarian's double-attacks long enough for the cleric to get there and start double-casting).  And when the dark elf wizard starts flinging Fireballs at your party, he's gonna fling a double-whammy for 10d6 total fire damage to the entire party instead of 5d6 on the first round, before the party cleric can try damage-control with Cures and before the party's own wizard has time to down a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds to save himself.  And that ogre's gonna bash the party fighter twice as rapidly.While the PCs will also be more dangerous with two standard actions per round, they'll also have to rest twice as often and twice as soon, because of all the damage they'll be taking and all the daily spells etc. they'll use up in each fight.  Initiative becomes more important, and whoever wins initiative is likely to win the fight then, given the double-casting or double-attacking they'll be able to do.  Normally this is an issue that only comes up at high levels, but at least then casters are limited by the limitations and drawbacks of Quicken Spell etc.</blockquote>

Verification