Carrying Strung bow 24x7

[Saeviomagy]

This means that in surprise wilderness encounters the bowmen have to spend a round getting their weapon ready for use - which seems a fair tradeoff considering that they will be able to take full attacks for almost all the combat and don't have to worry so much about enduring their opponents blows...

Unless of course their opponents, you know, close with them. Which seems likely to say the least, especially with the current rules on encounter distance.

Combined with the round to ready the weapon, this would seem to make it quite likely that being any sort of archer in your game is a bit crap, unless you're in cramped quarters.

That seems a little counter-intuitive to me.

My earlier point about prestidigitation is that you use it once a day to clean and maintain everyone's weapons and armour, keeping them in tip-top shape, not to mention showering everyone, making the trail rations palatable and making the fighter literally smell like roses for a while purely for amusement value. Not that you keep it running to mystically string your bow.

 

[TheEvil]

So how long can you leave a bow strung without damage? I expect some of the longer RL battles had archers using their bows for 8 hours or more at a stretch. Seems that unless the party is force marching, there is no real reason that you can't travel through dangerous terrain with the bow strung.

 

[Rackhir]

Sounds like the basic debate comes down to "How much do you want to screw archers by dragging in RL stuff that doesn't really fit into D&D/Impose Realistic constraints on characters ". There are more than sufficient ways rationalize things either way if you wish.

For my 2 cents, D&D is not a realistic system, it abstracts a lot of the little gritty things that make so many things problematic in RL. IRL, a single guy surrounded by enemies will die, no matter how good a fighter he is. In D&D a 10th lv fighter surrounded by 1 hd orcs is in about as much danger as an elephant is from a kitty cat.

You can also waste an incredible amount of time on things that are essentially minor issues. Armor should be getting damaged in every combat. Shields would be battered into garbage after a heavy fight. Characters have to eat 3 meals a day, do you want them to be making "cooking" skill rolls to see if anyone gets food poisoning? Blades need to be sharpened, should that be tracked?

Bows being strung to me falls into this sort of category. Its an irrelevent detail that adds nothing to the campaign.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Unless of course their opponents, you know, close with them. Which seems likely to say the least, especially with the current rules on encounter distance.

Hence I said "surprise". Duh.

 

[rvalle]

There should be a happy middle ground here. Any time the characters are knowingly walking into a dangerous situation it can be asumed that weapons are readied (probably done while the spell casters cast their buffs, etc). Walking along a well patrolled road near a friendly town... probably not ready.

The same sort of logic applys to when characters are wearing their armor. In most cases the details are left out. The player does not have to say 'I take my armor off for the night'. Or 'I don my armor in the morning'. Its assumed. Nothing about putting on each piece or tighening each strap. Nice and simple. Maintinace of armor is assumed to happen during camp or between adventures. Same could be said with the bow. Strings are replaced at the first sign of wear or stretching or even ala oil changes after x number of days or x number of arrows fired. A compitant archer would be expected to have a number of bow strings on him at all times for such replacement just as a fighter is going to have some replacement leather straps for his armor (or whatever he needs).

But... there are times when they will be caught without armor. And there are rules for how long it takes to put the armor on. I think the bow discussion is trying to come up with the same sort of idea.

rv

 

[Storyteller01]

Wouldn't bother with it as an everyday occurance (characters will deal with it the same way they deal with breathing; it manitenance they deal with), but it could make for some good RP on occassion.

Odyssius was the only mna strong enough to string his bow. Japanese diakyu stories tell of archers bragging about HOW MANY men it took to string their bows.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Sounds like the basic debate comes down to "How much do you want to screw archers by dragging in RL stuff that doesn't really fit into D&D/Impose Realistic constraints on characters ". There are more than sufficient ways rationalize things either way if you wish.

Ditto. Bows are strug 24/7. They don't need to be unstrung ever.

 

[Vlos]

Yes rvalle, come up with how long it takes, because from a semi-realistic setting, as it seems unrealisitic to walk around with it strung all the time.

Our group is moving forward with not having them strung all the time, and taking a round to string, and a round to remove both ends of a cut string (they are tied on each end).

It is assumed that in dangerous areas that they will have their bow strung.

 

[Abraxas]

Our group is moving forward with not having them strung all the time, and taking a round to string, and a round to remove both ends of a cut string (they are tied on each end).

Umm, bow strings aren't tied on the ends. The ends are loops that fit into nocks on the ends of the bow.

I would suggest a move action to string a bow - if you're going to go with this level of detail.

 

[thalmin]

Looped strings are a newer development. Historically they were tied. YMMV. Either way, Stringing a bow would take more than a round, loops and all, even if the string doesn't need to be untangled (around the neck at the ready). I think my best time for re-stringing a bow with loops and a ready string was around 10-15 seconds. That was for a 30# bow. (I supervised the archery range at scout camp for quite a few years.)