Come again - you can't shoot bows in melee while in melee?

[Particle_Man]

I think that you are not turning lemons into lemonade here.

Let your DM have his ruling. Then research a teleport item/enchantment spell combo that magically teleports bows and arrows into your meelee opponent's hands, and forces them to use them (this is the enchantment(compel) part).

I mean, that is a free +35 AC for you. Take advantage of your DM's stupidity!

 

[TheEvil]

No.

As he quoted: "Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other."

It's not unclear - if either one threatens, then both of them are engaged in melee, not just one of them.

-Hyp.

I guess what my mother said is as true in D&D as it was in sibling brawls: It takes two to tango...

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

This also applies if you are in the threatened square and shooting at the foe that threatens you - since you are now shooting into melee.

Could I get a confirmation on that statement? I would tend to disagree with it...

Shooting or Throwing into a Melee: If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll.

Is a character considered his own friend?

If you shoot at an enemy that threatens and/or is threatened by an ally, you get a -4 penalty. If you shoot at an emeny that threatens you, and only you, I would not think that you'd get the -4 penalty...

Thanks in advance

AR

 

[reanjr]

That's a really bizzare ruling. Not enough momentum? Does that mean he is claming the arrow gains speed in midair?

No, no no, that would just be dumb. He's claiming it gains MASS while in midair.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Could I get a confirmation on that statement? I would tend to disagree with it...



Is a character considered his own friend?

If you shoot at an enemy that threatens and/or is threatened by an ally, you get a -4 penalty. If you shoot at an emeny that threatens you, and only you, I would not think that you'd get the -4 penalty...

Thanks in advance

AR

I don't think you are considered your own ally unless something specifically mentions that you are, such as most of the Bard abilities.

 

[reanjr]

I'm guessing the argument _might_ be that on a long bow you are very unlikely to have the arrow finish leaving the bowstring before it hits it's target. So it won't end up going full speed.

But I'm just guessing....

Hard to say whether that would really matter or not. Instead of the velocity of the arrow pushing it into the target, the potential energy of the bowstring would do it instead. The initial armor/skin break would work a bit differently, but once the arrow has entered it should be about the same.

 

[reanjr]

When longbows were used historically, it was generally in arced volleys rather than "direct fire". After the arrow has reached the apex of it's arc, it gains momentum from gravity as it falls. Therefore the further (higher) it is fired, the more momentum will be behind it when it hits.

Ummm... that does not make any sense. Conservation of energy. We can presume the mass of the objects involved is not changing. The is potential energy stored in the bowstring that is converted to kinetic energy in the arrow. That's it. Unless you can figure out some magical source of energy in the scenario described, it just doesn't work that way.

 

[reanjr]

Edit: Already covered