DMs who want to stop Archers without being too mean.
- Thread starter Bob5th
- Start date
Sagan Darkside
First Post
Bob5th said:
Six of one. Half a dozen of the other.
I would consider it the same result.
If you want to deal with any party effectively, then have the villians be intelligent. Have them gather info on their targets, and use wise tactics against them.
It is kind of hard to shoot arrows when grappled/eaten/held/or already filled with arrows.
SD
jdavis
First Post
be very strict on encumberance and make sure the archers count every single arrow. This is a limited resource, a archer without arrows is a guy with a big club. Smart opponents will also help, having high level opponents who just sit 30 feet away and take it won't get you very far, having the archers charged by foes who realize that they have a huge advantage in melee combat over a guy with a bow in his hand makes more sense.
Tzarevitch
First Post
The easiest method to deal with archers is block line of sight:
Cover and Concealment are the easiest. Strangely, by the rules, concealment is better because it gives a %miss chance. Cover just grants an AC bonus that most archers can overcome. NPCs as a general rule should always take advantage of natural cover unless they are in a barren landscape.
Other more elaborate forms of concealment come from spells such as Obscuring Mist and from alchemical smoke sticks. Tower shields were also historically used for cover from missile fire.
Protection from Arrows is a fairly useless spell so don't rely on it. Wind Wall on the other hand is a wonderful protection from missile fire. Combattants and melee attacks can pass through but missile fire can't.
Counterbattery fire also works well. Have NPCs wth bows or something else return fire.
BTW, why are you so reluctant to sunder the bow? You are declining to use the most effective available means of keeping archers in line then wondering why you can't keep archers in line. In one of the games I play in, the DM regularly sunders the archer's bow if he is foolish enough to use it within range of a melee combattant's charge attack. The nice thing about this tactic is that the archer can't counter the sunder attack very well.
Tzarevitch
Cover and Concealment are the easiest. Strangely, by the rules, concealment is better because it gives a %miss chance. Cover just grants an AC bonus that most archers can overcome. NPCs as a general rule should always take advantage of natural cover unless they are in a barren landscape.
Other more elaborate forms of concealment come from spells such as Obscuring Mist and from alchemical smoke sticks. Tower shields were also historically used for cover from missile fire.
Protection from Arrows is a fairly useless spell so don't rely on it. Wind Wall on the other hand is a wonderful protection from missile fire. Combattants and melee attacks can pass through but missile fire can't.
Counterbattery fire also works well. Have NPCs wth bows or something else return fire.
BTW, why are you so reluctant to sunder the bow? You are declining to use the most effective available means of keeping archers in line then wondering why you can't keep archers in line. In one of the games I play in, the DM regularly sunders the archer's bow if he is foolish enough to use it within range of a melee combattant's charge attack. The nice thing about this tactic is that the archer can't counter the sunder attack very well.
Tzarevitch
Sir Whiskers
First Post
Tanglefoot bags are an effective non-magical counter to archers. If the archer makes his save:
* -2 attack rolls
* -4 effective Dex
* move at half speed
If he misses the save, as above, and:
* cannot move at all
Once the archer is pinned in place, either get to melee range, or start targeting him with spells (anything with a Reflex save will likely be effective).
* -2 attack rolls
* -4 effective Dex
* move at half speed
If he misses the save, as above, and:
* cannot move at all
Once the archer is pinned in place, either get to melee range, or start targeting him with spells (anything with a Reflex save will likely be effective).
That would depend on what you were finding annoying and what you wished to stop the archers from doing?
Presumably you want to reduce the amount of damage the archers are dishing out. For example, if you can deny the archers GMW, their effectiveness drops drastically.
Monks are also an effective counter to archers.
Creatures with DR and an anti-magic shell make for a real headache.
Twisting corredors with limited line of sight also reduce their effectiveness, especially if it's single file and you drop their meat shield.
Presumably you want to reduce the amount of damage the archers are dishing out. For example, if you can deny the archers GMW, their effectiveness drops drastically.
Monks are also an effective counter to archers.
Creatures with DR and an anti-magic shell make for a real headache.
Twisting corredors with limited line of sight also reduce their effectiveness, especially if it's single file and you drop their meat shield.
diaglo
Adventurer
most DMs already handicap the archer. they use the rules for encounter distance.
a mighty composite long bow has a total range of what? 1100 ft. and most encounters occur where? within 120 ft.
concealment. don't forgot lighting. with the new rules for shadows coming in 3.11ed things might change, but right now things are bad for night time archers.
a mighty composite long bow has a total range of what? 1100 ft. and most encounters occur where? within 120 ft.
concealment. don't forgot lighting. with the new rules for shadows coming in 3.11ed things might change, but right now things are bad for night time archers.
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