Infiniti2000 said:
I disagree. You are not fixing the problem in its entirety. Consider a strawman, would you allow a melee fighter to buy arrows and "use them" in all his melee attacks, stacking with the melee weapon (consider such arrows as somehow combining with the melee weapon)?
In other words, think about it in terms of relative differences. Why let an archer pay a lot less for an added bonus than anyone else? (If not arrows in the above hypothetical, think of it in terms of a free action magic weapon wand that grants stacking enhancement bonuses, usable as a non-slotted item.)
The archer is not really paying a lot less than anyone else at all.
Is it better to let the cleric or wizard completely sidestep permanent item bonuses, and have everyone rushing to get +1 toothpicks of swashbuckling, desire, fancy, marvellous, and speed?
I prefer to see there being an opportunity cost involved rather than a simple "no-brainer".
But on to your quandry. I guess I just do not see the problem. If an archer wants to defeat DR/epic IMG, then he needs an arrow with an epic bonus. Those arrows are rather expensive.
Secondly, the melee fighter has often far more interesting options. For instance, power attack, which most will have, ensures that there is little if any wasted BAB over time. The archer in this situation has no other recourse, but to keep plinking away with a near pathetic base 1d6 or 1d8. His only real choice, is "which arrow should I use for this attack?" and "full attack, or scoot-n-shoot?"
The melee fighter gains unlimited access to his Strength bonus from the get go, which an archer does not, without further investment. This was also limited in 3.0 and previous editions.
The archer runs a terrible risk of having his bow sundered if he insists on using it when opponents are even reasonably near (within a move action's distance). Sundering isn't really practible against most magical melee weapons.
Magical arrows are single use items, and even with two or three Quivers of Ehlonna, a high level archer will burn through his arrows at an alarming rate.
Does this mean that I think that archers are weak IMG? No. But it means they are feared opponents, and tend to be taken down quickly, as are the wizards.
You really need to consider the fact that the archer cannot blaze away every battle without consideration of the expense of the resources he is consuming. A +5 arrow costs 1,000 gp, but is really only made in bundles of 50, so single items demand a premium price, and there aren't a lot of them around. Fired from a Mighty +1 Corrosive Long Bow of Speed, it does 1d8 piercing damage +1d6 acid damage +6 +Str. Or 20+str damage maximum, for a single use, (and if the bow is
gmw:ed for a single battle, 24+str) as opposed to....(Using 3.5's rules: 19+Str damage maximum, all day. Or the barbarian's raging twohanded power attack, which, at the same level of investment, would be causing so much damage, the archer is completely left in the dust.
I guess I just like my fantasy to include powerful magical arrows, and rules that actually make sense as to why they would be created. The present ruleset disrupts that. There is no reason why any sane item creator would deign to create such a useless item in 3.5.
