Fumble on firing into melee

[Quickleaf]

fumble table

Typically, I think of the four (or six) (or more! ) worst case scenarios that could occur on a fumble, and then have any player scoring a '1' roll the appropriate die.
In the case of your druid archer, here's a quick idea:

(1d6)
1: Bow string snaps
2: You knock out the light source (they're underground, so I'm assuming they have a torch or something)
3: The arrow breaks and deals half damage to you (1d4 instead of d8)
4: You hit the paladin in melee
5: Arrow hits a trap down the hallway, triggering it
6: The arrow whizzes by the combatants, each must make a Concentration check or be limited to one standard action this round, as they keep an eye out for incoming arrows. Anyone passing the Concentration check gets a +1 bonus to dodge against arrows for remainder of that round (or of the combat, you decide)
7: (and just for fun...) The druid suddenly realizes that the arrows she is using have been carved from a live tree, and swears that she will only use wood that's already fallen to craft her arrows!

 

[Corlon]

I don't agree with the notion that it removes ranged attacks from the game. D8 damage really isn't THAT much to get shot in the back with, and in fact we have instances where one fighter is surrounded by enemies and the wizard says (so, how good exactly IS your reflex save?)

I agree that this can be a problem in low level campaigns (1-4), but it's just a chance people have to take. I disagree with fumbles smacking people, because a 1 would indicate that they missed like crazy rather than almost hitting but smacking the paladin instead. I also don't like 1's snapping bow strings, because that means (statistically of course) that one out of twenty shots will snap your bow string (they're more durable than that!). My players and I have tried out many different systems for fumbles, and they all just seem to be too time consuming for too little gain, so we generally just say it's a miss, with one exception: If you roll a one, roll again, if THAT's a 1 (1/400 now, much less odds) than you drop your weapon, or throw it away, or the bow string snaps, or whatever I feel like happening.

 

[was]

"I also don't like 1's snapping bow strings, because that means (statistically of course) that one out of twenty shots will snap your bow string (they're more durable than that!)."
-I think you may be misinterpreting the rule of chance in this. I have been playing a ranger bowman once a week for the last six to seven months and have only broken my bow string twice. Basically it equates to a 1 in 20 chance of breaking your string each time you fire. The odds are not cumulative. You don't break one every 20th time you fire. Statistically speaking, that equates to a .05% chance of breakage each time you fire. Those are not bad odds.