How many arrows does your PC carry? And who keeps count?

[Driddle]

Once battle is joined and the weapons start a'clashin', does anyone at the gaming table actually bother to keep track of how many arrows have been loosed and/or destroyed? Are there any efforts made to collect and recycle ammunition?

I expect that most of you are cheaters who don't bother. { Too-obvious ploy to draw emotional response to thread.}

 

[reveal]

I force my players to keep track of them. If they don't ask about retrieving arrows that didn't hit, I don't remind them.

 

[diaglo]

always keep track.

i keep track of size too.

 

[Wystan]

Funny Story Alert:

I had a character who decided that he needed a WHOLE LOT of arrows. He went to a local Bowyer/Fletcher and decided to buy the guy out. Turned out that the guy had close to 1000 arrows, So he bought a cart and barrels for the arrows and his group proceeded to be followed by a cart full of arrows.

This then proceeded to become a group joke. My guy was a bowyer but the GM took 7-8 play sessions, with me saying (every chance I get) I am working on the bow during downtime, to finally get the bow.

Actually if I recall they might have even been Masterwork arrows....

 

[Warehouse23]

As a rule, I keep track of crossbow bolts fired using hatch-marks on the margin of my character sheet. Each quiver gets its own list:

Bolts +1 (20): |||
MW Bolts (20): ||||

Of course, when you're just using regular old arrows, it's hardly worth it to collect the errant ones...unless you're strapped for resupply.

 

[Khayman]

I keep track of them, and have quivers full of specialty arrows (silver, adamatine, alchemist fire, etc.).

In our historical campaign, we can also retrieve arrows from fallen foes. Just one more use for the trusty dagger...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Players are expected to keep track of their own ammo. Recovery of used ammo is done on a regular basis. I usually let them recover most of the ammo (more than the 50% by the rules), but they know that in the event of a natural 1, that ammo is gone forever.

 

[Klaus]

My players keep track of their arrows. I tell them that for every 2 arrows they fire, they get another back (reflecting the "arrows break 50% of the time").

A character wouldn't forget to search for lost arrows, since he's *there*, whereas the player can forget, with all the describing and moving on to the next scene. So I give them a break.

 

[adwyn]

Most of the time the PCs will have plenty of ammo, but during attrition scenarios I've been known to allocate round toothpicks to players based on the number of arrows each is carrying (usually 20). To shoot an arrow they must spend a toothpick - quick and easy.

 

[Meloncov]

Unless the arrows are enchanted, or they are in situation where they would need to go long periods of time without having acess to new arrows, I don't bother.