D&D 4E Looks like 4e's combat is closer, and I LIKE it!!

[Stalker0]

I recommend Physics 101. You are soo wrong.

He's actually including the calculations you probably didn't have in physics 101

Basic physics teaches you that you can divide ballistic motion into an X and Y coordinate motion. Basically as the arrow flies out in an X direction, it falls in the Y direction due to gravity.

However, these numbers don't take into account the fact that an arrow is designed similar to an airplane, generating lift with its speed. This counteracts the force of gravity somewhat.

 

[Minicol]

But yeah, you'd have to be some kind of wire-guided laser-archer to be able to hit people reliably at the ranges D&D allows. The idea that an archer at 200 yards is as dangerous as a comparable swordsman at 2 is pretty much ludicrous.

.

Maybe you guys should start reading about the Azincourt medieval battle again ?

Even though D&D has never been realistic, that sort of things really bug me, as I like to envision fight scenes from a real world point of view when designing them.

 

[ppaladin123]

Ok you are right....if the arrow gets some lift it can travel farther than gravity would normally allow. I didn't factor that in. Anybody have a good idea how much lift an arrow can expect?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

no idea, but if you put enough energy behind it and you don´t neglect that earth is a ball, then the arrow actually will never touch the ground again...

other than that: i doubt the arrow gains too much updrift during flight though.

 

[hong]

Maybe you guys should start reading about the Azincourt medieval battle again ?

Even though D&D has never been realistic, that sort of things really bug me, as I like to envision fight scenes from a real world point of view when designing them.

Well, yes. That's massed volley fire, as opposed to single aimed shots.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

They also think it wasn't so much the archers that did the job but the French themselves.

The French essentially suffocated themselves, they were packed in tight at the bottleneck the masses of armour and horses began to churn up the dirt into mud and soon they were just collapsing into themselves.

So the longbow wasn't the weapon that won the day, it was the dagger the archers used against the downed and collapsed French troops.

 

[Li Shenron]

While they were a good touch of realism, I'm not sad at seeing ranged weapons increments gone. At least, 10 different range increments were too many...

OTOH I don't understand why for some people the long-range combat possibilities of 3e were detracting from close-combat... after all most of the adventures take place in dungeons, and it's not that removing long ranges has any significant effect when you fight at close range.

Personally, the only regret is that maybe it's a bit hard now to have snipers, or to recreate some scene with an enemy wizard shooting fireballs (or whatever) from afar, but they are things that don't happen that often in our games, and could be done with a special ability.

 

[hong]

No doubt there'll be some funky sniper ability that doubles your range or something. It's a classic schtick, after all.

 

[Stalker0]

OTOH I don't understand why for some people the long-range combat possibilities of 3e were detracting from close-combat... after all most of the adventures take place in dungeons, and it's not that removing long ranges has any significant effect when you fight at close range.

You know what they say about assumptions...

I personally hate dungeon adventures for the most part, I prefer open air ones when I dm. Everyone got a preference.

 

[Stalker0]

OTOH I don't understand why for some people the long-range combat possibilities of 3e were detracting from close-combat... after all most of the adventures take place in dungeons, and it's not that removing long ranges has any significant effect when you fight at close range.

You know what they say about assumptions...

I personally hate dungeon adventures for the most part, I prefer open air ones when I dm. Everyone has a preference.