D&D (2024) Poll) Will the DMG2024 have Infinite Quivers?

[CleverNickName]

I can't remember ever running right out but I can remember many many a time when I conserved them - as in, did something other than shooting when my ammo supply was low - in order to not completely run out, so I'd still have a couple if I really needed them.

I think this is the most interesting part of the argument: the effect that ammo tracking can have on the narrative. It's less about counting arrows, and more about the amount of control the player has over the story and whether they need to make decisions and contingencies on the fly. The DM might be trying to build tension, or create a dramatic Hollywood-style shootout scene with high stakes, but the player doesn't want the DM to have this much control over their character's narrative, and wants their character to have all options available in every round of combat.

Compare the shootouts in those old 1950s western movies, where Clint Eastwood could shoot his Colt .45 revolver all day long without ever reloading, to more modern movies like Dirty Harry's famous "I know what you're thinking: 'did he fire six shots, or only five?'" monologue.

Personally, I think that having to track my ammo makes for a more interesting and engaging encounter. I especially like campaigns with multiple kinds of ammo to choose from, and I like having new situations and circumstances to react to...without them, I end up doing the same thing in the same way on every round of every battle and then getting bored by Round 3. But I recognize that not everyone feels the same way...some people are the total opposite. I have players in my gaming group who have optimized their character so completely that anything not optimized feels like a wasted action.

Me: "Alright guys, I'm down to my last three arrows...but I bet those hobgoblins I dropped have a full quiver each. I ready my spear, it's time to go 'shopping' for arrows!"​

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Bob: "Why would anybody carry a spear? A spear does d6 but a longbow does d8, so I'm never going to--wait, we're tracking ammo!? That's so lame!"​

Bob and I are both correct, but it's hard for us to both play at the same table because:

Me: "Okay, I'm gonna go grab their quivers. Cover me, Bob! I dash across the battlefield to the sniper nest!"​

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Bob: "Dude, why are you tracking ammo anyway? We agreed that ammo wasn't being tracked. Just shoot your bow again, man."​

And that is why I think this is such an interesting discussion. While Bob and I are both right, we can't both be right at the same time. One of us is going to have to roll their eyes and groan "wHaTeVeR," and the other is going to feel like a jerk for pushing the issue. It might not matter much on the character sheets, but it matters a great deal to the narrative, to the tone and pacing of the story.

In the barricade scene of Les Miserables, Gavroche sacrifices himself trying to recover ammunition from fallen men on the battlefield and deliver it to the allies, falsely hoping that his own countrymen wouldn't dare shoot a child. It's an incredibly moving scene that shows the bravery, desperation, and futility of the rebels, contrasted with the brutality and ruthless efficiency of the government--but in a story where ammo is infinite, that scene won't exist.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

One issue with ammo in 5e is that the encumbrance rules are such that it is trivial to carry absurd amount of arrows. And if you track and are in danger of running out them, then that's what you logically should do. But then we actually end up with an unrealistic outcome: the characters carrying way more arrows than a real archer would, and as we count the arrows we're constantly reminded of this fact.

Like someone already said, counting arrows would work better in system with much more stringent limits on what you can carry, so you'd actually need to make some choices about what to bring. But 5 really isn't that sort of a system.

 

[Micah Sweet]

One issue with ammo in 5e is that the encumbrance rules are such that it is trivial to carry absurd amount of arrows. And if you track and are in danger of running out them, then that's what you logically should do. But then we actually end up with an unrealistic outcome: the characters carrying way more arrows than a real archer would, and as we count the arrows we're constantly reminded of this fact.

Like someone already said, counting arrows would work better in system with much more stringent limits on what you can carry, so you'd actually need to make some choices about what to bring. But 5 really isn't that sort of a system.

D&D really isn't that sort of system. Other versions of 5e can be, at least more than WotC's. Encumbrance rules in Level Up, while not as realistic as I might want all the time, are more grounded at least than D&D 5e.