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<blockquote data-quote="Jeff Wilder" data-source="post: 4244840" data-attributes="member: 5122">If you want it to be a close contest, you probably don't want to do a standard 1-3-5-7-9 competition at a ringed target.&nbsp; The discrepancy between the shooters is likely to be very great (and impossible to disguise, because you're tracking points so closely).&nbsp; This is just a function of D20's linear resolution.&nbsp; And BTW, that discrepancy will surprisingly often favor the inferior archer.&nbsp; Again, a function of the d20.It would be better to have a trinary target.&nbsp; Something like a deer silhouette, with the heart-shot highlighted.&nbsp; Set the AC for the target as a whole low, but the AC for the heart-shot pretty high.&nbsp; (I'd suggest making the AC high enough that the superior archer needs a natural 18+ to hit it; this is easily justifiable by means of setting the range.&nbsp; You should set the AC of the whole target in relation to the inferior shooter, by making him or her miss only on, say, a natural 1 to 3.)Then score the match very simply:Three misses (of the entire target), and the archer is eliminated.&nbsp; Three (maybe two) heart-shots, and the archer is victorious.&nbsp; In a set-up like this, the superior archer is very likely to win (less skilled archers will often need natural 20s for heart-shots, if you calibrate high based on the superior archer), but there's always the possibility of the less skilled archer getting lucky.&nbsp; More importantly, with the victory conditions (and a low AC for the target as a whole) a less skilled archer is likely to compete closely, at least from all appearances, which is what you want.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jeff Wilder, post: 4244840, member: 5122"] If you want it to be a close contest, you probably don't want to do a standard 1-3-5-7-9 competition at a ringed target. The discrepancy between the shooters is likely to be very great (and impossible to disguise, because you're tracking points so closely). This is just a function of D20's linear resolution. And BTW, that discrepancy will surprisingly often favor the [i]inferior[/i] archer. Again, a function of the d20. It would be better to have a trinary target. Something like a deer silhouette, with the heart-shot highlighted. Set the AC for the target as a whole low, but the AC for the heart-shot pretty high. (I'd suggest making the AC high enough that the superior archer needs a natural 18+ to hit it; this is easily justifiable by means of setting the range. You should set the AC of the whole target in relation to the inferior shooter, by making him or her miss only on, say, a natural 1 to 3.) Then score the match very simply: Three misses (of the entire target), and the archer is eliminated. Three (maybe two) heart-shots, and the archer is victorious. In a set-up like this, the superior archer is very likely to win (less skilled archers will often need natural 20s for heart-shots, if you calibrate high based on the superior archer), but there's always the possibility of the less skilled archer getting lucky. More importantly, with the victory conditions (and a low AC for the target as a whole) a less skilled archer is likely to compete closely, at least from all appearances, which is what you want. [/QUOTE]

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