Speed of an arrow?

[buchw001]

I've recently come across something very interesting.


...Does speed have a factor? What if, the monk's land speed is so fast, that he can run faster than the arrows itself(as per the spell haste, the feat run, the feat sprint, etc.?)...

I would appriciate any help in this.

-Kash

As far as the speed of an arrow I usually say 200 - 250 feet per second depending on the type of bow, type of arrow and such.

Here are two links that might help

http://www.timberline-archery.com/arrow_speed.asp

http://www.pinwheelsoftware.com/h-CalculateArrowVelocity.html

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Providing Cover -

THe way I would rule this is by allowing the monk to take a ready action to move into the way of the arrow. For each 5' he has to move the DC of the Deflect Arrow feat rises by 5.
Using my house rules for intervening characters, he could provide up to 4 + Dex mod of AC bonus to the Griffon. An attack that misses due to the cover provided would strike the monk.

Provided the Griffon drops to prone and fights defensively it can gain upwards of +12 to its AC. I would not grant them the -4 penalty for melee combantants as that is for not hurting one of the melee'ists.

Of course, the monk would be limited to protecting the Griffon and would need outside help to end the combat. Perhaps it would be wiser to go searching for the invisible archer, using spot/listen etc to identify where the target is.

JMHO

 

[Tilla the Hun (work)]

Ignoring the griffon for a moment - (sorry, the title of the thread caught my eye ) consider the speed of an arrow.

Ok - now get any real life images out of your head, lets deal with DnD's FRPG mechanics. For some odd reason, drawing an arrow and shooting it is, technically, a free action. Free actions take an 'insignificant' portion of time, or occur instantly. It's weird, I've house-ruled around it, then dropped the house rule in favor of simplicity, but it's there. So the only real question is how far the arrow can travel in round, as this would, by it's nature, give us the speed of the arrow. Range increments depend on the type of bow in question - I'll use the Long Bow as an example (change out the range increment as suitable for the weapon in question) with it's 110' range increment.

Each range increment is a -2 to the attack roll. Regardless of other bonuses, it's reasonable to assume that a -20 to the attack roll from range means the arrow can't be shot any further (just try making a spot check to 'see' the target at that range in my game!). That's 10 range increments, or 1100'. That's actually reasonable, IMHO. (I know, I said drop real world images, but medieval long bows could shoot 3-400 yards and did so for combat purposes, just not hunting purposes )

Let's round the 1100' up to 1200' for easier divisions. If a 30' base comes to 120' flat out run, then the base move of an arrow is 300', but it's always running flat out.

Now, back to the monk and griffon. If the attacker is inside of that 300', I'd rule the monk unable to deflect the shots unless he's within 5' of the arrows path. If the attacker is outside the 300' limit, then I'd allow the monk to extend his deflection ability by 5' for every 300' increment, with a corresponding increase in dc of 5 (for 3.0)


In all honesty, I'd probably go ahead use the 110' range increment as the distance modifier for the monk. Makes sense for OpFor to close into range and find a line of fire that bypasses the monk. Course, that's assuming you don't start targeting the monk himself

 

[buchw001]

Nice Analysis

Ignoring the griffon for a moment - (sorry, the title of the thread caught my eye ) consider the speed of an arrow.

Ok - now get any real life images out of your head, lets deal with DnD's FRPG mechanics. For some odd reason, drawing an arrow and shooting it is, technically, a free action. Free actions take an 'insignificant' portion of time, or occur instantly. It's weird, I've house-ruled around it, then dropped the house rule in favor of simplicity, but it's there. So the only real question is how far the arrow can travel in round, as this would, by it's nature, give us the speed of the arrow. Range increments depend on the type of bow in question - I'll use the Long Bow as an example (change out the range increment as suitable for the weapon in question) with it's 110' range increment.

Each range increment is a -2 to the attack roll. Regardless of other bonuses, it's reasonable to assume that a -20 to the attack roll from range means the arrow can't be shot any further (just try making a spot check to 'see' the target at that range in my game!). That's 10 range increments, or 1100'. That's actually reasonable, IMHO. (I know, I said drop real world images, but medieval long bows could shoot 3-400 yards and did so for combat purposes, just not hunting purposes )

Let's round the 1100' up to 1200' for easier divisions. If a 30' base comes to 120' flat out run, then the base move of an arrow is 300', but it's always running flat out.

Now, back to the monk and griffon. If the attacker is inside of that 300', I'd rule the monk unable to deflect the shots unless he's within 5' of the arrows path. If the attacker is outside the 300' limit, then I'd allow the monk to extend his deflection ability by 5' for every 300' increment, with a corresponding increase in dc of 5 (for 3.0)


In all honesty, I'd probably go ahead use the 110' range increment as the distance modifier for the monk. Makes sense for OpFor to close into range and find a line of fire that bypasses the monk. Course, that's assuming you don't start targeting the monk himself

I have to say I agree. We can not use real world explinations for D&D and I believe your rulings both legal (by the rules) and just (not TOO far off from the real world).