[TFT] Archery Tournament Question

[sjmiller]

To be honest, I am not sure if I am reading this correctly. Basically the contestant rolls a standard attack roll with all appropriate modifiers. The table on page 20 is consulted and the total attack roll is compared to the chart. Whatever line they fit in is where they hit. Is that correct?

If so, then most characters will always split another arrow. Or at the very least get a Bull's Eye. One of my players is an archery specialist fighter. He has an 18 Dex, is Fighter 4, has Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, and Weapon Focus feats. This means, before rolling the dice, we already know he is going to hit the Bull's Eye. If he rolls a 4+ he splits another arrow. Even if you took a fighter with average stats, at 4th level with the same feats, he would typically split another arrow (average roll of 10, +4 for fighter level, +1 for Weapon Focus, for a total of 15).

Am I completely reading this wrong?

 

[Morrus]

I'm trying to remember - it was some years ago and I don't have the text in front of me. If I recall correctly, we assumed that most PCs of mid-level were "Robin Hood" equivalents, and would be able to accomplish that feat. The way it gets more difficult is with range modifiers - start moving the target further and further away once you've weeded out all the commoners and 1st level warriors.

 

[sjmiller]

I'm trying to remember - it was some years ago and I don't have the text in front of me. If I recall correctly, we assumed that most PCs of mid-level were "Robin Hood" equivalents, and would be able to accomplish that feat. The way it gets more difficult is with range modifiers - start moving the target further and further away once you've weeded out all the commoners and 1st level warriors.

Wow, so you are saying that until the target gets 3 or 4 range increments back that a moderately lucky/skilled contestant should pretty much have nothing to worry about? Wow, very interesting indeed. Not the way I would have thought of doing it, that's for sure.

 

[Morrus]

I'm really working from a vague memory. It was a long time ago! I'd have to look over it again, to be honest. It may get changed if RW updates the product.

 

[sjmiller]

I'm really working from a vague memory. It was a long time ago! I'd have to look over it again, to be honest. It may get changed if RW updates the product.

That's quite fine, thanks. I know how vague and fickle the mind can be sometimes, especially when you are trying to pull out information that is a couple of years old! If I get the okay to do so I will post how archery tournaments are going to be handled in Sherwood: The Robin Hood Sourcebook (coming soon to a game store near you!)

 

[Morrus]

Sure!

 

[BSF]

I have run TFT Archery tournaments in the recent past. Like you I was a bit surprised at the initial success rates. Then I realized how hard it would be for your average warriors to actually reach those numbers. Tweaked out PCs should be able to outclass the average folk pretty quickly. Range modifiers start to get prohibitively burdensome at a point. Overall, I liked the feel. But that is because I started from the outset of the campaign with the idea that characters above 11th level would be fairly rare.

My group of 8th level PCs is already very competent in the worldview. They are on their way to being legendary (11th or higher per the Legend Lore spell.) I also thought about it in terms of people that are out adventuring. They are intentionally seeking out dangerous situations and choosing to shoot arrows into melee combat, etc. Standing on a calm archery range and shooting at a non-moving target would seem relatively easy in comparison.

But that is a design decision for my campaign. If you think the DC is too easy to hit, just bump it up. Perhaps by 5? If you are also playing a game that exceeds 25-point buy, you might bump it a bit to reflect that as well. Further, scrap the splitting an arrow DC and instead lookup the difficulty as expressed for hitting something with 90% cover.

Just a few ideas.