Pathfinder 1E Throwing a tiny ally... how could this work?

[RUMBLETiGER]

The context for this idea came from our last session.
We were at camp, heard a scream in the woods, we decided to investigate. My 35lb gnome climbed onto the shoulders of the 22 Strength Orc as the party waded into the woods.
The scream was a distraction, and the NPCs back at camp were being attacked. As we were returning to camp from the woods, cannibals had already dropped some NPCs and were carrying off some others.
The orc had a 20' move speed due to armor, and we had rough terrain. Every round counted, and one NPC died.

Given the above scenario, as we were fleeing to the scene, if it were possible to get my character to combat a round or two sooner than it took us, the NPC likely would not have died. This entire idea stemmed from trying to figure a way to maximize utility out of movement.

Since this throwing maneuver is appearing impractical, I'll simply keep Expeditious Retreat prepared daily. Simpler, effective, way less awesome.

 

[Umbran]

Yes, however it counts as throwing an improvised weapon and uses the above rules, since the sling wasn't really intended to hurl such a heavy stone.

Complete aside....

Being curious, I went to look up the historical weight of sling ammunition. It turns out to be from a couple of ounces to a pound or more. But that's not the interesting part.

The cool thing I found was that historical examples of writing on sling stones abound. Including things like the name of the unit or military commander that used the ammunition, to things like "Ouch", "Take this" and "for Pompey's backside".

Thus, the idea of having a bullet with your name on it is effectively much, much older than I had originally imagined.

 

[Celebrim]

Complete aside....
The cool thing I found was that historical examples of writing on sling stones abound. Including things like the name of the unit or military commander that used the ammunition, to things like "Ouch", "Take this" and "for Pompey's backside".

Thus, the idea of having a bullet with your name on it is effectively much, much older than I had originally imagined.

Yes. I originally encountered this concept in the writing's of Gene Wolfe - the Book of the New Sun ought to be required reading for geeks The particular line that struck me was something to the effect of, "I could tell [the slingers] were true professionals, because on their ammunition was written, 'Strike!'" The idea that the bullet being 'signed' was tied to the professionalism of the soldier was an idea that resonated. The professional was using 'proper' bullets. He wasn't improvising.

Unlike what you'd think from the description of the sling in 3e, slingers were elite units. Slinger mercenaries were highly paid elite professionals. The sling may be simple to construct, but it wasn't simple to use. The sling out ranged every other ancient weapon.

Incidentally, this idea that you showed your professionalism as a soldier by personalizing your ammunition survived into the modern area. Until a recent fit of political correctness got it banned, the soldiers responsible for handling ammunition showed they had properly inspected it, by writing things like "Up yours!", "Boom!", "Saying hello!", and "This one is for you Hitler" on them. A shell or bomb not so written on wasn't considered fit to use, and all of those messages in spirit and possibly in form could be found and would have been understood by ancient slingers.

 

[Starfox]

Why ready or delay? Just have the big guy throw you on his turn, then you take a full round action on your turn. No debate there.

Surviving the throw would be much like surviving an equivalent-distance fall, so invest heavily in Acrobatics. Would Feather Fall mitigate it? I doubt it, but talk to your DM - my thought is that it would either not work for vertical velocity or (less likely) make the throw impossible, but your DM might judge differently.

How far can you be thrown? Half fill a plastic bag with a liter of water and see how well that throws (hint: not very well). Again, acrobatics ought to help here.

See Telekinetic Charge for how the wizard (and others) can do this to their full-size friends.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Why ready or delay? Just have the big guy throw you on his turn, then you take a full round action on your turn. No debate there.

To simplify the justification for a full-round attack at the end.

See Telekinetic Charge for how the wizard (and others) can do this to their full-size friends.

Now this is very useful for a precedent. Thank you, I wasn't aware of this spell.

 

[Celebrim]

I once spent about six months teaching myself to use a sling... Although I could hit a 2ft. square board with it at about 40 ft., I never was able to gain any real accuracy with it. I'd hate to try hunting with one, lol.

The only places in antiquity where slingers could be recruited, were places where they culturally made a point of teaching the sling from childhood. Like the longbow, it's not a weapon you just pick up. It takes 5-10 years to gain real proficiency in it - as I'm sure you discovered.

Both the longbow and the sling were moved to the exotic weapon list for my game. The longbow is, in D&D at least, a strictly better short bow. If anything ought to be treated as an exotic weapon, in terms of balance and flavor, it's the longbow.

 

[BuckyLastard]

Sorry I'm late to the party, everyone has given good solid advice. But shouldn't the person you ask this query of be your GM?

 

[Celebrim]

Sorry I'm late to the party, everyone has given good solid advice. But shouldn't the person you ask this query of be your GM?

When I originally read the question, I assumed that the OP was a GM seeking rules advice.

But yes, ultimately, the GM at an individual table sets the rules. The last thing a GM needs is a player badgering him to adopt some other GM's house rules.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Sorry I'm late to the party, everyone has given good solid advice. But shouldn't the person you ask this query of be your GM?

Indeed, I am a player and I've brought this up to my GM. We actually started discussing this when I first made this post, I simply appreciate the thoughts and insight of these people here.