Using a buckler

[Maitre Du Donjon]

Hello all,

I'm building a barbarian fighter, focused on archery, even though he'll probably get into his fair share of melee combat.

He'll be equipped of a mighty composite longbow, a buckler on his left arm and armor spikes on his right arm (He'll also be lugging around a falchion, just in case).

My "main" strategy would go something like this: shoot the enemies until they close in, then drop the bow and hammer them with my sleeve of death.

In detail, every round, i was planning something like this:
a) shoot arrow(s)
b) end of round: un-nock bow, and get into defensive position (in case someone approaches and i need to make an AoO
c) next round, leave defensive stance and start shooting arrows if enemies haven't closed in.

My question is regarding b): from the end of my round to the beginning of the next round, will i get the benefit from my buckler and will i be able to take AoO's if the opportunity arises?

Thanks in advance.

Maitre D

 

[Camarath]

What do you mean by "un-nock bow"? It is a Move-Equivalent Action to sheathe a weapon or pick up an item so I am unsure how you could fire more that one arrow per round. I am not certain if you get the buckler's bonus to AC but I am inclined to say, no you would not get the bonus, since you are using a weapon in that hand earlier in the round.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

You must be armed with a melee weapon to get AoO's.

And no, you cannot use the bow and get the bonus in the same round. Don't try to find a loophole, just do some roleplaying.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

You must be armed with a melee weapon to get AoO's.

hence the part about armor spikes on my right arm

And no, you cannot use the bow and get the bonus in the same round.

could I get the bonus if i hadn't used the bow in the previous round but i was still holding it in my left hand? Would i get the bonus if i was holding, say, a torch in my left hand?

Don't try to find a loophole, just do some roleplaying.

what does that mean? :\

 

[Sejs]

You must be armed with a melee weapon to get AoO's.

True, but a spiked gauntlet is a weapon and doesn't occupy the hand it sits on.

So with Spiked Gauntlet (right hand), Buckler (left forearm) and Bow (takes both hands when used) you could fire off arrows, take your right hand off the bow as a free action and threaten an area around you with the gauntlet. This would, however make the bow unready until you take an action to re-ready; Quickdraw would be a good idea. You wouldn't get the buckler's Ac on any round that you used the bow, as you are in effect using both hands to use the weapon.

Unless you take the Shield Expert feat.

The combination is doable. It just involves alot of readying of weapons back and forth.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

It's all about balance: you aren't supposed to use a ranged weapon and threaten the space around you at the same time. IMC, I won't allow something like that, and everywhere else, I discourage it. If you want to play an archer, play an archer. Don't stretch the rules around some stuff to get the best of both worlds, when the intent of the rules was crystal-clear.

 

[Sejs]

So you wouldn't let someone who was focused on duel-wielding daggers in your game, Kae-Yoss?

What about a thri-kreen with a crossbow and 2 melee weapons?

Or someone with a sling in one hand and a shortsword in the other?



There are several ways you can combine melee and ranged combat. Saying you wouldn't allow something because of your interpretation of the intent of the rules is just wrong in my oppinion. If it's not against the rules, I don't think it should be expressly disallowed.


Hell, any character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat is considdered armed even when holding a bow with both hands.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

What you have to remember is that all of the actions in a round are supposed to be happening simultaneously. Sure, we use a cyclic round for easy-of-play, but everyone isn't standing around while the archer is shooting off his arrows. They're doing their stuff too.

So if an archer uses his bow, he doesn't get the AC from his buckler, because both hands are on the bow for the round.

Likewise, if he's using his bow, the right arm Spikes are also out of commission. Just like the buckler, the arm is busy firing the bow.

So no AoOs for you.

Bucklers have already set the precedent. The Spikes are pretty much the same deal.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

So you wouldn't let someone who was focused on duel-wielding daggers in your game, Kae-Yoss?

What about a thri-kreen with a crossbow and 2 melee weapons?

Or someone with a sling in one hand and a shortsword in the other?



There are several ways you can combine melee and ranged combat. Saying you wouldn't allow something because of your interpretation of the intent of the rules is just wrong in my oppinion. If it's not against the rules, I don't think it should be expressly disallowed.


Hell, any character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat is considdered armed even when holding a bow with both hands.

In all of these cases, the PC has a melee weapon available for the entire round. (Even the Improved Unarmed Strike guy could choose to use an unarmed strike in place of any of his bow attacks.) This means AoOs, since the melee weapon is available for whenever one is provoked.

But the PC in question spends a significant portion of the round without a melee weapon available. Only at the end of the round does he ostensibly have one ready. No AoOs.

 

[diaglo]

My question is regarding b): from the end of my round to the beginning of the next round, will i get the benefit from my buckler and will i be able to take AoO's if the opportunity arises?

at the start of combat. you are flat-footed and don't gain the benefit of the buckler. once it is your action. if you choose to fire your bow. you again lose the benefit of the buckler until your next action. if you again use the left arm to attack either with the bow or wielding a weapon two handed (for more power) or attack with spikes on your left arm: you lose the benefit of the buckler.

plus the buckler has a penalty of -1 to all attacks used with weapons in the same hand.