Re: archery

[John Hogg <johnhogg@expert.cc.purdue.edu>]

Ok,
Archery ...

What I propose will still allow the maximum range for the bows to be what
they are now, based upon the skill of the wielder (pretty cool, eh?), and
resolve the issue about doubling range at the price of -6 to hit

First, the -6 to hit for double range should be dropped outright because
of the way it interacts with existing rules (Ironically it allows those
whom are completely incompetent with a bow to be more lethal at extended
range than someone with great skill.  Let me explain:

The premise behind doubling range and sacrificing accuracy was at least,
in part based on engaging masses of incoming troops, ostensibly in tight
formations.

Now, assuming the original MDV of the troops are a conservative 12,
someone with a Missle Mod = 0 firing at maximum range hits only on 19 or 
20 (a crit).

That is, 1 in 2 hits is a crit.

A more experienced bowman with a MM = 5 would hit on 14-20.

That is, 1 in 7 hits is a crit.

As the rules state that when firing on masses of troops, a miss simply
results in a roll on another target (# of potential targets up to GM).

In the premise of a large mass of troops, and therefore large number of
secondary targets to be additional rolls when the bowman misses, the
rookie kills more people outright than the veteran simply because he rolls
more piercing crits.

Proposal:
========
1)	Maximum range on a bow and effective range on a bow are two
	completely different animals.
	Example:  the bow (from the '96 manual printing) has a range of
	160 feet, a bit over 50 yards.  Undoubtedly, one could fire a shaft
	farther, but not with any accuracy or damage and still be within
	the rules.
2)	However, giving Skippy the wonderbowman a bigger bow doesn't make
	just as easy to aim and hit at twice the range, it merely allows 
	the arrow to do some (admittedly impressive) damage when it gets
	there, and makes the trajectory a bit more linear (perhaps
	SLIGHTLY easier to aim as a result, but we already agreed we
	don't want to get into the battle of +1's)

I suggest:

1)	Reducing the new bow and crossbow ranges considerably ... not
because the hardware can't deliver a payload at a dramatic range, but
because as Wright said (paraphrased), he'd be lucky to SEE a target at
that range, let alone hit it.

Therefore reduce the printed range on the weapon list (the effective
range) for the weapon.

2)	Check out the Artillery skill.  One of the abilities of the
Artillery skill is extending range.  Incorporate this into the Missle
weapon skill.

I believe extending range is done as follows:

add 25% of the weapons printed (effective) range per each D6 rolled
against the skill ... up to an additional 100%.

However, weapon breaks (overstressed) on a roll of 1 on attacking D20 (I
presume BEFORE missle mod is added)

This would also make the missle weapon skills worth having above 7 or 12
(almost solely for quickdraw)

Simpler than range tables AND skill based

John Hogg				johnhogg@expert.cc.purdue.edu
"Adventure?  Excitement?  A jedi craves not these things."
						-Silent Bob, "Mallrats"