Ranged Attacks and Splitting attacks rule

[Blindhamster]

Should the characters skill for firing an arrow be reduced by 50 per attack made with a bow? Splitting attacks suggests yes but i want to make sure ive read it right

[Akhôrahil]

29 minutes ago, Blindhamster said:

Should the characters skill for firing an arrow be reduced by 50 per attack made with a bow? Splitting attacks suggests yes but i want to make sure ive read it right

No - multiple attacks in a round by merely being quick isn’t splitting. If you somehow allowed a character to fire two arrows at once, Legolas-style (don’t allow that), then it would be splitting.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Akhôrahil

[Blindhamster]

err, are you sure about that? Are you suggesting that any character can make multiple attacks at full % so long as it fits? as that really isn't how it read to me... (i.e. Size SR2, Dex SR1 Broadsword SR2 = 5 so two attacks at full %?)

 

the rules for splitting attacks specifically say you make attack 1 at the normal SR and then attack 2 at the normal SR + the normal SR, those attacks would be at -50. If you could fit a third in (above person using an SR 1 weapon for example) then the attacks would require a base % of 150 and be at -100 each.

This to me suggests you can't just make multiple attacks at normal % if it fits into a melee round as it would make the splitting attacks rules make zero sense.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Blindhamster

[Akhôrahil]

4 minutes ago, Blindhamster said:

err, are you sure about that? Are you suggesting that any character can make multiple attacks at full % so long as it fits? as that really isn't how it read to me... (i.e. Size SR2, Dex SR1 Broadsword SR2 = 5 so two attacks at full %?

Yes, but the rule explicitly bars you from doing that in melee - otherwise it would work.

[Blindhamster]

thanks, just reread and saw the two lines that clarify this! Doh!

[tnli]

Although, the ability to shoot two arrows at once at half-skill each is a neat heroquest-ability in my book. If you’re worried about the ramifications, state that it costs 1 magic point per use. Actually, is it then weaker than multi-missile?

An extra heroquest could widen it to three arrows at third-skill each.

[Akhôrahil]

7 minutes ago, tnli said:

Although, the ability to shoot two arrows at once at half-skill each is a neat heroquest-ability in my book.

Oh, totally!

By the way, one of my players realized that Multimissile (especially when cast by a spirit for extra speed of action) is great way to roll more fumbles than anyone else. 🙂 Broke the bow on the second shot in the game. Double-arrow shots would do much the same.

Splitting this way is weaker than Multimissile, but you also don't actually have to cast the Multimissile, plus at least you still get Impales and Criticals. I would not put any MP cost on it.Probably the best use is when you get a lot of bonuses, such as when firing into a formation and don't care who you hit.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Akhôrahil

[soltakss]

On 8/7/2020 at 2:25 PM, tnli said:

Although, the ability to shoot two arrows at once at half-skill each is a neat heroquest-ability in my book. If you’re worried about the ramifications, state that it costs 1 magic point per use. Actually, is it then weaker than multi-missile?

You could make it a stackable Runespell, each point allows one more missle but reduces the skill, so 1 point = 2 missiles at half chance (/2), 2 points = 3 missiles at /3 chance and so on.

On 8/7/2020 at 2:29 PM, Akhôrahil said:

Splitting this way is weaker than Multimissile, but you also don't actually have to cast the Multimissile, plus at least you still get Impales and Criticals. I would not put any MP cost on it.Probably the best use is when you get a lot of bonuses, such as when firing into a formation and don't care who you hit.

You could cast Multimissile on each arrow, though.

We had a Runespell in our old RQ3 game that allowed Multimissile to target multiple foes. It wasn't stackable, though, it just allowed the shots to hit close-together targets.

[Akhôrahil]

31 minutes ago, soltakss said:

You could cast Multimissile on each arrow, though.

True, but that takes some extra time, and suffers from the reduced chance to hit. If you have 200% on your attack though, go wild!

[Kloster]

On 8/8/2020 at 4:57 PM, Akhôrahil said:

True, but that takes some extra time, and suffers from the reduced chance to hit. If you have 200% on your attack though, go wild!

You could (I haven't checked if it still the case) cast the spell in advance. In RQ3, Spirit Magic had a duration of 5mn, so you could 3 or 4 multimissile 4 in advance and you had 5 mn to fire the arrows. Another possibility is to have a matrix, with linked Magic Point storage, and a condition for casting. IIRC, in that case, the casting was instant.

[soltakss]

You could also use Multispell to cast the Multimissiles. An allied spirit with Multispell, access to Multimissile and some stored MPs could crank out Multimissiles as often as needed