Pincushion


Advice


I'm soon starting a game and intend to get the party to lvl 5-6 by it's end.

I know 1 of the players irl and his fighter is a ranged based fighter.
He was summing up all he feats he'd be taking, special equipment he'd buy (Which i replied is not just easily bought at one's whim), sketching this guy who'd likely chunk away a good portion of hostile hp before a fight even starts. This had me thinking....how do i match such a prospect without cruelly going solely for his throat?

Any ideas? The game will feature approx 60% city environment.


In city environment it's easy to block line of sight. This will also hit any casters rays...

Many low-level spells makes it tough to be a low-level archer (windwall & protection from arrows etc.)

Some critters Luke skeletons have DR 5/slashing or bludgeoning... (may be a 3.5thing, but look for baddies with DR vs. Piercing...)

But also: remember to lethim shine! Let him kill a few encounters from distance etc.


Read up on the rules for lighting and cover. Between crowded alleyways, rooftop positions, random wagons, recessed doorways, piles of trash, water fountains, and vendor stalls, you can also have dark alleyways, shadowed rooftop positions, etc. Fog and rain can also cause trouble (I just realized that my players have NEVER fought in anything but beautiful clear weather... I need to fix that).

Also, remember to mix up the enemies. The fighter will need to decide to focus on the ranged attackers while the close-in types move in to get him in melee, or the incoming brawlers while the ranged attacks rain down on friends. Multiple angles of attack is always a good plan.

Lastly, read about how your allies can provide cover to badguys by standing in the way.

Oh, and make sure the fighter reads these things too.

Rules for Cover
Rules for Concealment
Rules for Vision and Light


@Bacon666, the guy will have some blunt arrows just in case. He will have time to shine, but of course things would go boring if he would shoot down, if not nearly kill anything hostile within shooting distance.

@MurphysParadox, that guy was playing pathfinder and PbP before i started. So he's undoubtly familiar with those. :)

Thanks for the replies. I'll see what will come out of this.

Scarab Sages

Bows have low HP, Low Hardness, and are therefore especially vulnerable to sunder attempts. Don't over-use it, but having a bow broken in a climatic fight will turn the tables on him, and happens somewhat often in fiction. Oliver Queen had his bow broken in Arrow after all.


I watch that show too. :)


You'd be surprised how some people don't know the specific subset of rules like Vision and Light or the particular nuances of Cover and Concealment. Either way, as the GM, you'd want to be absolutely certain you understand them and that the player agrees with your interpretation BEFORE any event involving them comes up.

Also, the spell Shatter can be down right mean to an archer. Just saying.

Scarab Sages

MurphysParadox wrote:


Also, the spell Shatter can be down right mean to an archer. Just saying.

Eh, it only works against non-magical objects, so as soon as the bow is +1 it's safe. Also, it grants a will save to negate it.

What you can do that would be really cool and mean at the same time is to have an enemy Archer fighter make a Ranged sunder against the Archer's bowstring. It's cool, doesn't permanently break the bow while makeing it unusable for the rest of the fight, and a string has 0 hardness and 1 HP.


Ow..that does indeed sound both horrible and cool at the same time. I'll save such a thing for late game if it is suited.


Cities tend to have lots of mobile cover on two or more legs...


True, but not every fight will be in a crowd.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Pincushion All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.