Multiple Types of Arrows

[Ryan Mishler]

Greetings,

I have a very odd, very specific question. I'll do my best to define the situation and have you all let me know what you think.

I have a Zen Archer(monk) playing in my campaign. He doesn't use any standard arrows at all. All of them are special in someway. Tanglefoot Arrows, SplinterCloud, Arrow of Healing, Blunt Arrow, Dragonsbreath Arrow, Serpentstounge Arrow, etc...

He has small amounts of them, sometimes one or more.

He indicates that he has a standard quiver, but identifies them by their arrow knock. (like having different color tips on different kinds of bullets for incendiary or FMJ). Concerning this, the only ruling that I can find asked or otherwise is pulling an arrow is a free action. but what is Picking a specific arrow?

He is still lvl 3 so didn't have enough wealth to start off with an efficient quiver. I don't want to punish him for this necessarily since we are now quite a few sessions in and I've allowed it, but was thinking about it today.

TL;DR:

What kind of action would it be to draw a specific type of arrow from a quiver (even compartmentalized like a golf bag). Player is using approx 6 different types of arrows in a single quiver. (sorry new GM so didn't think it was odd till really looking into it).

[Magda Luckbender]

Seems like that would still be a free action. Picking the right one is why we practice.

[Oncoming_Storm]

Drawing ammunition is a free action.

[Apocryphile]

It's a good question.

I think, by the rules, the player can indeed draw a specific arrow from a quiver like this as a free action.

Now common sense might make you question this, as it probably already has. Before you seriously consider changing your ruling on it you should ponder the following questions;

1. Is the PC spoiling the game for the other players?

2. Is the player keeping track of which arrows have been expended, and then paying the correct price to replace them?

3. Is the player taking a disproportionately long time to take his or her turn in combat (many options for a character can slow a player down).

If the answers to these question in order are no:yes:no then there's not really a problem. GMing is about enabling awesomeness, so as long as everyone gets to be awesome, everyone is having a great time.

The PC must be chewing through the gold buying all those special arrows though, unless they have both craft arrows and alchemy?

But back to "Rules Questions" I think by RAW, they're fine. I'd probably insist they have colour coded fletchings (a different knock isn't easy to see at speed) and a partitioned quiver which cost a little more and weighs a little more too.

Hope some of that helps.

[Gwen Smith]

My Zen Archer has a ton of specialty arrows--and the efficient quiver only holds 60, so it doesn't solve the problem.

In addition to color-coding the fletchings, she keeps them in separate quivers, spaced across her back at an angle, four to each side (the efficient quiver is down the middle, with the really expensive ones and her other bows):
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
(She looks kind of like the NBC peacock.)

The different grouping along with the color coding helps to keep them all straight: she reaches a different direction to access each quiver, and since changing hands is a free action, she can just invert the bow to shoot it with the opposite hand when she needs to draw from the other side. (If a GM questions whether you can do that with a traditional long bow, I can just show him how it works on mine.)

[wraithstrike]

Most GMs just let players pull whatever arrow they want. There is no rule for it however.

[Edymnion]

Actually the efficient quiver can hold a lot more than 60 arrows. It says it has compartments big enough for various things, but it never says they can only be used for those things.

Anyway, the archer in question could simply have different arrow lengths and shafts diameters. Tangleshot Arrows might be short and thick, flight arrows long and thin, etc. His blunt arrows might be fletched with 3 feathers, the splintercloud with 4 feathers, healing arrows with 2 feathers, etc.

That way each arrow is physically different and he can tell the difference by touch.

[Scrapper]

Could double the quiver weight from 3lbs to 6lbs and give it 3 dividers for 10 arrows each and go with no errors in grabbing the wrong arrow, but if they run with a double sized quiver, go with a random roll.

[Ryan Mishler]

Thanks for all the great info, everyone brings up great points and I won't worry about it anymore.

Hope this helps others if they come to the same odd conclusion that I did.

[B. A. Robards-Debardot]

A spell caster can reach into their spell component pouch and pull the correct component out as a free action associated with casting the spell. So I see no problem with an archer pulling a specific arrow.

[CripDyke]

Quote:

A spell caster can reach into their spell component pouch and pull the correct component out as a free action

THAT is an excellent point.

Although Ryan Mishler was already satisfied before you chimed in, components are fiddly, often small, and you must grab exactly the right one.

Wizards must wade through a bunch of components and get the right one to get the exact effect desired.

Archer types are already shafted compared to full casting types - might as well **at least** let them do the physical actions a full caster can do.

[Avianfoo]

Quivers are for the weak. This is true archery.

But as this is the rules forum, choosing correct ammunition and loading it is a free action.

On a side note, I feel the magical item efficient quiver has too few spaces for arrows, but it is a magical extra dimensional storage so I can suspend my disbelief with greater ease.

Hehe... shafted...

[B. A. Robards-Debardot]

Avianfoo wrote:

On a side note, I feel the magical item efficient quiver has too few spaces for arrows, but it is a magical extra dimensional storage so I can suspend my disbelief with greater ease.

Yeah it would be better if said you could hold more arrows in the other compartments, I know a lot of people house rule it that way. There are even some that argue that it can't hold crossbow bolts though. So it can be a problematic item, with it's current wording.

[Gwen Smith]

Edymnion wrote:

Actually the efficient quiver can hold a lot more than 60 arrows. It says it has compartments big enough for various things, but it never says they can only be used for those things.

The compartments say they can hold things "the same size and shape" as the examples. Most GMs I play with restrict that to "only those things that are the same general size and shape". I did get agreement that my large sized arrows (for when my archer gets enlarged*) do fit in the "javelin" pocket, so that helps.

*You have to drop the quiver after you cast enlarge and pick it up again, but I love the giant archer trick.