Smoke arrows = auto win?

[jfkg306]

Are they self- lighting? or alchemically self-firing when they strike? (makes more sense). Do you need to light them yourself?

Questions asked for pathfinder society.

does it block the afflicted creatures sight?
does it block the creature from outside view?

The cloud is so small (5ft) That using the rules for

smoke cloud spell doesn't make the most of sense or isn't as apparent to me.

anyone have answers?

[Harley Quinn X]

jfkg306 wrote:

Are they self- lighting? or alchemically self-firing when they strike? (makes more sense). Do you need to light them yourself?

You need to light them yourself. They work as a shootable smokestick, so reference the rules for smokesticks.

"PRD; Arrow, smoke wrote:

Arrow, Smoke: This arrow is actually a specially-shaped smokestick that can be fired from a bow. It trails smoke as it flies, and creates a 5-foot cube of smoke where it strikes. It otherwise functions like a normal arrow in terms of damage, range, and so on.

Questions asked for pathfinder society.

Now, read how you activate a smokestick:

"PRD; Smokestick wrote:

Smokestick: This alchemically treated wooden stick instantly creates thick, opaque smoke when burned. The smoke fills a 10-foot cube (treat the effect as a fog cloud spell, except that a moderate or stronger wind dissipates the smoke in 1 round). The stick is consumed after 1 round, and the smoke dissipates naturally after 1 minute.

So you'd have to burn it, then launch it.

Quote:

does it block the afflicted creatures sight?
does it block the creature from outside view?

The cloud is so small (5ft) That using the rules for

smoke cloud spell doesn't make the most of sense or isn't as apparent to me.

It still uses the rules for a smokestick. While what happens when you hit a creature with a smoke arrow is still a little vague, try looking at it from a different perspective. What would happen if you shoot the stick into an empty square in a 5-foot hallway? You block off vision for the enemy, or you can make the enemy move around if you get many shots. It still has strategic uses.

anyone have answers?

[N N 959]

There was a discussion about these in the rules forum a couple of weeks ago.

1. I've actually never contemplated these needing to be lit. Though per RAW, that seems not unreasonable. However, if they must be lit before being fired to generate smoke, it makes them essentially unusable in combat. The only option is to carry a Tinderwig and light that the round before. So you're spending three rounds to fire one smoke arrow;

Retrieve twig - move
Light twig - move

Light arrow - Standard

fire arrow - standard

What makes more sense is if the arrow had some sort self lighting mechanism, or could be lit the same way a tindertwig is lit.

2. As David has pointed, it works like Cloud of Fog. If you fire the cloud INTO someone's square, the would get concealment (20% miss chance) for 1 minute as long as they remain in that square.

3. A loose reading of RAW suggests that if there is 1 square of smoke between to creatures, they have total concealment from one another.

4. A strict reading RAW suggests that a single smoke arrow can never grant Total Concealment because the Total Concealment rules regarding concealment effects actually require the defender to be in a concealing effect along with the 5' of intervening smoke.