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Old 11-23-2020, 03:40 PM   #11
phiwum
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston area
Default Re: Not quite getting the arquebus

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadekeep View Post
It's a good point, and really depends on what is intended by the setup. It might be that even with the weapon in hand it takes four turns to set up the stand and lock it to the recoil hook before firing. That's how I would read it, since all weapon times in TFT are considered to be for readied weapons unless otherwise stated (it says how long it takes to reload a crossbow, but doesn't stipulate a second prep time for a cocked bolt). Since this has both, I read it as "four turns to prepare an already loaded arquebus to fire, twelve to reload and ready again". I would allow a player to fire it immediately without the prep time of setting up the stand, but with a DX penalty and possible recoil consequences. This would be similar to some of the "fire from the hip" rules you see in other games, where speed is valued over accuracy.
Yes, I thought about four turns for setup even if readied, but looking at the adventure "Fire in the Temple", it seems that the author (David Pulver) didn't think it took so long. Those arquebusiers wouldn't have been a reasonable defense if they couldn't fire quickly when the weapon was in hand.

Your penalty for immediate firing is an interesting notion.
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