Best ranges weapon for rogue

[dave_in_TX]

I'm somewhat new to GURPS and am finding the number of turns it takes to fire a ranged weapon. I understand you can use Weapon Master (Bow) and/or Heroic Archer and reduce the number of turns. Is there a better ranged weapon for rogues. Fighting face to face doesn't seem great due to the lousy armor class of the rogue.

Thanks!

Dave

[weby]

Of course the real answer is a blaster pistol(just ask Han Solo), but somehow most GMs do not allow those in fantasy games.

But more seriously it depends a lot on your point budget.

But if you want to be able to do something without too many points and expect to be fairly close to the enemies then thrown weapons might be a good choice. Basically for them you need enough of the weapons, fast draw(that type weapon) and the thrown weapon skill. If you have enough points then a weapon master that includes the weapon.

Good possible choices are:
knives: They are light so you can carry many, they do impaling damage so are effective against unarmored/low armored foes, specially if you learn targeted attack vitals. But they are kind of ineffective against armored foes doe to low base damage.
Axe/mace; Do swing damage so more base damage and more improvement at higher strength. They also have bit longer ranges. But they are heavier so you can carry less. Also the damage type of cut/crush is worse than impaling.

If you have more points available then the bow tends to be better in many cases if you get heroic archer and enough skill to hit from further. The ability to do imp+3 damage against unarmored foes and pi+3 with armor divisor 2 against armored tends to be pretty good.

Even at higher point budgets the thrown weapons do win in being much easier to hide than a bow.

[ArchonShiva]

Another thing in favour of knives and other small thrown weapons is the very low Bulk stat, letting you Move and Attack easily with them.

GURPS combat is on a second-by-second basis, and melee combat usually involves a lot of successful parries. The expectation that you should successfully hit once to several times per turn as in other games tends to be less true here.

[Edges]

I have found that the humble javelin strikes a good balance between fast, light, accurate, and damaging.

[Fred Brackin]

I think what you want is actually the humble sling. Its' advantages are;

It's cheap

It's concealable

It's based off of Swing damage rather than Thrust

Regular "ammo" is free and highly available and even lead bullets are cheap

It also adapts easily to special ammo needs

It works when it's _wet_

I'd tell you that it was pretty close to being a Lakota-class superweapon but that's an old Gurps joke that you might not get.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I think what you want is actually the humble sling. Its' advantages are;

There are also the advantage of if using the standard magic system cornucopia of sling lead bullets only costs $50.

But slings have a big disadvantage over other missile weapons: It is hard to hit with a sling.

The sling skill is hard, thrown weapons are easy so there is a -2 compared to thrown for quick shots. The accuracies are comparable.

Also slings are slower to use than thrown weapons.

As for bows the sling is only -1 to hit for quick shots. But bows have higher accuracies.

I have not actually ever seen anyone select the sling though several people have thought about it, mainly due to the low resulting skill unless you put a lot of points into it.

[mlangsdorf]

A lightly armored, moderate ST character has roughly 4 options for combat:
1. pick a light fencing weapon like main-gauche and get high skill and Weapon Master. main gauches with WM do acceptable damage and can target vitals or eyes for extra damage. Main gauches can be used in close combat at no penalty, so getting in close can mostly negate bigger weapons.
2. get a bow or sling and Heroic Archer/Slinger for rapid fire.
3. be sneaky, get behind people, backstab, and run away.
4. accept you aren't going to be good in combat and focus on something else.

thrown weapons with low ST aren't very impressive. even if you focus on them, the rate of fire, damage, and accuracy is not that good.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

thrown weapons with low ST aren't very impressive. even if you focus on them, the rate of fire, damage, and accuracy is not that good.

This is definitely true, though there are some options that can improve damage. Poison is probably the big one. Even sticking to just real-world poisons, there are a couple that can be fairly effective on a combat timescale: cantharides and viper venom (both Low-Tech, p. 129) have very short or no delays when delivered via weapon, and add decent amounts of damage. And if you're playing Dungeon Fantasy, or another style of fantasy games, then various magical or alchemical poisons can have even more impressive effects.

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I think what you want is actually the humble sling. Its' advantages are. . . .

I would add that with a small investment in Leatherworking skill you can make one quickly & with few tools/materials (only a sharp object & a no-longer-living animal . . .)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by weby

I have not actually ever seen anyone select the sling though several people have thought about it, mainly due to the low resulting skill unless you put a lot of points into it.

I have, though mostly for shorter races that would have a harder time getting a decent bow. Though those living underground (shorter typical range, lots of free ammo) and those in swamps or very wet areas (Including merfolk) would find slings more durable then bows.

Typically however for a Rogue type I like throwing knives for the reasons already given.