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Old 11-11-2009, 06:31 PM   #1
MacGregor
 
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Default Breaking arrows

Quick question. How often to arrows, or bolts, break when used?
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Old 11-11-2009, 06:33 PM   #2
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

This was covered, IIRC, in Low-Tech originally. I suspect we may see a rule in the new Low-Tech.
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Old 11-11-2009, 06:47 PM   #3
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

Alas, I do not have Low-tech. Maybe someday.

Until then, and unless somebody gives me a better idea, I think arrows and bolts will break on a 1 or 2 on a d6, and fine quality arrows and bolts break on a 1. Sound good?
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Old 11-11-2009, 08:09 PM   #4
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

The one game I played in where this ever came up the GM ruled that arrows broke on a Bow or Crossbow roll of 7 for quality arrows or 9 for regular arrows. There is no second die roll and it doesn't matter if you hit or miss, you know the arrow is recoverable right away.

And the percentages match pretty close to 1 in 6 or 1-2 in 6.
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Old 11-11-2009, 09:33 PM   #5
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

My ruling has always been about Major Wounds. If it's a Major Wound, there's a risk of bleeding, and the impaling weapon is stuck in the victim. Its being stuck in the victim ruins it.

Ones that just injure or miss the victim aren't stuck and can be retrieved and reused, but need a little cleaning up, sharpening, whatever.

It's rarely an issue, though. The combat is usually over long before anyone runs out of ammo.
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Old 11-12-2009, 04:39 AM   #6
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

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Originally Posted by Kyle Aaron View Post
My ruling has always been about Major Wounds. If it's a Major Wound, there's a risk of bleeding, and the impaling weapon is stuck in the victim. Its being stuck in the victim ruins it.

Ones that just injure or miss the victim aren't stuck and can be retrieved and reused, but need a little cleaning up, sharpening, whatever.

It's rarely an issue, though. The combat is usually over long before anyone runs out of ammo.
It is not an issue for one combat, but rather series of combats, and determining how they depleate the parties resources.
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Old 11-12-2009, 08:05 AM   #7
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

Quote:
Originally Posted by MacGregor View Post
Quick question. How often to arrows, or bolts, break when used?
Let say that it depends if the arrow is carbonium fixed or made out by wood. I do practice bow, and I can say that none of my arrow got broken, even if sometimes them hit the ground. I can summarize that Carbonium high-tech arrows will broke only on a critical failure.
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Old 11-12-2009, 08:23 AM   #8
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

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Originally Posted by blacksmith View Post
It is not an issue for one combat, but rather series of combats, and determining how they depleate the parties resources.
Exactly. If you're three or four days out from the nearest town where you could expect to resupply, and your scout runs out of arrows, he's going to be very sad.

While replacement arrows of acceptable quality can be made "in the field" with Armory, these issues become especially critical for specialty, expensive ammunition. Meteoric iron arrows? Silver arrows? Flaming Arrows +2 vs Orcs? Harder to make out of town.

Especially in the case of alternate non-magical materials, like meteoric iron or silver, but even with regular steel it also becomes of acute interest whether the arrowhead is recoverable and can be attached to a new shaft, or whether the archer is reduced to flint knapping, or even plain sharpened wooden sticks.
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Old 11-12-2009, 09:02 AM   #9
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

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Originally Posted by DorianTheMen View Post
L. I do practice bow, and I can say that none of my arrow got broken, even if sometimes them hit the ground.
From long ago (in High School) there was an archery section in phys ed. The practice arrows got _lots_ of use and were re-used for a long time.

We never had a shaft damaged. We lost heads, we lost feathers, we lost nocks. The ones without practice heads still got shot and still stuck in the targets. I think the ones that lost nocks got new ones cut into them with a pocket knife. Even the ones that lost a feather may have gotten re-used but they did seem to be less accurate.

Some wore out eventually but it was a very extended process.

The messing about with archery that occurred when my Father tried out bowhunting yielded similar results.

Incidentally, I have Incompetence:Archery though ir may be a Physical Quirk linked to my awful vision. You can't correct your aiming technique if you can't tell whether or not you hit. I'm not sure the result would qualify as a true random number generator or not but it might be close.

For shaft damage you're going to need some sort of scenario where your arrow sticks in and the target rolls over on it or it misses or falls out and gets stepped on. Relatively low probability stuff.

The D&D convention I've always seen used of "50% survival if it messes, automatically destroyed if it hits." is completely unrealistic to my knowledge.

The "Can you find your misses?" may be more realistic if you're suffering time constraints, but if you can find the arrow you can almost always salvage some part of it. The heads are the part you can't make in the field.
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Old 11-12-2009, 09:11 AM   #10
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Default Re: Breaking arrows

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
We never had a shaft damaged. We lost heads, we lost feathers, we lost nocks.
I don't think people usually particularly care what part of the arrow is damaged - just whether it's a fireable arrow any more. And lost heads, lost feathers, and lost nocks would at least impact the flight characterstics and ability to penetrate IE range, accuracy, damage, and damage type. Those are all broken arrows in the coloquial "It doesn't work. It is broken." sense, not the more precise "It has cracked or snapped, rather than bending or being abraded or being on fire. It is broken." sense.

Going into further detail about the head, specifically, is something I'm interested in only because that tends to be the bit made out of something exotic and involves doing the damage and changing the weight of the arrow - replacing the feathers with sub-optimal feathers from a sub-optimal species is probably below GURPS resolution, but firing an arrow without flights at all definitely is within the resolution of the game system, as is firing an arrow initially balanced for a steel broadhead after the head comes off. I have NO CLUE what effect loosing the knock would do.
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