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Old 01-10-2018, 06:47 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by mlangsdorf View Post
Bring your buckler and let their arrows swash against it.
But, can't a buckler or a shield block an attack just once?

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Old 01-10-2018, 07:32 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by mlangsdorf View Post
A high skill archer can trade-off skill for penalties on the target's Dodge roll, but he can't do squat about a shield.
where are the rules for this? i could use something like this for my homebrew and innate attack ki blasts or lasers.
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Old 01-10-2018, 09:11 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth View Post
There's no sensible way for an obligate melee guy to be advantaged against multiple shooters starting the engagement from good positions.
Agreed. If shooters didn't enjoy a significant advantage over melee fighters when properly shooting from far off, people wouldn't use ranged weapons.

Solutions for the swashbucklers are as everyone has suggested: get behind cover, or counterattack as quickly as possible, or don't get ambushed in the first place.

Shields are a help, though as noted, they can only block one arrow per turn. One aid to the swashbucklers might be rules that allow shields to act as cover, not just tools for active defense. That allows a shield to stop multiple arrows per turn – or even stop an arrow when the fighter doesn't have an active defense (something not possible under RAW, I believe).

I don't think there are any published options for treating shields as cover. You can read my take here; others might have alternate takes. In any case, such an option might make a difference when shield-charging those pesky bowmen!
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Old 01-11-2018, 04:09 AM   #14
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

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Originally Posted by Hide View Post
Magic exists, but it is not widely employed right now; the campaign is more or less cinematic...
OK if you can't persuade the GM to allow parrying arrows as a setting tweak, you could go with Parry missile skill (I guess you have a good basic DX). Tie that with Enhanced parry and trained by a master for multiple parries.

Acrobatic dodge is good

Does "Dodge this" in Pyramid 57 allow for parrying arrows (I don't have access to it where I am right now)

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Originally Posted by Hide View Post
But, can't a buckler or a shield block an attack just once?

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MA allows for multiple blocks but at a hefty -5 penalty.

Last edited by Tomsdad; 01-11-2018 at 07:41 AM.
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Old 01-11-2018, 05:04 AM   #15
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

The pavis was specifically designed for this situation. It should be treated as movable cover. You stand it up and duck behind it until they shoot a volley. Then you advance a few steps and do it again. This tactic won't help you catch the archers but it will let you capture and hold ground.
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Last edited by DanHoward; 01-11-2018 at 05:11 AM.
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Old 01-11-2018, 05:52 AM   #16
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

It should not be possible for a single melee expert to counter a half-dozen archers, especially heroic archers. If nothing else, they can just ping you until you fail on a defense or they critically succeed on an attack. Even a character with dodge 16 ends up being hit with 2% of the attacks that succeed and all of the attacks that critically succeed (so around 4% of the time). The only plausible solution is to use Stealth and close the distance before they start to fire.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:35 AM   #17
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

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Originally Posted by Hide View Post
Hey there, I am playing a swashbuckler and I have been struggling a lot, against archers and their bows. They are in the hills, then far away behind rocks, then we have those heroic archers that run away and shoot.

Normally it is 3-8 archers, against a party of 4.
None of us has ranged attacks (this setting was for testing purposes; however, it got fun and then this happened).

I need to something to stop this, but I would not like to employ a bow (bows are nice, but I don't want to employ bows).

What can I do?
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Smoke granades, camouflage skill. Also, always good to have some blood hounds that can give chase to the enemy. And finally, hire some archer henchman yourselves.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:43 AM   #18
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

A little bit of repeating what others have said:

Shields. Shields are an awesome counter to just about anything but guns and artillery. You point out that you can only block once. Shields don't just help with blocking. Shields add to your dodge score as well. Of course, that might not feel very "swash-bucklery"

Acrobatic dodge. Use it whenever possible. its awesome, and it makes you look awesome.

The approach. Stealth has been mentioned, but you can also take cover behind these annoying rocks, approach from the wrong side of the hill, and generally play the maneuver game. You can also present yourselves as non-threatening and get them to come within shouting distance, then pull out your hidden weapons and go to town. Or, speaking of town, engage them in an urban environment.
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Old 01-11-2018, 07:15 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Hide View Post
Magic exists, but it is not widely employed right now; the campaign is more or less cinematic. Considering I would need to take at least 2 enemies, would a dragon pistol work or crossbow work against 2 heroic archers? (TL4).

I must be faster than them.

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My 2 cents, assuming that probably your character isn't very well armoured.

1) As other people wisely said, a shield is strongly recommended. If you want to save weight and mobility, a Medium Light Buckler would be a good choice: DB 2, 7 lbs., $45, DR 2, HP 16, Cover DR 6. Otherwise you can opt for a Medium Heavy Buckler (DB 2, 14 lbs., $60, DR 4, HP 20, Cover DR 9) or for a Dueling Long Shield (DB 3, 16 lbs., $200, DR 4, HP 21, Cover DR 9, can be used for hook at Shield-2 or Staff-4). You can block once, but DB bonus applies even for Dodge if the threat comes from the front or from your shield's side, and you can hold the shield firm to protect your neck and your torso from incoming arrows (only from the front of course, not from back or sides).

2) Combine a shield with a pair of pistols or throwing weapons (darts and javelins will work very well if enemy archers are unarmoured).

Basically, the tactic is 1) take ground, preparing your ranged weapons an aiming at them 2) reached the right distance, use your ranged weapons against theirs 3) draw your melee weapon and charge. Naturally could work or not, depending on terrain and enemy number and tactics. If you're hugely outnumbered, some of their archers could easily outflank you and hit you from the back while others stand and shoot in front of you.
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Old 01-11-2018, 07:47 AM   #20
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Default Re: Countering archers and bows?

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Originally Posted by Hide View Post
None of us has ranged attacks
Well there's your problem. And the fact that you have had archers attack you may be your GM's way to exploiting this weakness clueing in the group that they need to get some range. So that's something to discuss with the group.

As far as your character, a Swashbuckler tends to be fast, and total cover is the best defense so find some and duck behind it. This should give options to fire back, move from cover to cover, stay in the tall grass (stealth), etc. Now if the GM keeps giving the enemies cover, but leaves the players in a flat empty plain... that's a whole other problem.
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