Re: Re: OT: arrow lethality

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 11:00:52 -0700


> Personally I would not fancy trying to run to catch up with a sneaky
> archer just after he put an arrow through one of my lungs, leave that
> sort of thing for berserkers and similar idiots. A dagger is a
> different story, the person who did it is within reach already and
> the weapon is not stuck most of the way through the victim.

That's what followers are for. What? you didn't take a Healer as a follower? Any warrior probably has basic first aid - not enough to keep you from dying, but enough to keep you from dying in the next few minutes.... (Say, Warrior-10: it's better than *nothing*, but not much). Most know enough *not* to pull an arrow out of a sucking chest wound, but a Minor or Marginal victory wouldn't be a SCW anyway. The other followers will probably head into the brush to flush out the sniper (if you're really unlucky, they both know where you are, *and* have long-range magic to target you with).

And remember, Death is Only the Begi... No, wait, that's from _The Mummy_. Umm, oh yes, Death is In the Hands of the Narrator. There is no real "One-Shot-Kill" (outside of Secrets) available to players - even a CdG requires that a target already be down. *BUT* if you, as narrator, decide that any successful shot from ambush kills the guy, then it kills the guy.

And as a Narrator you should make sure that all hell probably breaks loose soon thereafter - either the Lunars come and round up and execute 20 random villagers from the closest village, or the Clan whose son you just shot comes round to light the rooftrees of your stead, or... Even if it's not *your* village or stead that takes the first hit, sooner or later someone is going to finger you for the murder. Special Anti-terrorist sqauds will comb the area for you (Humakt or Etyries make good Anti-terrorists - Sense Ambush is useful, and I would probably allow some sort of improvised "Sense Murderer" for Humakt if I seriously wanted to discourage Ambushing), Lhankor Mhy has "See Past Events" and Irripi Ontor has "See Historical Event" - it may take a few castings, but he'll probably backtrack you...), Probably just about all cultures will have something similar. Sniping from ambush or assassination may be an end to an immediate problem, but it usually raises bigger problems, often *much* bigger! (The asassination of Archduke Ferdinand lead to World War I...).

Personally, I don't think that a 1w Hero has much of a right to expect a close-to-instant kill when sniping. That single Bump Up from "1" is usually needed just to make sure you are successful - a 10w or better is more like it for minimal right to complain - at least you have a 50-50 chance of rolling a Success and bumping it to a Critical. A 1w Hero probably won't have the necessary Abiltiy Ratings to Augment too high, If he rolls well he might expect +6-8 points from Sneaking, Arrow Magic, etc.

Roderick

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