"Smart Arrows" are fruit (not in a soft, watery way!) and _do_ die and rot quickly (a few weeks) if not preserved by the rare preservation ceremony, which has some awkward requirements. Then their lifespan is measured in seasons (for some varieties) to decades for the longest-lived... this assumes they are _not_ being removed from their ceremonial resting place to go hunting, etc, which seriously lowers the effectiveness of the preservation rite.
Multimissile does work with the arrows, but only creates a bog-standard arrow with no special powers.
The "Lock on" arrow is not an idea I favour, and thus I really would relegate it to a rare and difficult to achieve Hero ability. It's the sort of ability that _makes_ someone a notable combat Hero.
Sureshot - I don't view this as a lock-on effect, and I don't see it going arround corners. It ignores camouflage, not cover. You just for a while have a very magical weapon that moves your arms, etc for you and controls the shooting - hence no experience check.
I don't think elves worship Golden Bow very widely, although IMHO they could get Sureshot from their _bows_ if they really wanted it, which are, after all, living weapon spirits. But do elves really need/use Sureshot? Arrow Trance is much more common, it feels much better to use (a real Zen experience... there are Human Archers that are drawn into Aldrya just by the lure of the elf bow Zen experience) and in game terms is more deadly in most situations (180% attack at least for even a reasonably practiced elf...). How are elven strike teams able to repulse larger elf/dwarf/troll forces? Archery like you wouldn't believe! :-) They sit up in trees, Chameleoned, Silenced and Tranced, shooting (magically enhanced, poisoned?) arrows that must seem to come out of nowhere. Nasty....
Ducks - Michael Cule and buddies seem to have a problem with my attitude towards the tiny terrors! Well, tough, Ducks _are_ silly looking and cowardly; I'll take on a legion in a fight any time. Why, I'd even go... <strangled scream as Paul goes down under a hail of lower-body blows, never (?) to be seen again>
:-)
Paul.
Powered by hypermail