> This is all very well, but one of the reasons why I like Hero Wars
is that I
> don't have to keep track of number of arrows, how many days' worth
of food I
> have, etc.
Sure. I didn't have any desire to introduce counting numbers of arrows in any way, the abstraction of HW is precsiely what draws me to it (and as we probably agree, the issue of realism is moot). My problem is trying mediate the need for an archer character to impact a combat in useful manner, and I don't think there is any consensu yet as to how this should be achieved. As for the tap pool comparison, I was just exploiting a rule that already existed, although I would be neither surprised nor dissapointed if it were abolished in a rewrite of the Sorcery rules.
> If you want to explain the loss of AP by archers as running out of
ammo, that's
> fine. But this is just a description/rationalisation. You could
equally say it
> is because:
All of these are possible, but contextual. The problem there is that each is an entirely valid improvisation from context, but none of them are likely to be broadly applicable elsewhere. I am specifically trying to address archery in terms of a common denominator, in the way that we easily understand physical combat and how the flow of combat occurs and can be narrated. Lastly, a major concern is that "running out of arrows" of "wet bowstring" is precisely the kind of absolute result that I feel should not be given lightly by a narrator, in line with the general advice on combat. Like lopping off a limb, suddenly acquiring a wet bow string might be a very hefty level of defeat, rather than something that could be used to represent the partial loss of AP over the course of an extended contest.
On the other hand, ammo is a necessary component of ranged compbat (Eureka!). So any time you have ranged combat, ammo will be an issue, and an avaialable avenue for realising AP transfers and losses. Seeing as it is such a constant feature, I think it should be looked at. Frex in the physical agent model, it seems to quite easily represent, say, a volley of javelins thrown at the start of a line combat - for one turn, the attackers have an ally fighting with them. It's not that I wan't to produce an additional set of accounted mechanics, quite the opposite - more that I want to use the nature of ammo to express inputs the system needs.
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