Here's how I am likely to handle something like this.
Player 1: "How far away is the guard?"
LC: "Um...what do you want to know for?"
Player: "I want to know if he is in range of my bow."
LC: So you want to take out the guard to do what?
Player 1: I take him out, we sneak in.
LC: (Consults Pass-Fail chart, because he has no specific reason for it
to be any given difficulty.) It's going to be pretty Hard to get past him.
Player 2: How about if I use my knife?
LC: Well, here's the deal. With the bow, you can peg him from further
away, but that means more distance for you to cover after you've dropped
him. Hopefully no one finds the body or spots you dashing in. With the
knife, you need to get closer, so there's the possibility of being
spotted then. But once you've dropped him - knives don't have the
penetrating power of a bow, so you're taking a risk there - you will be
closer in. Either way, it's going to be hard to do, but not insurmountable.
Player 2: She's way better with her bow than I am with my knife. I say
shoot him and we dash.
etc...
In other words, it's hard no matter what tool they use because it is about their goal, not their activity. (Of course, I might want to specify for some in-world reason that it is easier one way than another - Fighting through the guards is Very Hard, sneaking past them is Easy.) Then it is a matter of which tools/abilities they bring to bear which determines how likely they are to be successful.
LC
David Dunham wrote:
>
>
> It's a little hard to comment on this because there's not enough
> information. What's the guard's purpose in the scene? Why are the
> players trying to shoot him (their real goal is probably something else)?
>
> For example, the guard may be keeping them out of the mansion they
> want to rob. There is no story if they don't get in, so the roll may
> not really be to see if they take out the guard, but if they do so
> quietly. Failure could mean that things get *harder* (essentially this
> is a lingering consequence, rather than an application of the
> pass/fail cycle), or a costly success (they get past but have to leave
> some of their gear behind in the name of speed).
>
> I can say your straw man players need to get better at credibility.
> Seems pretty obvious that bows are longer range than knives or spears.
>
> Anyway, remember that step 1 of a contest is framing it. Be sure to
> have that discussion with your players before you get bogged down in
> trying to simulate.
>
> David Dunham
>
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