ah ha- more ignorant queries!!

[Brian Leybourne]

Depends what you define "start" as really :-) Each second of aiming gives you your Wit, but you get those dice at the start of that second, not at the end of it. I think this is where some folk are getting confused.

Say I'm firing a longbow. My prep time is 2-4 seconds but 2 seconds of that is getting the arrow out of the quiver. Luckily, I'm smart ebough to have lined several arrows up in fromt of me, and I'm holding 2 extra in my bow hand, so that 2 seconds is cancelled.

So now my prep time is 2 seconds (one round). On the third second, I refresh my wit (lets say it's 7). So on second 3 I can fire with an MP of 7 dice. Or on the 4th second I can fire with an MP of 14 dice, assuming my pool can go that high.

If I wanted to, I could reduce the initial 2 second prep time by a second as described in the book. That means it's down to one second (assuming I succeed). That means that on second 2 (second exchange of the 1st round) I can fire with Wit-2 or 5 dice. Or on the third second I can fire with 12 dice.

This is almost too good, as firing a good shot every three seconds is a bit beyond the pale, IMO, but having said that, a Wit of 7 is really really good. If you have a more average person, with a Wit of 4-5, suddenly things are not as high. If I was writing the archery section, I would probably up the time it takes to fire a bow by 1 second, to represent the average person using one, and then really good people could reduce that time by a second to get back to the 2-4 prep time as it now stands.

But I didn't write it :-)

Brian.

[Thanaeon]

I was also wondering about this after reading the quickstart rules.  As much as I hate to use such a far fetched example, what about Legolas in the LoTR films?  He's definately not taking a full round to fill his MP.

Is there any mechanisim for handling very fast shots in these rules?  Its certainly not realistic to expect an archer to fire a well aimed shot in under a second, but if what is the best way to handle that for a player who wants to have a Legolas/Robin Hood style character?

Play Exalted? ;)

What Legolas does is most definitely cinematic and has little to do with actual archery. In fact, I suspect it's computer-accelerated animation anyway.

[Lance D. Allen]

Read the example of ranged combat in the book. It should clear up how prep-time and refresh is supposed to work.

[Tash]

What Legolas does is most definitely cinematic and has little to do with actual archery. In fact, I suspect it's computer-accelerated animation anyway.

A little fantasy now and then can be a cool thing....:)

[daagon]

I think it depends on the world you're using.

I think quickdrawing and firing "ala Legolas" is a great idea, and I'll be running a LotR campaign with the TROS rules very soon.

But I only give this ability to elves, who have had perhaps hundreds of years of archery experience. Maybe even thousands.

People seem to forget that, yes, the rules are meant to be realistic, BUT the world they are playing in is usually a fantasy world where the extraordinary happens sometines on a day to day basis.

If your playing an historical campaign, then I'd say don't use the quickfire rules. They don't fit. But, then again its up to you. :) But if you play a fantasy campaign I'd say go for it!

The problem is that many forumites fit into two categories:

1. "No, you can't do that. It's not right."

2. "It's your game. If you want it, go for it."

I belong to the second. :))