Can a character floating from Reverse Gravity fire a bow?

[lkj]

I suspect I know the answer to this one, but it just came up in our game.
Situation: Character affected by a reverse gravity spell. She 'falls' up 30 feet without running into an object and therefore "remains there oscillating slightly" (as per the PH).
Any reason she can't fire her bow? My instinct is to say that she can. The only odd thing is that it's not clear to me that she could orient herself given that she has no purchase, making it difficult to aim. Would there just be a penalty?
Anyway, it wasn't clear to me from the spell description, which probably means since it isn't excluded and doesn't seem ridiculous, I should probably allow it.
Just wanted to get a second opinion.

Thanks,
AD

 

[Felnar]

i cant quote any rules that would give a penalty
but you should make sure the character is offsetting their aim to compensate for reverse gravity acting on the arrow

 

[shilsen]

I'd allow it but with a substantial penalty. Part of the penalty would be because the character is floating and part because the direction of gravity acting on the arrow changes by 180 degrees as it passes out of the spell area.

 

[Dross]

While I can't remember any rules specifically for this, DM friend of -2 could easily come into play in this situation.

 

[Cabral]

Closest guideline I can think of is using a ranged weapon while mounted; see Mounted Combat

 

[Christian]

I suspect I know the answer to this one, but it just came up in our game.
Situation: Character affected by a reverse gravity spell. She 'falls' up 30 feet without running into an object and therefore "remains there oscillating slightly" (as per the PH).
Any reason she can't fire her bow? My instinct is to say that she can. The only odd thing is that it's not clear to me that she could orient herself given that she has no purchase, making it difficult to aim. Would there just be a penalty?
Anyway, it wasn't clear to me from the spell description, which probably means since it isn't excluded and doesn't seem ridiculous, I should probably allow it.
Just wanted to get a second opinion.

Thanks,
AD

How about using the rules from the Levitate spell? In terms of the unstable firing platform, they seem to describe a similar situation ...

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Reverse Gravity is already a pretty effective spell. Watch making it a "must have" by logic-ing it into something more than it was meant to be.

I'd maybe go with -2, but that's about it.

--fje

 

[lkj]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. They are much appreciated. I think I'll just make it a -4. Having read the levitate/mounted combat rules, it seems like a reasonable compromise. I agree it's already a pretty effective spell, but I don't think a -4 is overwhelming.


Cheers,
AD