Can you dodge a hail of arrows?

[Raflar]

Just wondering how you would handle this scenerio.

My PCs are going to meet 20-30 hobgoblins on a ridge with longbows, they will have to cross a gully below them to get to their destination.

Logic would dictate they wait for darkness and sneak across, BUT I know them, they're impulsive, impatient and (apparently) invincible.

1)When the hail of arrows comes how do you determine how many will be aimed at each player?
2)Secondly suppose the arrows come at a steady stream just ahead of the party to 'keep them down' but the PCs attempt to run through anyway. The arrows weren't directly aimed at them but they are running through them?

3)I thought I read it somewhere but don't remember; do you get bonuses if you are aiming for a round or more (like a sniper would)?

Thanx for you help.

 

[Storm Raven]

Just wondering how you would handle this scenerio.

My PCs are going to meet 20-30 hobgoblins on a ridge with longbows, they will have to cross a gully below them to get to their destination.

Logic would dictate they wait for darkness and sneak across, BUT I know them, they're impulsive, impatient and (apparently) invincible.

Don't hobgoblins have darkvision? Wouldn't that make waiting for cover of darkness somewhat pointless?

 

[Archer]

I'd roll a d6, 1 no arrow hits 2-4 one arrow hits, 5-6 two arrows hit. Randomly determine who gets hit in the party each round.

 

[Raflar]

Re: Re: Can you dodge a hail of arrows?

Don't hobgoblins have darkvision? Wouldn't that make waiting for cover of darkness somewhat pointless? [/B]

DOH! right....

 

[Tiberius]

Re: Re: Can you dodge a hail of arrows?

Don't hobgoblins have darkvision? Wouldn't that make waiting for cover of darkness somewhat pointless? [/B]

Not necessarily. IIRC, darkvision is useful in pitch blackness, like caves. Starlight or moonlight would ruin it. If they had low-light vision on the other hand, then it would be a different story. How high up is this ridge, anyway? IIRC, they only have 30' darkvision.

-Tiberius

 

[Umbran]

Re: Re: Re: Can you dodge a hail of arrows?

Not necessarily. IIRC, darkvision is useful in pitch blackness, like caves. Starlight or moonlight would ruin it.

This is not correct. You are probllby thinking of 1e and 2e infravision. DMG, pg 47:
"The presence of light does not spoil darkvision. If a character has darkvision with a 60 foot range, and he stands within a 30-foot radius of light, the character cansee normally in the light, and 30 feet beyond the light because he has darkvision."

So, a creature with darkvision under a starry sky would have his darkvision out to 60 feet, and then see as well as any normal human under the same conditions beyond that point.

The hobgoblins having darkvision doesn't make crossing in darkness at all useless. 60 feet is one round of normal movement. At night the hobgoblins will probably only get one round to shoot at them. Coming at night means the hobgoblins would get very little warning.

As for dealing with the arrows - the hobgoblins are intelligent creatures. They are capable of picking targets for their own reasons. Think ahead about what the hobgoblins would see, and what that would mean to them. How would you choose targets if you were a hobgoblin guard.

You can also pre-generate a whole bunch of to-hit rolls, to speed the process. Then simply compare these numbers to the ACs of teh targets as they are revealed to the hobgoblins.

 

[Hypersmurf]

3)I thought I read it somewhere but don't remember; do you get bonuses if you are aiming for a round or more (like a sniper would)?

Yes... but only if you're aiming at an inanimate object.

"If you take a full-round action to line up the shot, you get a +5 attack bonus with a ranged weapon." PHB p135, Attack an Object.

A DM could easily apply the same bonus to someone attacking a helpless opponent (paralyzed, bound, asleep, or otherwise completely motionsless), though it's not stated in the rules.

The implication seems to be that any movement at all spoils the opportunity to improve one's aim - regardless of the real-world truth (or lack thereof) of that.

-Hyp.

 

[AuraSeer]

The implication seems to be that any movement at all spoils the opportunity to improve one's aim - regardless of the real-world truth (or lack thereof) of that.

Well, it may not be realistic, but disallowing that +5 "aim bonus" is good for game balance.

If you could get that +5 on a regular ranged attack, low-level archer-types would aim every shot, and they'd hit lots more often than equivalent melee characters.

Also, spellcasters would do the same thing with ray spells whenever possible. They'd have less chance of missing (and losing the spell), and the requirement of an attack roll would be much less effective in limiting spell power.

 

[Hypersmurf]

If you could get that +5 on a regular ranged attack, low-level archer-types would aim every shot, and they'd hit lots more often than equivalent melee characters.

No they wouldn't - 'cos if you allowed that, you'd logically have to allow the "full-round line-up for an automatic hit" for melee weapons

-Hyp.

 

[Raflar]

Re: Re: Can you dodge a hail of arrows?

Yes... but only if you're aiming at an inanimate object.

"If you take a full-round action to line up the shot, you get a +5 attack bonus with a ranged weapon." PHB p135, Attack an Object.

-Hyp.

So what if a PC is hiding behind a large rock. A Hobgoblin has his sights aimed at the only place the PC can emerge from, holding his fire until the PC does so. I would say a bonus in entitled here, maybe not +5 but something (+2-3)? any thoughts?