D&D General Retrieving Arrows after a Combat

[iserith]

it's not about ease so much as unpredictability & the resulting drama. How many times have you seen a character save a bullet with history or one that misfired for later or regardless of need bite their nails over the dwindling ammunition they have on them?
@doppelganger that's the point. Ammo is cheap, lightweight & easy to carry large amounts if you are tracking individual arrows. This way can also be used to represent the use of arrows off screen like moving from interesting fight A to interesting fight B

Right, it's not that it's easier per se. It's just that usage dice create tension and doesn't require tracking every arrow used/recovered.

 

[el-remmen]

I see. Cool, but definitely doesn't jibe with my style - but it wouldn't be a dealbreaker if my DM implemented it or even if my players said they wanted to try it.

 

[tetrasodium]

I see. Cool, but definitely doesn't jibe with my style - but it wouldn't be a dealbreaker if my DM implemented it or even if my players said they wanted to try it.

my players were skeptical at first till they started finding magic arrows as loot & occasionally for sale semi-cheap in shops so started using those interesting arrows rather than hoarding them till a big enough dragon or something

 

[Marc Radle]

Not sure how many folks have done much archery, but wood-shafted arrows that hit something, either the intended target, or that miss the target but hit something else (a tree, a wall, etc.) are almost always going to be at least slightly broken, either by the impact and/or by prying them out of whatever they are lodged into.

Finding arrows that landed safely on the ground without breaking is time consuming and difficult if there is any kind of underbrush etc., like in a forest or something similar.

Realistically, searching for salvageable arrows after a battle should take more than a minute - probably more like 10 minutes to a half hour, depending on environment, and likely only 25% at most will still be in shape enough to accurately fire again ...

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I usually go with a rule that says you only lose 1 ammunition if you fail your attack roll.

 

[el-remmen]

Not sure how many folks have done much archery, but arrows that hit something, either the intended target, or that miss the target but hit something else (a tree, a wall, etc.) are almost always going to be at least slightly broken, either by the impact and/or by prying them out of whatever they are lodged into.

Finding arrows that landed safely on the ground without breaking is time consuming and difficult if there is any kind of underbrush etc., like in a forest or something similar.

Realistically, searching for salvageable arrows after a battle should take more than a minute - probably more like 10 minutes to a half hour, depending on environment, and likely only 25% at most will still be in shape enough to accurately fire again ...

Most of the archery I have done was with fiberglass (or whatever they are made out of) arrows and have only fired wooden arrows a handful of times. Yes, they break a lot more often - but if not too bad they can be reused. Finding and reusing arrowing at the degree that can happen in D&D is just a fantasy trope I guess! But one I like.

I think you're right about effort and time, and I definitely do mark the amount of time it takes (again ad hoc based on environment).

 

[Shiroiken]

We normally do half, but rather than just set the amount, the player rolls odds/evens for them. If there are any obviously lost arrows due to narration, those are the minimum number of lost arrows. For example, if 8 are fired and 2 destroyed/lost due to circumstances, you'd roll 8 dice with a maximum of 6 successes. If Mending is available, each ammunition is lost only on a 1 in 10 (where they are completely destroyed).

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I like 5e half rounded down, because it is easy to both calculate and remember. Unless there are magic arrows or something I think it should just be left to the player to, quietly and on their own, make a reasonable decision as to whether they actually took a minute to search the battlefield and whether the battlefield was a suitable one to recover ammunition from. Usually it can plausibly happen while someone else in the group is doing something else. Occasionally they may need to actually tell the group that they could really use a minute to search for their arrows, but its not worth the table's time to keep everyone constantly abreast of the archer's ammunition situation as a default.

 

[the Jester]

When trying to recover shot ammo, I have the pc roll 1d6 for each. 1-3, it's broken or otherwise unusable. 4-6, you recover that piece of ammo. Obviously, magic ammunition is different, and circumstances may change this- for instance, a fight on board a boat would probably leave most of the expended ammo unrecoverable (e.g. in the water, etc).

 

[Bedrockgames]

This was my solution to the problem: hirelings

FAIR-HANDED KUAI JI
Fair-Handed Kuai Ji is a martial hero who resides in a small villa on the banks of the river. He keeps to himself, and rarely concerns himself with the affairs of the martial world. However once involved he charges for any kills done on someone else’s behalf. By the same token he pays fairly for any kills done by others that benefit him. He can be excruciatingly pedantic in his tallying. In all other social interactions and commercial transactions, he strives for fairness. He has a small contingent of 7 servants who tend to his needs, including retrieving his daggers in the middle of battle. They are all treated well and quite loyal. He is very wealthy and there are rumors his fortune was a gift from the Queen for his services.