D&D General Retrieving Arrows after a Combat

[Helldritch]

We do half as well. With access to the mending spell, we go to half and a d20 roll for the remainders. On a roll of 1-5 the arrow is too broken to be repaired (missing parts or whatever). So if ten arrows were shot, 5d20 would be rolled. Each roll of 1-5 means that this arrow is lost for good. Works out well for us so far.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

In every edition of D&D I have run or played in at the end of basically every battle the missile weapons users look to the DM and say, I look around and retrieve any arrows I can to replenish my quiver (replace arrows with sling bullets, darts, etc as applicable - but let's stick with the most common, arrows/bolts, for the example).

How do you handle this?

Generally speaking, unless it's obvious, I use a flat 25% + 1d#, where the # is based on surrounding area (and obviously you can never gain more than you shot). For example, a typical dungeon room/corridor, I usually use a d6 or d8. If it's at the edge of a cliff or on the side of a mountain, d4. If it's in a warehouse/home/mansion (with wood walls, furniture, crates, etc), maybe d10 or d12.

Ex: In a dungeon room, with pillars and dimensions of 30'x70'x20', if a PC shot 9 arrows, he'd be able to recover 1d6+2. If he had shot 19, 1d6+4.

My reasoning; the less you shoot, the more likely you remember where you shot and where they may have gone. Even if you hit your target every time, chances are the arrows will break or be unrecoverable for use again. And if you are shooting at an elemental, for example, forget about any that hit. I would then simply subtract that number from whatever the PC could normally recover (e.g., if normally 1d6+5, but 8 shots hit the fire elemental, then it would actually be 1d6-3, with zero being the lowest, obviously).

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[pogre]

50% is my default. However, modified by environment. Shooting arrows around in a cavern or dungeon means more get broken. So, yeah, I'm pretty much an ad hoc guy too.

 

[Swedish Chef]

If the party has access to Mending (and most seem to) then I let them recover all arrows or bolts as long as they weren't shot somewhere inaccessible.

That's the way it is with my current party - unless they simply can't retrieve them (shot 300+ feet away, into water, off a cliff, etc), then it is simply considered retrieved and mended. The players track how many they have and can mend. Simply not worth worrying about otherwise for us.

 

[jasper]

50% on your honor unless resupply is going to be a problem, like in Chult.

 

[MNblockhead]

At low levels, track arrow with 50% recovery unless conditions (battles at sea for example) make retrieving them impractical.

For in person games we would use tooth picks. When someone fired an arrow they trough it on the battlemap. After the battle they could take back half of them. Some players find it fun, if they are the type that like to have physical things to play with.

But one bags of holding come into the mix, we don't bother tracking mundane arrows.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

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

This is how I do it as well. If you miss, your arrow flies off into the forest and is lost, or breaks against the dungeon wall. Otherwise, you can collect it. It keeps the bookkeeping to the same moment as the attack.

 

[Stormonu]

Back in the day when I bothered to track, after the combat I would roll a save of thin wood vs. crushing blow for each arrow (13 or higher on d20, DMG p 80).

 

[Mannahnin]

Back in the day when I bothered to track, after the combat I would roll a save of thin wood vs. crushing blow for each arrow (13 or higher on d20, DMG p 80).

So 40%.

 

[GreyLord]

This is how I do it as well. If you miss, your arrow flies off into the forest and is lost, or breaks against the dungeon wall. Otherwise, you can collect it. It keeps the bookkeeping to the same moment as the attack.

Ironically, I've lost more arrows to hitting something than to missing.

I also expect experienced archers also highlight their arrows. For example, I have florescents that make it easier to find out where they landed.

I must admit, unlike someone above who has experience with wooden shafts, I don't have that experience with wood, so I have no idea how often they break or not. From their experiences it sounds like wood is more fragile of a component for arrows than I thought previously.