Aiming Question

[SaskDM]

I have gone through the rulebook a few times and I think I must be missing something.

The situation is that there is a guard standing on roof with a parapet. I'm the PC aiming at him. The guard does not know I'm there. From what I'm reading, all I have to do is hit him and I get to choose my location as I automatically get a Combat Manoeuvre if the target does not take evasive action or parry (p93).

To me this seems pretty easy.

Am I'm missing something?

 

[Briquelet]

That is exactly correct. If the target does not attempt an evade or parry, he is automatically considered to have failed, so a successful attacker will have at least one combat manuever to apply.

 

[ThatGuy]

Ok. If I were GMing this situation I would handle it as the guard being surprised (-10 initiative, can only defend, and can only use CA to respond to attacks made after own SR).
This means that a very smart, agile guard might be able to hear/see something before a stupid, clumsy, heavily armored PC is able to launch a missile that makes the guards head explode. This depends completely on SR however and the odds are heavily stacked against the surprised guard, but does simulate an alert, quick guards ability to react to the jangle of armor and hiss of the arrow/javelin/sling bullet in the air, particularly if the attack is launched by a clumsy, dull opponent.
All that said, the guard probably doesn't get to defend (his SR is -10 after all), the PC does get to choose a CM (Choose Loc) and the guard ends up with an exploded head.
It is important to start taking initiative and keep track of SR's though because- What if the PC misses? What if the PC (God forbid- although we've all seen it) fumbles? Can, and when does, the Guard sound the alarm? SR gives context and room for the unexpected to take place.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Depends on the missile—a lot are small and sub-sonic. A miss might not even be noticed. The missile's landing, some way away, though might be... but that's in the opposite direction.

Also, I think a -10% penalty is being generous—most guards wouldn't be that alert after a few hours of sentry duty.

 

[Deleriad]

You're basically right. If the situation is that you are about to fire at an unsuspecting guard you can take time to aim. Of course the longer you take to aim, the more chance the guard has of noticing you first.

How I would handle it is, the player tells me how many CAs they want to spend aiming. (I tend to enforce the MRQ1 maximum of 3 CAs for aiming) As a GM I know roughly how alert the guard is and make a Perception roll at some type of minus.

I would also tell the player that each action spent aiming means a 1% chance of something happening that changes the scene. e.g. 3 actions aiming means I roll d100 and there's a 3% chance that a friend comes out of the door, a dog barks, something moves by your foot and so on.

Note also that choosing location is rarely a bad idea, especially if some locations are better armoured than others. However stun or impale might not be a bad one. I also tend to allow impromptu manoeuvres. E.g. if you get a CM you can choose for the guard to be so surprised that it doesn't get to call out on its next active SR. That may be better than a head shot if you have no guarantee of the 5 or 6 damage you may need to do.

 

[SaskDM]

From what everyone is saying, this is a pretty potent attack.

I'm used to having the players having a negative modifier to make an aimed attack. This used to set up the situation where the player with a weak missile attack could just make a normal attack and when hit location was rolled, pray that he did not hit the parapet. The stronger attack scores could go for the aimed shot but it was not a guaranteed hit.

In these rules, there is no longer a question. If I have a high skill (ie: over 75%), I'm pretty much assured of a head shot (and lets not even through in some magic!!).

I'm going to have to watch this as I can see a lot of head shots coming up for missile users. My poor guards are all going to be unicorns soon!!

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Helmets are popular!

 

[almightygm]

My thought is to simply to make the Choose Location a CS only maneuver for ranged weapons (unless they are at extremely close range).

 

[Mongoose Pete]

From what everyone is saying, this is a pretty potent attack... ...I'm going to have to watch this as I can see a lot of head shots coming up for missile users. My poor guards are all going to be unicorns soon!!

Will the archer have to enter open ground in order to take the shot? If so give the guard a chance to notice the archer whilst he aims.

If the archer is taking the shot whilst hiding, then impose a penalty for the awkward position or interposing cover. Any chance for applying a range penalty?

Otherwise if the guard is in range and he's standing still like a complete lemon, then of course its an easy shot for any reasonable archer. A straight impale in most cases... at least that's what happens when I shoot at straw butts.

I like Almightygm's suggestion of Choose Location being CS only unless at close range. Lord High Munchkin's observation about helmets would help tremendously too, almost certainly converting the first attack into a light wound.

 

[Rurik]

I think the easiest is to just use the -20% or the -40% for target obscured (depending on the amount of cover). That way the penalty is applied up front and if a hit is achieved the choose location will make more sense. Maybe -10% per fully covered location?

 

[Rurik]

My thought is to simply to make the Choose Location a CS only maneuver for ranged weapons (unless they are at extremely close range).

This works too.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

During the Mongol invasion of Poland a trumpeter in the tower of St Mary's church in Krakow was sounding a warning, when he was silenced by being shot through the throat (the Heynal Mariacki). This is considered a tremendous feat of archery in Poland.

I have a few Mongolian friends (I have quite a few friends from Central Asia, but that's another story), and when I mentioned this to them, we 'Googled' the church.

Looking at the photos of the church and the angle up to the window, they were all dismissive... their opinion was an eight-year-old could do the shot.

The point being that if you let a skilled, trained archer take his time and either don't realise, or don't get out of sight... you are likely in for serious pain.

 

[Deleriad]

What used to happen in RQ was that you would get enough of a positive modifier for surprise, aiming and stationary target that it would cancel out a negative modifier an aimed shot.

RQII saves the hassle of adding up and subtracting modifiers. I'm all for that. If you're an old time RQer like me, it takes some time to notice that there are almost no positive ranged combat modifiers. The biggest advantage you get is for firing at a target that doesn't know it's being fired at, at which point you, for all intents and purposes, get a free CM.

Notice also that missile damage for large bows and crossbows has been reduced compared to other versions. If you're firing at someone with a short bow who's wearing a helmet, then a choose head CM is all but pointless.

 

[Ultor]

When this happens in the movies, most guards are taken down with one arrow, normally in the back or the head.

Also, remember the last words of General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania.

 

[Denalor]

When you determine the critical range you do count modifications to the skill first.
So, an archer with skill 68 shooting at someone who is prone, has actually only skill 48, and thus only scores a critical on 01-05.

Now, that archer is aiming. Aiming increases the skill by the critical range of the skill.
So, by how much does it actually increase now ?

a) by +7% (since that's the critical range of the archer's non-modified skill)

b) by +5% (counting in the modification due to target being prone)