Dragon Warriors - Archery

[Jiminy]

Most new DW players are surprised that there is no Ranger-equivalent profession/class. From a purely physical perspective, I can see both sides of the argument. :

1) All DW players can wield a normal bow, with some professions able to attain Skills Of The Mighty & spells that are archery-specific. There is no Longbow in standrd DW rules.

2) However, if an official Longbow were introduced to DW, then it may raise the requirement for a new profession. A trained Longbow specialist would not have to rely on exceptional strength or magic in order to string - let alone effectively fire - a formidable Longbow.

Magic-wielding archery specialists are a far more controversial matter. Personally I don't see the need; Mystics can cover that type of character. However, others may disagree and that's fine by me. There are several magic-themed ranger-types knocking around on the Wiki and the Yahoo Group.

What do you think about archery in DW? Do we need a new official archery-specialist profession?

 

[hal]

Given that the general design of DW is not to grant special abilities and options outside of magic (barring a few minor combat excpetions), I don't think a longbow specialist is required. If you introduced a longbow specialist then you would need to consider professions for each weapon.

Also, did the longbow see much action in the real world equivalent time period? I think it took prominence almost 300 to 400 years from when DW is nominally set (I could be wrong though).

FWIW the two existing combat classes already provide a good range of longbowmen. The barbarians high Attack and low Defence make them excellent in ranged combat. Provided you don't house rule their special Berserker ability to not include ranged weapons, then this acts well as advanced aiming.

The knight is a better archer in large scale engagements as they are more robust and at high levels their finesse can improve through skills of the mighty.

I also note that an Air Elementalist is also now a decent magic wielding archery specialist with the first level air spell adding to bow attacks.

 

[kintire]

Also, did the longbow see much action in the real world equivalent time period? I think it took prominence almost 300 to 400 years from when DW is nominally set (I could be wrong though).

An interesting (and slightly contentious) question. There are two views!

There is a school of opinion that claims that the so-called "English Longbow" was in fact Welsh. They would suggest that the longbow was adopted after the Welsh wars of the 11-1200s and its appearance on the battlefields of the hundered years war was a dramatically new development. That might possibly put it too late for Dragon Warriors. However, the other point of view is that archery was endemic throughout the region, but that for a variety of reasons it became prominent in the hundred years war. That's my view. Archery was, after all, quite important at Hastings.

The other question is, when IS Dragon Warriors set? The dates claim 990s, but the Crusades seem to be well underway...

 

[rabindranath72]

OTOH Dragon Warriors is set in a fantasy version of the Middle Ages, so probably the question of historical accuracy is not necessary nor useful (what with plate armour etc.)

 

[hal]

OTOH Dragon Warriors is set in a fantasy version of the Middle Ages, so probably the question of historical accuracy is not necessary nor useful (what with plate armour etc.)

I agree that it shouldn't be the only factor but I disagree that it shouldn't have any weight at all. As noted in my post, the main reason is consistent design. The historical accuracy point was made for further support.

 

[joyceliya]

What to look for when buying archery equipment? I gave it a try this weekend and I really like it, I actually want to ask my parents for archery equipment for christmas. What exactly is it that I need to look for in a bow and arrows? Do arrows come with arrowheads or do you have to buy them? What's the difference between using a compound bow and a normal bow?
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