152. ARCHER While the early mediaeval period of history did not have the bow as a dominant weapon, the ancient Romans learned a hard lesson when they made their first forays against the Welsh, and encountered the longbow. With the coming of the Middle Ages, the skill of bowmen was one that was valued by noblemen and one that is a skill that is considered a duty for some. The skill of archery is not covered here; that skill is considered one of sport and is covered elsewhere. What is covered here is the skill of Archer, the ability to aim and fire bow weapons with exceptional speed and skill. Increasing one's Rank with a bow weapon merely trains one in the use and feel of the bow, whereas archer skill refines the skill of using a bow, making one an extension of the bow in a manner that is not unlike Zen philosophy. The archer skill is actually two different skills that deal with different weapons, Bowman and Crossbowman. [152.1] A character who wishes to take the archer skill must meet certain minimums in his Characteristics. A character who wishes to take the archer skill must be extremely dexterous and must have the minimum strength required to use a bow of any given type. The character must have a minimum Physical Strength of 15 and must have a minimum Manual Dexterity of 15. Any character who does not have the minimum Physical Strength or Manual Dexterity may still choose to be an archer, but must expend an extra 10% in Experience Points to progress Ranks. If the character has a Manual Dexterity that is 22 or better, the character expends 10% less Experience Points to progress Ranks. These modifiers are cumulative. [152.2] A character who wishes to take the archer skill is limited in the kinds of armour he may wear. A character with the archer skill may not wear any armour that has higher than 4 Damage Point protection. This limits the character to armour that is either cloth/fur, quilted, padded, soft leather or hard leather. An archer may not wear any other forms of armour and continue to use the archer skill. [152.3] If a character wishes to choose the archer skill, he must be able to use a bow at a minimum Rank. A character who chooses the archer skill must be able to use a bow weapon, be it drawn bow or crossbow, at a minimum of Rank 1 before being able to take this skill. [152.4] A character's Rank in archer skill cannot exceed his Rank with his prepared weapon. A character with archer skill cannot have his archer skill Rank exceed his Rank with a prepared weapon by more than 2 Ranks. The exception to this rule is if the archer achieves Rank with a new missile weapon after attaining Rank with the archer skill. If this is the case, the lowest Rank of the two skills (archer or the bow weapon) is used to determine the archer bonuses. Otherwise, all archer bonuses are received at the Rank of this skill, not at the Rank of the bow proficiency. Thus, a character with archer Rank 4 could not wield a crossbow with a Rank of less than 2. If the archer had just learned the heavy crossbow at Rank 0, his archer bonus is treated as if he were Rank 0 with archer skill. [152.5] Once the character achieves Rank 1 with the archer skill, he must choose whether to specialize in bows or crossbows. Once a character achieves Rank 1 with archer skill, he must choose whether to specialize as a bowman or a crossbowman. The character does not have to take both skills, but treats the other version of the skill as if he were « his archer Rank for the purpose of using the other skill. In the event that the character decides to learn archer skill in the other specialty, he expends one-half the Experience Points to progress Ranks until he achieves the same Rank in both skills. [152.6] An archer can load a bow weapon faster than most as he increases in Rank, and may fire more arrows per Pulse as he gains in Rank. An archer can load a bow faster than most, and increases this speed as he gains in Rank. Once an archer reaches Rank 3 and Rank 8, it requires one less Pulse to load and fire a bow weapon. Thus, at Rank 8 a crossbowman can fire every Pulse while a bowman can fire twice every Pulse. In addition, an archer becomes adept at using arrows and quarrels as he gains in Rank. An archer may fire a number of arrows equal to his (Rank/2) (round down); in the case of a crossbow weapon, he may fire a number of quarrels equal to his (Rank/5) (round down). This assumes that the archer's weapon is suitable to this task. [152.7] An archer gains a bonus to his Strike Chance when using a bow or crossbow weapon. Due to his training, an archer receives a bonus of (Rankx2)% to his Strike Chance of using a bow weapon, in addition to the weapon Rank bonuses. The character with archer skill also receives a bonus due to the size of the creature being attacked. An archer receives a bonus equal (size of the creature in hexes)% to his Strike Chance. In the case of small targets, the archer still receives a bonus equal to his (Rank)% to hit the target. The GamesMaster may use his discretion, depending on the situation and other such modifiers. [152.8] An archer gains a bonus to the range modifier of targets that he is attempting to hit with his bow weapon. Due to his skill with the bow or crossbow, an archer gains a bonus when dealing with the range penalties for hitting a target at a distance. The archer gains a range bonus of 1 hex per 2 Ranks (or fraction thereof) when figuring the range modifier in combat. Thus, an archer with Rank 4 in the skill would receive a -3 penalty per 7 hexes through which he attempts to hit the target, instead of being penalized -3 for every 5 hexes of distance. [152.9] An archer may ignore certain penalties when dealing with faulty equipment or problems with equipment. Due to his skill with his chosen weapon, an archer ignores (Rank)% worth of penalties caused by problems with faulty equipment or due to equipment failure (ie., shooting flaming arrows, poorly made bolts, slightly damaged bow, arrows of foreign make, etc.). It should be noted that this ability can never bring the penalty to above zero, and that the archer must know about the defect or peculiarity in order to compensate for it. [152.10] An archer does not have to drop his bow in combat, and may use it in a defensive fashion. A character with archer skill does not have to drop his bow weapon in Melee Combat. The character may use the bow or crossbow to block an incoming attack, and thus raise his Defense by (Rankx2)%. The disadvantage to this is that any attack that is made on the character which succeeds in a range of the attacker's [Strike Chance - (25 - (Archer Rank x 2))]% causes the attack to be deflected by the bow. In such a case, the archer must roll [MDx3) + (Rankx2)]% or less, or the bow is broken in the attack. [152.11] Certain character races expend more or less Experience Points to progress Ranks with the archer skill. An elf, shee, or wyrd character who takes the archer skill expends three-quarters the Experience Points to progress Ranks. A character who is orc, goblin, dwarf, hobgoblin, etc. who takes the archer skill must expend 20% more Experience Points to progress Ranks. [152.12] A character with archer skill must pay [500 + (100 x Rank)] Silver Pennies per year for practice fees, accouterments, and other assorted materials. If the character fails to pay this amount of money annually, he is treated as being two Ranks less with the skill. ---------- Copyright (c) 1983, 1986, 1999 John M. Kahane and Steve Bauer. EXPERIENCE COSTS FOR ADDITIONAL PRIMARY SKILLS IN THE DRAGONQUEST RPG SYSTEM SKILL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Archer 400 150 500 1150 2050 3100 4400 5900 8000 10100 16000