Ammo

For things relating to the setting which doesn't fit in development, bugs or feedback.
EppyAl
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:58 am

Ammo

Postby EppyAl » Mon Jun 25, 2018 5:39 pm

Hi everyone! putting out a discussion involving ammunition. I understand in the past that ammo was limited due to military functionality. While that is a nifty plot point, I do not think it offers anything really relevant to the module. Honestly, I feel that it causes a hesitation to play games at all outside of having a friend who has happened to store some away.

Mechanically, ranged does not offer huge benefits due yo the lack of Ac and the AoO for melee shooting. Fancy bows are hard to come by, and unless specifically built it will typically require another party member to adventure with.

Putting the restriction on ammo and the negatives on the easy access ammo would/could cause players to shy away from a line of classes that they may find enjoyable, simply because of the attempt to make a plot point.

Now I could see say making bolts accessible in military ran cities and arrows in the villages and hamlets to plot point hunting and or defense, but with our low player base I would hate to put any restrictions in place that may prevent someone from wanting to play a specific build or role.

Very few encounters do not end in melee

Most ranged lack the necessary AC [outside of E8]

Sneak attack with bows is already crippled

Fancy bows are not that fancy lol outside of say a mighty heavy cross [which is silly]

Outside of we don't want the peasants to hunt on noble land, I do not see a reason to stunt ranged any further.

Honestly with story though after that long ass winter, novles are lucky the peasants didnt revolt, and I am sure some liency would have been offered for hunting within reason.

Loreweaver
Administrator & Builder
Posts: 542
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: Ammo

Postby Loreweaver » Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:53 pm

Thanks for raising your concerns.

The main reason ammo has been limited is that ranged attacks are a lot safer than melee attacks. A lot of the dangers of the low AC and low HP associated with a low level setting are negated or minimized with ranged attacks. Because of that, we wanted to force range-oriented PCs to make choices and take some risks from time to time, mainly by motivating them to conserve ammo for when it counts.

Our ideal way to do so is by adding a bit of weight to ammunition, so PCs can stock up easily between dungeons but may run out on individual trips. Sadly, there's not really a clean method to implement that. The minimum base weight NWN allows us proved too high for our purposes. Our alternative has been to limit the amount of ammo available and to increase the inventory space it takes. As you point out, that has disadvantages too, and we never reached a stage where we were pleased enough to roll the system out to include more than the highest damage ammo types (arrows, bolts and throwing axes).
Alternative solutions are most certainly worth consideration.

The IC explanation is indeed that the best artellists and fletchers are snatched up by the military and produce for the king's armies rather than the open market. The crown also plays a part in buying up, confiscating or banning enchanted ammunition and other equipment common in other FR lands but undesired in TER's setting.
The commonfolk are allowed to hunt (with the proper licenses and permits) and can obtain a limited supply of ammunition for that purpose, but that's more a practice for the countryside than a major city, where most food is imported rather than gathered or grown. For defense against monsters, guard dogs are generally more common than crossbows.
But the IC explanation is not an important plot point. It is merely a handhold for internal consistency between the setting and our OOC design choices. If we can redesign the OOC part for the better, the kingdom will merely change its policies to match and few will shed a tear for that.

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Talisman
Builder
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 10:50 pm

Re: Ammo

Postby Talisman » Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:37 pm

I like that you actually have to think about ammunition on this server, but I get Eppy's point that the current design can discourage people from playing archers/crossbowmen. Since the minimum weight allowable on NWN is too high, is it possible to instead have a script that limits the amount of ammunition you can have in your inventory?


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