Rule question: The ranger can carry 2×3 ammo by default.

Rule question: The ranger can carry 2×3 ammo by default.

Rule question: The ranger can carry 2×3 ammo by default. Is it a bug or is it okay? Or there is some limit for ammo (except the weight)? Because there is the elven ammo…

Because there is a ranger move when you can spend extra ammo for every extra target and you can damage them if you succeed. And if you have 30 ammo… 😉

14 thoughts on “Rule question: The ranger can carry 2×3 ammo by default.”

  1. Fiction first. A bundle of arrows is exactly that: a vague number of arrows that weighs a bit and takes up some space. Does it make sense to be able to carry around two bundles of arrows? I think so, so I’d call that a feature, not a bug.

    Now, does it make sense to carry around (and be able to draw and fire from) ten bundles of arrows? I dunno; probably not, but maybe. It depends on the game. If the GM is letting the monsters outnumber you 30 to 1, maybe the scale of the game is such that yeah, 30 ammo is a) totally a thing the Ranger can carry around and b) pretty awesome.

    I don’t have my book on hand, so I dunno what you mean by “elven ammo.” I’m guessing it just doesn’t weigh anything, so again: fiction first. Feathers don’t weigh anything either (basically), but good luck carrying more than a double fistful without putting them in a bag or something.

  2. Yeah. Elven Ammo is more weight efficient but costs more. I wouldn’t let you put Orc Arrows into the same quiver as Elven ammo though, or I would then downgrade the whole thing to a normal quiver of ammo that can only hold 3. 

    Elven Ammo might have other properties depending on your world/fiction.

  3. One of my players wanted to carry 4 quivers of arrows (12 ammo), which is the most I would let him carry and be able to walk/run (but with -1 forward to non arrow fire ring physical activities). This was right after he got the Blot out the sun move of course. And (predictably) when he finally got a hoard of goblin types running towards he he uses 8 ammo, hits and rolls a 1 for damage… I still let that kill 3 of them but he acts more normal now (carrying 6 ammo).

  4. A better use (fictionally and IMO) would be to do a Hawk the Slayer thing where you have all the arrows in a circle around you stuck in the ground point first and you just draw out and shoot a few dozen..still wouldn’t allow more then 10 ammo a shot though.

  5. I’d let them carry as many quivers as they want, but I’d remind them there’s no good way to carry arrows so that they’re both handy and secure.

    More arrows = more resources to take away on a GM move 🙂

  6. during my first ever DW campaign, in the final session, the party knew they would be facing a horde of orcs, followed by a dragon. They ranger and fighter divested themselves of all non-combat gear, and filled up to their load on quivers. It was an amazing, image, the dwarven fighter leading the charge through the orcs, which the ranger at her back, plucking arrow after arrow from the bristling backpack full of quivers. When they got to the dragon’s lair, but discovered the dragon was out, the ranger, had the quivers scattered around the room so he could snatch up a full one any time he needed it. 

    So, yeah, feature, not a bug. 

  7. Plus, even if you have 30 ammo on you and you use it all in one heroic feat to shoot the 30-headed beast in the faces – now you have 0 ammo and the 30-headed beast is pretty angry at you.

  8. First of all, anyone can easily get two bundles of ammo; it’s cheap.  It’s just that the Ranger has the only move that would make you want to carry around huge amounts of ammo.

    What I would allow would depend on the circumstances.  If the ranger is volleying as a creature is barreling down on him, I may not allow him to get off more than a full bundle of arrows with the blot out the sun move before the creature is on top of him.  Of course, if he dropped the creature, he could continue on.

    Now if the ranger were firing at an advancing army with plenty of time, with someone helping hand him arrows, he could go all day long.  I may require him to re-roll every X number of bundles; it would depend on if the player was trying to abuse it, or just have a single epic scene.

  9. Most games that “use extra ammo to X” the ammo acts as a limiter or in place to slow a player down from using that feature unlimited. Making the ability special.

    If you don’t care if the ability gets over used or becomes less special and instead is treated like a basic move then it really doesn’t matter.

    Only other reason to worry about it is realism, thats entirely your call.

  10. I’d be curious to understand better how this is causing a problem in your game.

    If it’s that is seems to you to be too good a combo, I’d respond with “Be a fan of the character.”  The player is telling you they want this character to be an awesome ranged attacker.  Let them.  There are only so many types of problems (maybe even only one type of problem) that can be solved by Blot Out the Sun.  Just make sure you’re mixing it up while also giving this character their opportunity to shine.

    If the problem is that this character is overshadowing other characters – e.g., by killing everything with Blot Out the Sun they’re preventing the Fighter from getting their moment to shine – then it is actually a problem.  Talk to the Ranger player about the impact their choice is having on the Fighter and enlist them in setting up opportunities for the Fighter to be awesome.  (One obvious thing is that Blot Out the Sun is only useful against multiple targets.  A single Big Bad is impervious to BOtS.)

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