Arrows and Flame Weapon/Bless Weapon/Magic Weapon

[OpenDoors]

I'm very new to this server and I'm loving it a lot, however there is one thing that I wanted to suggest to give more archer oriented players (Such as myself) a little bit more action in combat as I've noticed a few things;

1. A bow given magic weapon does not gain this for the purpose of overcoming DR. An archer fighting a chosen with DR 5/+1 will not be harmed by arrows fired from a bow or crossbow with magic weapon.

2. A bow given magic weapon does gain +1 to hit the target.

3. Flame Weapon/Bless Weapon are not able to be used on bows and do not add their damage if used on a bow, the spell will simply fail.

4. Magic damage is not added to the bow by magic weapon, so my damage will not be 1d8+1 magic damage, it remains 1d8.

5. Great Magic Weapon does not work on bows it simply fails.

Now I'm not one to have a concern without offering a solution so here is my proposed solution:


- A bow given magic weapon will also have it cast on their arrows; so they will be firing +1 arrows as how the spell should function, flame and bless weapon would be applied to the arrows in the target's quiver. This makes it so these spells are useful to archers and they have some way of overcoming DR without becoming an arcane archer; A wizard could enchant a marksman fighter and make him just as effective as a regular fighter.

I believe this to be balanced as bows have attacks of opportunity in melee range, so closing in on an archer is still a very effective way to kill them; however archers have little in their toolkit to be able to attack monsters with elemental vulnerabilities unless they find special arrows. These arrows would still remain special if found and it would be a good way for archers to contribute more in a fight against creatures with DR or elemental vulnerabilities.
 

[Paha]

If bow receives +1 attack bonus, that provides a piercing effect to DR of equivalent value, so - /+1. It then does not matter what ammo you use. However, immunity cannot be pierced, if that is what you've seen, or resistance to specific damage type (Piercing).

Flame weapon/Bless have never worked on range weapons, as magic weapons did not by default in nwn, and was only added in efu. We are not likely to make flame weapon / bless weapon work either.

Magic damage is intentional. Bows only get +1 attack bonus for piercing DR. Damage bonuses directly in bow don't provide damage on target anyway.

Great Magic weapon has been intentional limitation.

[Damien]

I think what Paha means is due to limitations of the engine as well as choice basic bows can't be buffed the same way as melee weapons.

The server is however filled with custom bows and arrows for you to find to circumvent this issue. You need only explore!

[Paha]

I said it exactly as I meant it. Attack bonus, in melee or range weapon is the property that pierces DR. The damage is just addition in melee weapons. Adding it to bows directly won't help, as the damage comes from the projectiles they hit enemies with, on top of the basic bow damage.

[OpenDoors]

I said it exactly as I meant it. Attack bonus, in melee or range weapon is the property that pierces DR. The damage is just addition in melee weapons. Adding it to bows directly won't help, as the damage comes from the projectiles they hit enemies with, on top of the basic bow damage.

This was why my solution was to add the property to the arrows as well; I don't mean to be difficult but can I ask why it's an intentional limitation? There seems to be very few archers around and I think this would encourage more projectile based PC's.

I'm glad you've clarified that it does pierce DR, but why not allow GMW to effect it then to overcome creatures with greater DR?

[Howlando]

You are incorrect about point 1. Bows and crossbows with MW cast on them pass through DR/+1 fine.

+1 arrows don't pass through DR/+1. You are wrong about that.

Damage Immunity and Damage Resistance are something else altogether; the first being a percentage taken away from all damage and DR being an amount being taken away (i.e. DR 5/-). There is no difference with how they work with ranged or melee.

This is basic standard NWN mechanics that are described in more detail on the NWN Wikia.

There is absolutely no desire to "encourage" projectile based PCs. This has been covered a number of times in these forums; to summarize: NWN handles ranged combat extremely poorly, it's very easy to exploit (unintentionally or otherwise) NPC AI, and in general in a mechanic that is fraught with problems. It's OK for some concepts and can be fun as something different, but if anything the design choices we have made are more inclined to "discourage" it.

Flame Weapon definitely should not work on ranged weapons. I don't have major issues with GMW working on ranged - in fact I thought that it already did - but we'll see.

Anyway, your suggestion is complicated by the fact that you seem to have a total misunderstanding of how the mechanics work!

[OpenDoors]

Alright, thank you for your time. I hope perhaps then that Greater Magic Weapon will begin to work on bows but if it is some sort of system of abuse then I won't press the matter.

[Spiffy Has]

It isn't that the system is abused with Greater Magic Weapon, exactly, it's how ranged weapons can be used overall. However, given that there is a PrC for it, and some fighter perks for it as well, it's no doubt still part of the game.

Generally, look at the EFU Rules policy found here. They elaborate the rules surrounding ranged weapons.By Howland's comments, Greater Magic Weapon may be revisited in the future as a potential option for buffing ranged weapons.

Darts/Throwing axes, I am 90% sure, can be enchanted with flame weapon (or were able to as some point in time). I am sure someone will tell me if I am wrong, however.

[ClickKilled]

It isn't that the system is abused with Greater Magic Weapon, exactly, it's how ranged weapons can be used overall. However, given that there is a PrC for it, and some fighter perks for it as well, it's no doubt still part of the game.

Generally, look at the EFU Rules policy found here. They elaborate the rules surrounding ranged weapons.By Howland's comments, Greater Magic Weapon may be revisited in the future as a potential option for buffing ranged weapons.

Darts/Throwing axes, I am 90% sure, can be enchanted with flame weapon (or were able to as some point in time). I am sure someone will tell me if I am wrong, however.

You can be 100% sure now, both darts and throwing axes can be enchanted with flame weapon and greater magic weapon. Great for Spellswords.

[NecroDud3]

i've seen it done where for bows it targets the arrows for the purposes of greater magic weapon/flame weapon/magic weapon/bless weapon/ect. ect.