Topic: ARROWED!!!

[vector]

During last nights game my players fell victim to a particularly nasty ambush while recovering from a shipwreck on a storm wracked beach. Unfortunately, this stretch of coast was in the territory of a nasty orc clan. A small force of orc axemen charged the party from further up the beach while a number of short bow equipped orc archers rained down arrows from the cliff overlooking the area.

The ensuing battle got rather intense as axes, arrows and spells flew with both sides taking some might blows. By the end of the battle the party was in a position to escape and it was a good point to call it a night. Only afterwards did I stop to think how nearly every player character had take a nasty hit with an arrow causing a few significant criticals - nothing that put anyone down and out, but a lot more than a passing arrow grazing the cheek to leave a fashionable trickle of blood.

Then it occurred to me, surely some of these arrows had stuck in their flesh? I never stopped to think about it so I never required the players to take any time out to remove them, in this battle or any past battle. Not very realistic, and although I tend toward a "simulationist" view of things this might be a bridge too far.

So, does anyone ever deal with this issue? Have any house rules to determine if an arrow has stuck? Have house rules for the time needed to remove arrows? The consequences for removing or not removing the arrows.

Or should I just ignore the issue and move on? I'm leaning toward just ignoring this bit of "realism", but am still curious to see what others think. 

[Hurin]

I'd like to see rules for that myself, personally. Makes sense.

[vector]

At the minimum, I could see myself asking the players, "Would you kindly take 20% action next round to remove that arrow or suffer -5%/critical severity penalty to combat and moving maneuvers until you do so."

That way I could say that I have addressed the issue without getting further into the weeds wondering about whether they made the wound worse by doing so, caused additional bleeding, etc.

[Warl]

I have the players track missile hits, especially puncture ones, if i obtain a crit.
It is a RM modified method used in another game system.

If a Player takes a Crit then the Arrow is stuck in. (this applies to bolts daggers and any other Missile piercing weapon. Though larger weapons like Spears and Javelins might be treated as 2 or 3 arrows .

The Number of arrows 'embedded' determines how fast a Character can move without taking extra damage or requiring a stunned maneuver check to take the Action.
                        / Number of Arrows Embedded /
Movement Type /  1                         /  2                          /  3                          /   4                               /  5                           /
Dash x5           / 1hit pr rd + M Chk / 1hit + H Chk           / 1Hit + VH Chk        / 1 Hit + EH Chk              /  1Hit + SF Chk /
Fast Sprint x4   / 1 Hit per round    /  1hit pr rnd + M Chk / 1hit + H Chk           / 1Hit + VH Chk              / 1 Hit + EH Chk  /
Sprint x3         /     NA                  /  1 Hit per round       /  1hit pr rnd + M Chk / 1hit + H Chk                 / 1Hit + VH Chk  /
Run x2            /      NA                 /  NA                        /  1Hit pr rnd               /  1hit pr rnd + M Chk       / 1hit + H Check /
Fastwalk, jog x1.5/   NA                /    NA                      /  NA                          /  1 Hit pr rnd                 /  1hit pr rnd + M Chk
Walk x1           /       NA                /  NA                        /    NA                        /  NA                               /  1 Hit per round                 /

The 1 Hit per round is Multiplied by the number of Arrows Embedded.
The Check is a Stunned Maneuver Check to overcome the Pain of trying to move that fast with the arrow stuck in. The Check is Made at the specified Difficulty. M= Medium, H= Hard and so forth.
A Character in Combat is Equivalent to being at a Jog Pace due to the amount of Moving ones body one does.

[vector]

Warl, I like that system. I might have to borrow those ideas. Thanks!

[Warl]

forgot to add:

Ripping them out causes bleeding per round equal to the the critical delivered ( a=1 e=5)
a successful first aid check removes the arrow for only 1 hit additional.
Difficulty of first aid check is medium maneuver -10 per crit severity over A

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

"Arms Companion" has a table with percentages for a weapon to be lodged in a foe, depending on the critical type and severity. Just look at the Increase Wound skill.

[Warl]

yes, yes it does, but it slows combat down checking and rolling for each arrow to determine it.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

You don't have to add any roll. Since only arrows that result in a critical can be lodged in their target, you may just use the unit die, rounding the percentages of the chart (which is just arbitrary anyway). So, in this case, just consider that if the unit die of your critical roll is 1 for a B or C critical, or 1-2 for a D or E critical, the arrow lodged in its target, whereas a A critical is alway too minor for the arrow to lodge.