A central place to talk about weapons and armour, as it relates to your kit. This is where you show it of or talk about making it. Discussing the relative merits of types of weapons goes in the WMA section.
I look at this as a Ranger who's having arrows launched his way. At least with gunfire you usually have an idea of the direction it's coming from. Trying to I.D. that bowman while seeking cover I feel is very important. Especially with an arrow that has changed course. It would be easy to end up on the wrong side of cover.
The wood shaft lends itself to some fairly drastic angles of deflection. Some time back I hit a tree going for a target behind it and spent an hour looking for the damn arrow. It was stuck in a stump about 20 yards back and off to left at about 45°. So still lethal.
Interesting, I have never shot in a forest due to a combination of not having anywhere to try it and a general fear of loosing arrows, this makes me wonder if it might be possible to deliberately deflect arrows to hide your location, probably not for me but maybe for an elf?
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
You’ve got an excellent point there, Andy! I’ve seen some arrows deflect in some truly bizarre directions when shooting outdoors! In a scenario like the one you’re describing, I feel like the fact that bows and arrows are an awful lot less noisy than firearms just makes it all the more difficult to spot your assailant, particularly if they have a lot of cover and are skilled at stealth.
As to Iodo’s point - I have heard of folks doing trick shots with arrows bouncing/deflecting arrows, but I’ve never seen it done in person. I bet there are YouTube videos though! I would certainly not be surprised if there were at least a few Elves out there who figured it out over the course of a thousand years or so of practice!
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Iodo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 6:03 am
Interesting, I have never shot in a forest due to a combination of not having anywhere to try it and a general fear of loosing arrows, this makes me wonder if it might be possible to deliberately deflect arrows to hide your location, probably not for me but maybe for an elf?
If I had a few trashed arrows I’d try to purposely glance some off of trees and rocks.
Manveruon wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 5:40 pm
You’ve got an excellent point there, Andy! I’ve seen some arrows deflect in some truly bizarre directions when shooting outdoors! In a scenario like the one you’re describing, I feel like the fact that bows and arrows are an awful lot less noisy than firearms just makes it all the more difficult to spot your assailant, particularly if they have a lot of cover and are skilled at stealth.
As to Iodo’s point - I have heard of folks doing trick shots with arrows bouncing/deflecting arrows, but I’ve never seen it done in person. I bet there are YouTube videos though! I would certainly not be surprised if there were at least a few Elves out there who figured it out over the course of a thousand years or so of practice!
It does make Identifying the direction of the threat difficult and may cause one to end up on the wrong side of cover.
ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:23 am
Arrows are probably easier to work out where they came from, after all you do have a long stick pointing the way.
I fully believe that some Elves would spend an idle century or two messing around with that sort of thing.
I’m referring to after the glance off of something and re-direct.
ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:23 am
Arrows are probably easier to work out where they came from, after all you do have a long stick pointing the way.
I fully believe that some Elves would spend an idle century or two messing around with that sort of thing.
I’m referring to after the glance off of something and re-direct.
I understood what you were saying, I expressed myself poorly.
A direct arrow shot is easier to trace then something like a bullet or a rock, due to the stick.
However, an Elf may spend a while practicing deflection shots to counter this (and just because they can)
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ForgeCorvus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:23 am
Arrows are probably easier to work out where they came from, after all you do have a long stick pointing the way.
I fully believe that some Elves would spend an idle century or two messing around with that sort of thing.
I’m referring to after the glance off of something and re-direct.
I understood what you were saying, I expressed myself poorly.
A direct arrow shot is easier to trace then something like a bullet or a rock, due to the stick.
However, an Elf may spend a while practicing deflection shots to counter this (and just because they can)
Agree. Makes if easy for CSI!
I’ve got a few trash arrows I’m gonna play around with on the 3D range. Try some intentional deflection. I’m no where near the level to actually use it. But it should be fun playing with while the arrows last.
