DwD Studios
The Blade or the Bow
Sun, 11/18/2012 - 5:41am | 
neilgfoster
In the core rules the warrior skill helps define a characters skill with both Melee and ranged weapons. That means that as a character gains levels both their Melee and Ranged skills improve at the same rate.
I have been thinking about how a character could choose to specialize in either Melee or ranged combat, and become either a master swordsman or deadly marksman. So I came up with the following idea, and wondered what other people thought.
Each time a character gains a level in the warrior skill, instead of increasing both Melee and ranged skill by 10%, the player must instead choose which ability to apply the 10% to. That's means a character may either specialize purely in Melee combat, gaining +60% at level 6, purely in ranged combat, or choose different skills at different levels, becoming more balanced but never as fully skilled as someone who chose a single path.
If allocating +10% just to either Melee or ranged seems a little harsh, instead at each level you could allocate +10% to one skill and +5% to the other.
I was wondering what people thought?
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I like the concept of developing one or the other, or both. That being 10% in one or 5% in both? Most players develop either melee of ranged fighters in this fashion anyway.
In addition, I believe in some campaigns/settings this is more flexible. For example, developing a traditional ranger in a fantasy setting. allowing them to be one or the other. Also allows characters in non-fantasy settings that may want to be something like a sharpshooter or sniper.
Neat idea.
If I want to be a ranger, I make DEX my high stat. Each time I earn DP I dump it Into DEX.
Posting from phone.
Allocating the 10%:
You could allocate 5% to both to balance the increase.
The 10% to one and 5% to the other isn't too bad.
But ultimately, the common sense decision for the player, is either 10% to one, or 5% to both.
I've already been toying with this idea. I like it a lot. While it's neat to think of the warrior being a super badass in both melee and ranged it just doesn't seem practical of me or very reflective of most fiction (all fiction from my experience).
I dunno. In Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn is pretty handy with a bow in Balin's Tomb even though he clearly prefers melee combat. Couldn't this same effect (differentiating blade and bow combat) be achieved by preferentially raising either STR or DEX with DP? The melee guy is going to boost his STR; the archer, her DEX. In the end, they will both have very different scores.
That's the way I see it.
Yep, sounds good to me too.
That is what we found in our game. Works very well.
This is what I would do. I mean, it uses the RAW to achieve the desired effect without adding a house-rule which really isnt needed.
If I want to be a ranger, I make DEX my high stat. Each time I earn DP I dump it Into DEX.
Posting from phone.
This is what I would do. I mean, it uses the RAW to achieve the desired effect without adding a house-rule which really isnt needed.