Alright, so I've been gaming the living fuck out recently, which is why I haven't been around much. I'm playing a Viking Archer 4 in an Iron Heroes game (Archer is the class). However, I'm starting to run into a problem. We play using "hero points" which are handed out for doing cool and heroic shit and let you get rerolls and various other bennies.

But, due to the mechanics, nine times out of ten, the most tactically sound option for my character is to stand still (or take a single five foot step) and then to blast arrows around at anything that moves. Doing this, I can out-damage anyone else in the party.

However, "I use rapid shot with my large composite bow and shoot the arrow through his face/dick/hand/etc. and into the wall behind him" is starting to get old. I need some ideas for cool, neat things that an Archer could do in a fight that are ballsy and interesting enough to get me hero points, or neat descriptions that would stun and amaze my fellow players.

So, who has ideas?

Firing multiple arrows (unrealistic but looks cool), firing gangster stylee (hold the bow horizontally), environmental damage (I fir a flaming arrow into the barrels of pitch and BOOM).

These any help?

I do a no hands  backflip in the air while firing my bow in a wide hedging arc to drive my foe into the last arrow. (No actual movement of position.)

I pin either shoulder to the wall with rapid fire so the last shot lands dead center at his heart.


I stitch my initials/favorite symbol into his body with a pattern of arrows, making sure to dot the I's and cross the T's!


I fire a shot into his weapon hands pinning them together before landing a lethal barbed tip arrow into his abdomen.

I fire my arrows at his internal organs, in alphabetical order!

"I squint slightly, as his and my eyes meet. He sees the three arrows I've drawn are facing him and his muscles slack. I'm sure he's taken respite that his death will come quick from my steeled-wood"

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"Then I shoot his dick off!"

Well, 4th edition DnD should offer feats and such to make playing of fighter types less a matter of 'I hit him', so I suggest putting your game on hold for six months until it comes out.




What?

Run and leap over target firing arrow straight down into target. Then engage targets that were behind him. But are now in front of you.
Another idea thats less specific. Would be to use the environment. Instead of shooting a guy. Shoot the rocks off a cliff to tumble down on him, for example
Or shoot a guy in the arm that he has a weapon in. So that it pins it backward hitting the guy next to him.
Pin melee fighters feet to the ground. Kill'em or leavem after that.
Fire arrows always seem to amuse me personally.
Fire arrows indirectly so that they rain down from the sky possibly catching opponents unaware.

In Exalted, you pretty much get stunt bonuses for three separate things: the first is taking any action just a little farther, descriptively, then "I shoot/hit/claw the person.". The third is impressing the table.

The second is the sweet spot for you, I think. An action where you use the environment. Because the most tactically sound action is for you to pretty much stand still from a safe place and unload ordinance, your best descriptions are either going to come from situation where you're getting out of a bad situation or ones when you're effectively getting into position.

Something like vaulting over a waist-high stone wall, running up stairs while taking a shot with Shot on the Run (or an equivalent), or dropping from a high location while firing might make for hero-point getting situations.

Frankly, if you rely on hero points and you're tactically helping the team, the DM might just opt to take it a little easier on you. Maybe he can give you points for making good decisions quickly, facilitating game play and making the game fun for others. That's what I think they're designed to reward, but just because logistics arn't as flashy doesn't mean they're not as much of the core of the game.

Tell me if any of that makes sense. I'd like to help, if possible.

Cutting ropes is awesome. Cut logs on the back of a wagon? Cut the ropes so the logs roll off. Puncturing wineskins. Shooting beehives out of . . .
Never mind. I thought I'd be better at this.

Opt for the Silver Age Green Arrow schtick like boxing gloves on the ends of arrows and the like.

Classy, different, and somewhat amusing all at the same time.

Truman: "Only four hits?"
Cooper: "Four through the eyes and one in each nostril."

That was one of my favorite lines from Twin Peaks.  It makes for great dialogue, but that won't get you very far with the GM in a roleplaying game.

In the Zhang Yimou film, House of Flying Daggers, the dashing young hero is a consumate archer who performs a few different impressive feat.  Firing on the run.  Firing off four arrows rapid-fire to knock four different opponents off their feet.  A particularly good one was when his line of sight was obstructed by his opponent's shield -- he banked a shot off of a fallen soldier's shield and into the back of his target.  Overall, you might find some good inspiration in this film.

You know, though, this broaches a touchy topic.  I've heard of players getting bored with stunt mechanics and stunt rewards before, because, sooner or later, all the cool descriptions get used up and it all just sounds formulaic and contrived.  As one fellow once put it, "Being 'cool' just has to happen.  As soon as you make mechanics to create 'cool', it's not really cool anymore."

!i!

Quote from: PseudoephedrineWe play using "hero points" which are handed out for doing cool and heroic shit and let you get rerolls and various other bennies.

Tangentially, is that a house rules or an official IH rule?

Just be careful not to do this: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comics/20070912.jpg

You ... might also consider redesigning your character a bit (at least when choosing new feats) so that your "optimal" move isn't ... boring.  All part of minimaxing the character for the rules (said rules including the need to be able to do cool stuff).

Some sort of point-blank shooting, for instance, would give you good reasons to have to (say) hop on a shield and ride it down a flight of stairs while firing arrows, or climb a charging oliphaunt in order to get a point-blank shot into the back of its neck.

This is all helpful folks. I appreciate it.

Quote from: Pierce InverarityTangentially, is that a house rules or an official IH rule?

House rule based on a rule from Arcana Unearthed. We also use Action Points from the Eberron campaign setting, with the former rewarding cool stuff, and the latter rewarding sound tactical play, lucky rolls, etc. APs just add 1d6 to any d20 roll. The Hero Points are the more valuable, obviously, since they can force DM rerolls of critical hits and damage dice as well as your to-hit rolls etc..

There's yet another house rule where if you drop below 0 and come within a dick whisker of death, you get some sort of drawback and some sort of benefit imposed. Most of these are powered with Hero Points. For example, my buddy Si's character got perforated with arrows, and gets fatigued if he fights for too long, but he can restore his HPs in the middle of a fight by spending Hero Points (this is a tremendous advantage for an IH character).

Suggest a skill challange off that allows you to move (preferrably in an appropriately interesting fashion, such as riding a mudslide, swinging off a ship's rigging, or being dragged behind a pack animal) while still making a full attack. This'll let you remain effective, while still doing neat stuff.