Firan Survival Guide: Ranged Fighting
From FiranMUX
Ranged fighting includes both weapons that use the shoot command (including bows, slings, and ballistas) and anything that can be thrown -- which is pretty much anything that can be picked up. On FiranMUX there is only a limited concept of range so anything visible in the room is fair game to shoot or throw at. Be aware that these targets can also fight back, and potentially engage you in combat. (If you are engaged in combat while wielding a bow it will function like a staff in terms of stats usage.)
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Aim
Once a ranged weapon or object to throw is wielded it needs to be aimed. This is done via the aim command. Combat timers are used but no roll is involved. Aim timers are based on a combatination of reflex and coordination. You can only aim at non-hidden targets in the same room as you.
Unaim
The unaim does not require a roll for success and does not use combat timers. With it, you stop aiming at your original target.
Shoot
The shoot command is used for firing a bow, sling, or ballista. You must have a ranged weapon wielded to use this command, and you must be aiming at a visible target (though not necessarily engaged to them). Additionally, the appropriate type of ammo must be loaded into the object. See the section on the reload command for information on how this is done. Damage done if you hit your intended target is similar to melee damage, except that instead of using damage statistics from the bow (sling, ballista, etc.) you use damage statistics from the ammo. In the case of bows, for example, iron arrows do more damage on average than flint arrows.
Shooting goes off combat timers. It generally does less damage compared to heavier weapons such as swords. Details on the stats involved in shooting weapons can be found in help combat system shoot.
The rolls involved with shooting are complicated. Shoot timers are based off reason and attention attributes. In general, shoot rolls for the attacker are based off coordination, a relevant combat skill, and a style modifier. The difficulty of this roll is variable, starting at a base difficulty of 7 for bows and slings, and 8 for ballistae. If your target isn't engaged in melee and is not immobilized, they can dodge. This involves either a perception or reflex roll on their part, at difficulty 8. The success results either raise or lower the shooter's difficulty on their roll. Finally, the difficulty is affected by any style modifiers or your target (i.e., targets in archlong style are harder to hit, while targets in aggressive style are easier to hit).
This brings up some of the major differences, codewise, between ranged attacks and melee attacks. In melee attacks, combat modifiers of the opponent affect dice pools; in ranged attacks, combat modifiers of the opponent affect difficulty. In general, changing the difficulty of a roll by 1 or 2 has a much, much more dramatic impact than changing the dice pool by one or two. Also, in melee the person being attacked gets a roll to defend with, where their successes subtract from the attacker's successes. This is not the case with archery. There is no engagement needed, and no counter roll save for the possible reflex/perception roll made by non-engaged opponents.
If you hit your target you cause damage. If you simply miss, the ammo disappears somewhere in the room and can be found later via the find command. If you fumble the roll badly enough, someone else in the room is hit. Because there is little concept of positioning known by the code every other person has an equally random chance of being hit and taking damage, regardless of RPed position and regardless of their combat style.
Throw
Anything on the game that can be picked up can be thrown, though some objects are easier to throw than others. Any object thrown can potentially cause damage, which is simply based off its weight if it's not a weapon. Though it's fairly embarrassing to be knocked unconscious by a thrown flower, it can (and has) happened You must have an object wielded to throw it, and you must be aiming at a visible target (though not necessarily engaged to them). There's no concept of true range on FiranMUX so you can throw something at anyone in the same room. Note that in some situations, such as wartime combat scenes, rules permit only certain items to be thrown. No lugging your favorite pantry out to the battlefield to throw at the enemy!
The dice system for throwing is very similar to the dice system for shooting, described in detail above. Throwing goes off combat timers, which are based off reason and attention attributes. In general, throw rolls for the attacker are based off coordination, a relevant combat skill (usually combat/thrown weapons, or combat/javelins in the case of javelins), and a style modifier. The base difficulty of the roll is based off the object's throwing balance. For weapons, this can be found via the @info command; look at the 'Throwing balance'. If the object isn't a weapon the difficulty is a base of 6. If your target isn't engaged in melee and is not immobilized, they can dodge. This involves either a perception or reflex roll on their part, at difficulty 8. The success results either raise or lower the shooter's difficulty on their roll. Finally, the difficulty is affected by any style modifiers.
If you hit your target you cause damage. In the case of a weapon this is computed in a manner similar to melee damage, basing the damage off the 'Thrown damage' of the weapon. If the object isn't a weapon necessarily the damage is based off its weight, with heavier objects causing more damage (which is a bit strange as they're not necessarily harder to throw). The object you threw will then end up being held by the person you threw it at. If you miss, the object you threw will be somewhere visible in the room. If you fumble, someone at random will be hit in a manner similar to the use of the shoot command.
Reload
One way to load ammo into a ranged weapon such as a bow is through the reload command. There are several forms of the command available that lets you specify which bow to reload and what type of arrow to load it with. If not specified, choices are made randomly. I've never had much luck with the reload command myself so tend not to use it, but others do.
Another way to load ammo is to simply hold it and use the put command to put it inside the object. You don't need to separate out one individual arrow to do this. If there are too many objects to put (for example, putting 12 arrows inside a bow) the code will remove one and leave the other objects in hand.
Hiding and Ranged Fighting
During war season archers that are not riding griffons tend to hide as much as they can while they shoot. You need the hiding skill to hide, and then use the hide command successfully. There are several different timers in place that keep you from hiding too often or too fast, ranging from a 15 second wait after usage of combat commands to a 60 second wait since you last unhid. While you are hidden you can reload your weapon, aim, and shoot. When you shoot, you nearly always come visible again -- at which point you must wait on the timers before you can re-hide. (The exception to coming visible occurs if you make a high difficulty roll to remain hidden, which is pretty rare.) While you are hiding you can't be engaged in combat or shot at. Note that it is possible to be spotted while hiding, which negates this advantage. See the search for command for more details on this.
In general, an archer who snipes from hiding will do a series of commands similar to this throughout the battle:
> put arrow in bow
> aim <target>
[Wait for hide timer]
> hide
> shoot <target>
Routine would be interrupted if you got engaged in combat. Typically an archer would want to disengage so they can hide again (after the hide timer wait), though you can involve yourself in melee combat if you like. This tactic can also be used to hide and throw things such as javelins.
