Tracking Ammo

[Glorelendil]

Riffing on the thread "Endless Arrows?" in the main discussion.

For those who don't like the idea that you can never run out of arrows, I offer the following house rule(s). It assumes that heroes share their (dwindling?) supply of arrows.

1) When beginning an adventure, or after any point in an adventure where resupply/crafting is possible (LM's decision), set an "Arrow Count" for the fellowship by adding up the Bow/Great Bow*/(Bows) skill for all fellowship members. The rationale for the number increasing with skill is both because higher skill suggests more reliance and thus better preparation (i.e., if it's not your main weapon then you are unlikely to carry a lot of ammunition) and because greater expertise leads to better conservation & care. And because I think it's a nice rule.

2) Each time any character rolls an Eye of Sauron on a ranged attack with their bow, subtract one from the Arrow Count. This does not mean that one arrow has been lost; it represents an abstract amount of cumulative bad luck in recovering spent arrows. Spending a point of Hope will cancel this effect.

3) If the heroes flee a fight or otherwise would be unable to recover arrows, subtract 1 from Arrow Count.

4) When Arrow Count reaches 0 the fellowship is out of arrows.

5) Any hero can choose to increase Arrow Count by their bow skill by adding 1 to their Encumbrance.

*If Bows and Great Bows using the same arrows offends your sense of historical realism, then by all means track them separately. You might want to also track Hobbit arrows separately in that case.

[Terisonen]

Great idea! It's a bridge between counting each arrow (boring...) and the 1 arrow quiver strangeness.