Canonfire!

Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:32 am fire arrows and riders???

hi friends.

last adventure, some bandits shoot arrows at the party, but one player ask me how they set the arrows on fire, if none was carring a "light up "(lit?) torch.

so, i create this, as the the preassure was on me:
one rider had a flint on a torch, and the cloth part pf the torch was with oil.
the rider "bang" the torch against his boot, wich had another flint, so he could create a spark and then light the torch.

was this way too "creative"?

what would you do in my place?

Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:14 pm

The bandits each carry a small rawhide(about 1/4" thick leather) box(about 4" x 4" on the bottom and 4" tall, and with no top) with straps so that it can hang from the saddle. Inside of this stiff, thick leather box is a metal box with a vented, hinged lid. This metal box is fileld with a layer of sand in which nestle a few hot coals. The bandits simply blow on the coals to get a cherry, and they light their oily linen-wrapped arrow tips. Also, a torch could easily be lit this way instead.

Your method, while simple, is bizarre and unrealistic. Wink

Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:57 am

Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:04 am

This sort of situation can be a real headache. We have a rule IMC whereby nothing has to be justified using real(modern)-world logic. Otherwise you end up with a player who works in engineering arguing his character can do something despite his character not having any skill in the subject.

In this case I would simply say "the bandit's have the ability and the materials to do this" and leave it at that. Likewise, if a player wanted their character to do the same I'd allow it if it seemed right. It's generally not a problem as long as the players trust their DM and vice versa.

Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:19 pm

Yes, the coals are hot, which is why they are laying in a bed of sand. the sand, along with the metal box and leather cover insulates the heat of the coals enough so that doesn't cause any discomfort to horse or rider. When you want to light something, all you really need to do is blow on the coal, which will cause it to glow more fiercely, and touch the oily linen-wrapped arow tip to it. Besides, flaming oil and similar fuels combust very easily, so just probing a hot coal with the tip of one of these arrows would likely cause it to catch fire.

Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:53 am

Rossik, you might want to check out this article on tinderboxes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinderbox. If the bandits had the arrows prepared they could have lit them with a flint and steel as they saw the party moving into position. I'm assuming this was part of an ambush. Lighting something like that with flint and steel at the last minute would be kind of hard in real life but it works in a fantasy game.
As well as a device like Cebrion mentioned you might also allow for the technology of your campaign to use slow matches, even though there are no firearms in your campaign. A slow match is a piece of rope that has been treated with a chemical so it would burn without going out. You light the end of the rope with a flint and steel then just let it burn slowly so that you can light whatever you need from it.

Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:59 am

It's questions like this that make me glad my players don't read canonfire.

When ever one of my players catch me in something I can't explain I use it as an opportunity to add a plot device to my game. For example. About a year ago one of my players who is an Eagle Scout and an accomplished outdoorsmen had caught something I had described in a scene about moss on stone pillars that was not accurate.

With a huff he said that it wouldn't grow that way naturally, and that it wasn't natural.

I said, you're right, it isn't natural.

So what could have potentially been an awkward description of little importance and minor annoyance turned into something creepy, unnatural and as a hook to get them pulled deeper into the game.

Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:34 pm

Yeah, well tell your Eagle Scout that west of the Cascade Mountains moss can grown on anything. Smile

Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:14 am

The simple answer to "It's not natural" is.........

"Initiative, please"

10 minutes later, a sadder but no doubt wiser player, can reflect that 40HD Abyssal Devil Moss grows on just about everything it wants really.

Hey, smillan. Are you ever going to finish that "Mosses and Lichens of the Western Lower Banner Hills" article that you promised? Wink

Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:41 am

Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:01 pm