Archery

(• to ••••)

Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Athletics ••

Your character has devoted years of practice to the bow. She may be a competitive archer, a low-tech hunter or a medieval history enthusiast. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Rapid Nock” until she has “Draw and Loose.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below. All of the following maneuvers work only with bows.

Draw and Loose (•): Your character’s arm muscles are well-toned for the demanding task of repeatedly drawing a heavy bow. She gains +1 Strength for the purposes of a bow’s minimum Strength, Damage and Range. Rapid Nock (••): Your character can maintain a withering rate of fire. Once per turn, she may “reload” a bow as a reflexive action. Arcing Fire (•••): Arrows, like all other projectiles, travel in ballistic arcs. Your character is a master of estimating range, wind and other factors to arc shots much farther than they would travel if fired directly. Double the Ranges of any bow your character uses.

Plunging Fire (••••): Your character can eschew direct attacks in favor of launching arrows high into the air to plummet straight down on hapless victims. Your character’s bow attacks suffer no penalties for target concealment behind solid objects, so long as the target lacks overhead protection and your character can see any part of the target by which to gauge her location. For example, a target hiding behind a log with her foot sticking out applies no penalty, but a character in a fetal curl on a van’s floorboards receives normal protection. Drawback: Your character may use this maneuver only outdoors or in enclosed spaces large enough to provide for several hundred feet of vertical flight (e.g., football stadiums).