# How to craft arrows????



## Azazu (Feb 23, 2004)

I have an archer in my game and he wants to be able to make arrows while on the road. How do you handle this. Is it a craft check.

Please any ideas will help.

thanks


----------



## Rackhir (Feb 23, 2004)

Azazu said:
			
		

> I have an archer in my game and he wants to be able to make arrows while on the road. How do you handle this. Is it a craft check.
> 
> Please any ideas will help.
> 
> thanks




Yes. Technically, you would probably need separate craft skills for doing both bows and arrows. But most DMs require only one skill Fletching, which nominally refers only to doing arrows.

It otherwise would follow standard item crafting rules. However, generally speaking unless you know that the character is likely to be cut off from supplies for a long period of time, the craft skills are generally pretty useless.


----------



## DarkMaster (Feb 23, 2004)

Rackhir said:
			
		

> Yes. Technically, you would probably need separate craft skills for doing both bows and arrows. But most DMs require only one skill Fletching, which nominally refers only to doing arrows.
> 
> It otherwise would follow standard item crafting rules. However, generally speaking unless you know that the character is likely to be cut off from supplies for a long period of time, the craft skills are generally pretty useless.



Pretty useless???? If they are in a dungeon maybe but in the wilderness I don't see that much limitations. he could make arrow with wood and stone or sharpened wood (obviously that would lead to penalty). He could prepare 100 arrow head before leaving and finish them on the road, He could recycle the arrow head, (Even if the arrow is broken the head might still be good). 

Making a Plate armor in the wild might be difficult but arrow should be fairly easy with someone with a high craft skill.


----------



## Silveras (Feb 23, 2004)

I would suggest you lump it in with Craft (Bowmaking) as arrows and bows are fairly useless without each other. Skills in D&D are generally broadly applicable things you can do; making Craft (Fletcher) seems like it is a little too narrowly defined to be in the spirit of the game. 

As for making things on the road, Unearthed Arcana has a variant rule called Craft Points that allows the characters to make things on the road. Making 100 normal arrows specifically costs 5 gp and 1 Craft Point. I think I like this variant, and will probably use it in my future games.


----------



## Zad (Feb 23, 2004)

I'd swear I saw a specific reference that Craft (Bowmaking) covered both bows and arrows but looking in the 3.5 SRD I'm not seeing it. Skills are general categories and it doesn't do well to break it down into minute disciplines. Craft (Bowmaking) should cover all you need to make arrows. As for the DC, surprisingly I've never seen on listed but I figure around a DC 12.


----------



## Rackhir (Feb 23, 2004)

DarkMaster said:
			
		

> Pretty useless???? If they are in a dungeon maybe but in the wilderness I don't see that much limitations. he could make arrow with wood and stone or sharpened wood (obviously that would lead to penalty). He could prepare 100 arrow head before leaving and finish them on the road, He could recycle the arrow head, (Even if the arrow is broken the head might still be good).




Regular arrows are essentially insignificantly cheap, 1gp/20 iirc. So while yes you can craft them in little or no time, you don't need to do so.

Masterwork Arrows (20gp/1, iirc) take too long to craft in any quantity in a reasonable amount of time. Ie unless you have weeks/months to devote to it. Except if you have sufficient ranks (quite a large number) and thus you are of such high level that masterwork arrows have been superceded by GMW or other magic arrows anyway. 

So as I said above, UNLESS you are cut off from supplies, it is essentially useless. It is nice from a character flavor point of veiw, but given a fighter type's limited skill points, there are better things to spend them on


----------



## evileeyore (Feb 24, 2004)

I use the skill Craft: Bowyer/Fletcher, and set the DC at 10.  Arrows are easier to make than bows (longbow/shortbow  DC 12).  I also allow for arrows to made for free as long as the arrow heads are recycled and ample scrounging time is alloted.  Its not like wood grows on trees or anything...


----------



## CCamfield (Feb 24, 2004)

Rackhir said:
			
		

> Masterwork Arrows (20gp/1, iirc) take too long to craft in any quantity in a reasonable amount of time.




Probably still true, but they're +6gp each.  THe book says that 10 such arrows cost 70gp each, which seems a bit odd to me since 20 normal arrows cost 1gp (to me that says 60 gp, 5sp for a set of 10).


----------



## Steve Jung (Feb 24, 2004)

Zad said:
			
		

> I'd swear I saw a specific reference that Craft (Bowmaking) covered both bows and arrows but looking in the 3.5 SRD I'm not seeing it. Skills are general categories and it doesn't do well to break it down into minute disciplines. Craft (Bowmaking) should cover all you need to make arrows. As for the DC, surprisingly I've never seen on listed but I figure around a DC 12.



It's not in the SRD, but it is implied in the 3.5 PHB.



			
				PHB said:
			
		

> When casting the spell_ minor creation_ (page 253), you must succeed on an appropriate Craft check to make a complex item. For instance, a successful Craft (bowmaking) check might be required to make straight arrow shafts.


----------

