I just did it counting arrows for a 5e dungeon campaign, and it makes things more interesting. 5E has turfed most of the original D&D dungeon crawl mechanics, but I can see why it was a thing - it adds a little bit of risk.
I count special arrows, but normal ones ? Its not fun if you build your built around it. Plus, its very easy to carry hundreds of them at once, using your party as mules. Meaning the only moments you are lacking bolts or arrows is either your choice or your DM’s. So, either you have fun yourself by adding a challenge, akind to me picking spells appropriate for my bard, or the DM’s that wants to limit you in a bad way
So far the DM isn’t being difficult. I feel like I should be able to carry a few dozen without penalty. We’ll see how the game progresses.
Indeed. You should. Which is why coubting them is as useless as nightime embushes that everyone still heals from at the end of the long rest.
Thank you for telling me I’m enjoying the game wrong. That’s a really helpful addition to online discourse.
DM: “You all get a magic quiver with unlimited arrows. Hurray!”
The one player who spent all their money on fancy arrows of various kinds crumples their character sheet up and tosses it aside
Player: “I don’t wanna play anymore… 😠”
Regular arrows should be infinite and special arrows limited. I like how they did it in BG3 actuallu
I haven’t played 5E on paper so I was actually wondering if that’s how the rules worked or not.
Technically no. In reality, yes. Bows require arrows and most spells require a material component. These are never tracked unless it’s something special. If a spell costs thousands of gold in material components to cast, it should be required that you actually aquire that component, but otherwise pretty much everyone just assumes that you are prepared with a enough basic materials. The same for arrows and any other basic resources usually. I’ve never played with a party that tracks food and water, for example. It’s just assumed you’ve come prepared.
I hardly have players even using arrows in our 3.5 games, but I do definitely require the expensive material components (like I know there’s a spell that requires a ruby with 100gp or more). Most of them can be acquired easily enough that it doesn’t matter (such as sulphur + bat guano) but if it’s expensive/rare enough, I’m going to make sure you can actually get them.
My players would just sell it back. I know, I gave them important items and they did that XD
Timer systems like arrow counting, rations and encumbrance are good for game flow. Removing them tends to diminish the level of emotional investment and roleplaying in the game.
