Archery Competitions

An archery competition is usually for long bows or light crossbows; some tournaments have one competition for each.

In the archery competition, the targets are set up at the weapon's long range; all competitors suffer a –5 to attack rolls with each shot. Targets are AC 10.

In each tournament round, each participant fires five arrows or quarrels at his target. A miss counts as 0 points. A normal hit counts as 3 points. If a character rolls 5 over what he needed on his attack roll, it counts as 5 points. If a natural 20 is rolled, it counts as 10 points (a bull's-eye!).

At the end of each round, points are tallied and half the field, the ones with the lowest scores, are eliminated. This continued until there are only two or three competitors left; when that happens, the competition has reached its final round.

In the final round, the same rules are in place, but smaller, harder targets are used; they have AC 4.

Prizes often consist of new bows, quivers, sheaves of arrows, and jewelry. Archery is pretty respectable; it does not command the sort of status or prizes the joust does, but is better-regarded than the lowly foot-list. Nobles and peasants alike may participate.

In some cultures, the crossbow is thought of as a vulgar weapon; in such cultures, most tournaments won't have a crossbow competition. The few such competitions which take place are not attended by noble competitors.

Table of Contents