Magic Realm: Missile Weapons

Thus far, I have avoided posting the Magic Realm missile weapons, because i'm not an advocate for using missile weapons in Magic Realm.

At first blush, Magic Realm missile weapons appear to be extremely powerful.

For example, the longest melee weapon in Magic Realm (the spear) has a length of 10. The missile weapons, by comparison, have lengths of 12, 14 and 16, meaning they attack first in round 1 (since longer weapons hit first during that round).

Just as impressive, missile weapons have an alerted speed of 1 (red side up), meaning missile weapons hit first in the second and subsequent combat rounds, as the fastest melee weapon has a speed 2.

Lastly, the light and medium bows have two sharpness stars, meaning they do heavy and tremendous damage, respectively, while the heavy crossbow, with its single sharpness star, does tremendous damage.

All of those features would seem to support the employment of missile weapons. However, the harm inflicted by missile weapons is modified by the above missile table.

If a character hits with a missile weapon, the player rolls two 6-sided dice, takes the higher of the two rolls, and consults the missile table.

The probability of rolling a particular number by rolling two 6-sided dice and taking the higher number is summarized in the following table.As you can see, you are three times more likely to roll a 4, 5 or 6 than you are to roll a 1, 2 or 3. Since higher numbers equate to less damage, you will often hit with your bow, but fail to inflict sufficient harm to kill your opponent.

And unlike melee weapons, you get no benefit for playing a stronger fight chit when firing missile weapons. It does not matter whether you play a light, medium, heavy or tremendous fight chit with your light bow, as you get no benefit from the overswing rule that increases melee weapon harm if a higher fight chit is played.

So except for a few Magic Realm characters like the Woodsgirl or the Elf, who have special missile weapon advantages, there is little point in employing missile weapons in the game.