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So I made the mistake of creating a Skilled, ranged character for IKRPG. Ranger/Thief with virtuoso for Crossbows.

My first hint that I made a horrible mistake was when the rest of the party turned out to be all Mighty fighter types with reach weapons.

My crossbow has 10" range, which means I can fire once before reach enemies charge me, or my reach wielding comrades charge them. It also takes a full turn to reload the crossbow.

So I usually fire once and miss because the enemies are out of range and by the time my bow is reloaded all enemies/allies have engaged in melee.

So is anyone familiar with IKRPG? Is there any way to turn this into a melee character so I can play IKRPG too? Is there anyway to get a crossbow that fires farther than people can charge? Maybe rocket propelled bolts at higher levels? My tongue is somewhat in cheek here but in all seriousness, is there a way forward with a character type like this? Should I ask the GM is I can change some of my skills/abilities?

You have a 10" range on a crossbow? Ugh.

You're able to fire at longer than 10" range in IKRPG, you just take a -5 penalty out to your maximum range. I think there's a few alchemical bolts and such that can increase your range, and you can always grab a scope to increase your range by an inch. The Keen-Eyed ability can also help here.

Also remember that you can fire into melee with a -4 penalty, just with a chance to hit an ally if you miss. If they're all big Mighty reach fighters, chances are they have decent armor and can probably take a hit from your crossbow in a pinch.

 Laughing Man wrote:
You're able to fire at longer than 10" range in IKRPG, you just take a -5 penalty out to your maximum range. I think there's a few alchemical bolts and such that can increase your range, and you can always grab a scope to increase your range by an inch. The Keen-Eyed ability can also help here.

Also remember that you can fire into melee with a -4 penalty, just with a chance to hit an ally if you miss. If they're all big Mighty reach fighters, chances are they have decent armor and can probably take a hit from your crossbow in a pinch.

Right - I should have mentioned the -5 at long range - against all enemies we've encountered thus far, a -5 is an auto miss for me. I guess that will change in time - first time playing the IKRPG.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll read up on Keen Eyed and scopes tonight.

The game is actually designed so that a charge move is greater-than or equal-to a crossbow's non-penalty range?

I'm not familiar with IK, but is sounds like you need to go full melee.

The issue is less ranged weapons (though I'll admit crossbow is kind of bottle-of-the-barrel) and more that you're Ranger/Thief. These are both largely utility/skill classes, Thief especially. You just don't have many of the options you'd be getting out of one of the classes more geared towards ranged combat. Really things are in your GMs court. If you're struggling to contribute they should find ways to give you a niche. Enemies that flying, or in awkward positions, on roof, or use effects like admonition, or higher DEF low ARM enemies that let you leverage the aiming bonus.

You'll also have lots of time to shine in non-combat situations, particularly if they require stealth and the wilderness.

 kronk wrote:
The game is actually designed so that a charge move is greater-than or equal-to a crossbow's non-penalty range?

I'm not familiar with IK, but is sounds like you need to go full melee.

Yeah pretty much - level 1 party:
One character can charge 8" reach weapon up to 10"
One character can only threaten 9" away, but his warjcak can threaten 11"
One of the other players is on a horse he can't charge with yet but he rides it up 9" reach weapon to 11"
To be fair I can walk forward and gain an extra 6" so I can threaten up to 16"away...

I don't have the book with me atm but I *think* the longest ranged weapon you can get at 1st level is 12". Later you can buy a gun that shoots 14".

It's my fault for making a character design without really understanding the game. I'm hoping this guy can grow into something useful. I'm going to read up on all these suggestion tonight.

 Cryptek of Awesome wrote:

 kronk wrote:
The game is actually designed so that a charge move is greater-than or equal-to a crossbow's non-penalty range?

I'm not familiar with IK, but is sounds like you need to go full melee.

Yeah pretty much - level 1 party:
One character can charge 8" reach weapon up to 10"
One character can only threaten 9" away, but his warjcak can threaten 11"
One of the other players is on a horse he can't charge with yet but he rides it up 9" reach weapon to 11"
To be fair I can walk forward and gain an extra 6" so I can threaten up to 16"away...

I don't have the book with me atm but I *think* the longest ranged weapon you can get at 1st level is 12". Later you can buy a gun that shoots 14".

It's my fault for making a character design without really understanding the game. I'm hoping this guy can grow into something useful. I'm going to read up on all these suggestion tonight.

Well "Level 1" really isn't a thing, character advancement is a bit more staggered. Depending on how you do things and how cooperative your party is 17-21" is probably what you'll be hitting in early-ish heroic tier. With maybe 23/24"(?) probably being the reasonable maximum, excluding movement stuff depending on how cooperative your party is.

Pretty sure rifleman can pick up one of the 14" Rifles off the bat.

Assuming sort of 12 or 13 ARM human mooks in the early game a solid ranged character with 3 Shots (2 From Skilled +1 From Dual Wielding or Dual Shot) is going to be reliably put 2-3 folks in the dirt per round. A mighty character with a big ol' axe is still only going to have one attack, two if he has backswing and spends a feat point.

Ranged attacks do have a fair amount of stopping power potential, but the game definitely does reward system mastery. That can be a bad thing, depending on what you want out of the game.