Rangering!, Friday, Period Five [ 05/22 ].

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

"Good afternoon, class!" Minsc, of course, seemed in the most excitable of spirits as the class came into the Danger Shop this week, the setting looking an awful lot like the clearing they were in last week, but with an assortment of long-range weapons rather than . "Today, we talk about one of the most essential parts of being a good ranger, and that is...of course!....buttkicking! But, more specifically, it is buttkicking was a proficiency in certain weapons. Now, I noticed last week that many of you are already very proficient in swords and the like, but what a ranger really needs is an equal proficiency in a range weapons. They are range-ers, after all!"

"So here we have a collection of different range weapons. Some of you mentioned being trained with guns and lasers, pew pew, but rangering is an older art, so we will use older weapons! We've got bows, crossbows, some very nice slings, and darts." And, yes, those last ones were big giant lawn darts; Minsc had messed up a little with the Danger Shop programming.

"I would not be surprised if some of you already have a proficiency in one of these long-range weapons already. If so, try one you're not as familiar with. Or, instead of just going for the targets, I can put you in a real battle with a beastie form the programming, and what you can do there is work on being able to fight an enemy who, unlike the targets, won't just stay put, so you'll have to work on potentially switching in and out between weapons for a more efficient kill!"

"Off to the side, there are also practise swords and staffs. If you are done with target practise, it is good to keep up your other work, and you may choose to spar with each other! I actually encourage this, as no ranger should get rusty! Well, then! Have at it! And if there are any questions, please just ask! TO ARMS!"


[[ wait for the OCD has split the other arrow in twain!! , please! ]]

Comments

Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[berserkerminsc.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of weapons available, and an assortment of targets, of all shapes and sizes. Some are stationary, but may are also moving. There are quite a few that seem to take the form of gnolls (http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb3/skylieicons/gnoll.png). Not that Minsc had a prejudice, or anything.

They'd get to that next week.

Minsc has also given handwavey lectures on how to properly use all the weapons for beginnings. The lawn darts, incidentally, just happened to consist of "THROW IT. REALLY, REALLY HARD."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Anemone picked up a bow to start playing 'pin the arrow on the gnoll.' Her aim was disturbingly good, once she got the hang of using her selected weapon.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[outofthecage.livejournal.com]

Éowyn hadn't had nearly as much practice with ranged weapons as she'd had with a sword and shield, so she picked one of the simpler weapons and stuck with the stationary targets, to get a feel for shooting and for how far off her aim was.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

It took Tahiri about fifteen minutes to get the hang of the bow, but once she did she discovered her aim was pretty good with it. There was something about being more involved with the whole process of firing one, as opposed to simply aiming and pulling the trigger on a blaster, that appealed to . . . well, both parts of her, really.

Everybody was happy here. Win-win situation, right?

A dozen or so arrows later, she was actually doing really kriffing well with the thing. Force-enhanced reflexes didn't hurt with that, either, and she was having way too much fun turning her mobile gnoll target into a giant pincushion.

With feather fletching.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"You're good," Ben commented with a tiny smile. He was holding a crossbow in one hand.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri's forearm had a good few minor welts on it from where she'd gotten herself with the string in the early going, but she didn't seem to notice them, and she flashed him a grin. "You're not the only one who can learn quickly."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"Good," he said, beaming at her. "I like smart girls."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

He was so suave, wasn't he? Well, it wasn't like Tahiri wasn't working a massively dorky grin herself.

"Girls, plural? Should I worry?" she teased.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"I like to keep my options open," Ben said, deliberately taunting the heavily armed girlfriend.

Skywalkers had a death wish. Who knew?

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

The heavily armed girlfriend (who'd noticed something about that family trait, yes) knew better than to aim an arrow at him. She was not, however, above unstringing the bow and trying to poke him with it.

"Oh, really?"

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe not," Ben admitted as he was poked.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri narrowed her eyes playfully and pretended not to be entirely sure she believed him. "Okay. I'd hate to have to scrap those plans I made to bring you ice cream later."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"There was ice cream?" Ben asked, eyes lighting up.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

"Maybe there still will be." Tahiri restrung her bow (which had enough of a draw weight that the process was pretty amusing to watch) and added, "But definitely no wine."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

Ben hid his smile behind his hand. "Definitely no wine," he agreed. "Did you hear radio last night? Think we should say our goodbyes to John and Jaina?"

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

"I know you think it's funny," Tahiri said once she had the bow restrung. "See, I told you it could have been worse than the stables . . . and that might be a good idea. If he hasn't gotten to them already."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"The stables have to be more comfortable anyway," Ben said. "That shed floor is hard."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

"Plus we still had clothes on," Tahiri mumbled. She might have been debating the advisability of teasing Jaina about this later.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's cheeks went scarlet. "Um, yeah."

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[weetuskenraider]

". . . so yeah, no wine. Or anything else like that," Tahiri started babbling.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[momslilassassin]

"Ever, ever again," Ben babbled back. "You really shot the hell out of that target!"

Segues were for other people, apparently.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[bitchprince]

Oh, please. This was, as the locals would put it, a cakewalk.

Arthur took a crossbow - at least this spared him from having to tell people, as he often seemed to have to around here, that he preferred the crossbow to the bow and arrow thank you - and took down a great deal of targets with very little effort.

Once you got used to hitting targets held by terrified servants running around with a simple throwing knife, well, everything else seemed easy by comparison. Really.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth decided to try the unfamiliar darts. They seemed easy to use but not particularly effective as a weapon.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[notasuiciderisk.livejournal.com]

Eric... didn't really have any experience with weapons at all, and, really, was fairly certain that being in this class was quite possibly the worst possible paperwork mixup ever. Still, he figured he might as well try his best, and picked the bow and arrow to start with.

He wasn't even so bad at it, for a beginner, starting out hitting the target eight times of ten, and by the time he was finished, he'd more or less found his range and was getting closer to hitting actual bullseyes.

Re: Take Aim! -- 05/22.

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn was quite happy and excited about getting to use a bow as it was her best weapon.