The whole world loves archery, it seems, and at some point or another want to make an archer, a lone hunter who traipses through the woods and hills of his chosen milieu with little more than his bow of choice and about 14 million arrows, laying waste to the countryside.  To me, this idea has always seemed ludicrous.  I personally happen to like archery a lot, both the English and Kyudo varieties, but if I was a skilled archer and saw some guy running up to me with a dagger, I’d hightail it or grab my own dagger.  The thought of one man casually walking around a game world with a bow, fighting enemies toe-to-toe with arrows, and living is completely ridiculous.

The bow is, no doubt, an extremely useful and powerful weapon.  With the development of more powerful bows like the English longbow, the Mongolian composite, and the yumi, armor for the poor footman became thicker and stronger, as the bodkin (armor-piercing war arrow) sliced through maille even more effectively than a pick.  Even then, a good archer with a high-pull bow could send a shaft through an enemy’s breastplate.  There were a lot of foot-pounds concentrated in that little spike.  However, the maximum damage you can impart to an enemy without striking a vital organ or somesuch is limited; people used to run across the field with several arrows sticking out of them, if they were lucky and brave (or stupid) enough.

The reasons the English didn’t go to war with nothing but archers are many, and they’re all good.  The bow took a long time to learn to use properly on the field.  It’s hard.  Archers trained from childhood, and didn’t do much else in the way of martial training.  They were valuable commodities.

Second, archers are demolished by anything that gets too close to them.  When an archer was confronted by a guy with an axe, two things could happen:  the archer was instantly killed, or his bow was shattered, then he was instantly killed.  Cavalry in particular was devastating to archers, and woe was the commander who let the enemy flank his archers with light or medium horse.  The best tactic for archers when faced with close quarters combat is to use the superior mobility afforded them by their lack of armor and run away as fast as possible.

Third, archers on the battlefield are used in large groups firing volleys, like musketeers.  Volley at the enemy when he’s at optimal range.  This means at least enough range for the arrow to actually arch through the air (get it?  Archery) so it has maximum energy as it falls to earth.  Rip up the enemy as best you can while he’s far away from you, and when he gets too close, let your infantry or heavy horse deal with things.  If your archers are fighting in close quarters with their pitiful daggers and hand axes, it’s probably because you, their commander, are fleeing the field as quickly as possible and want to buy some time for yourself.

What does this mean for the fantasy RPG archer character?  Every one of these weaknesses has a direct impact on the realistic expectations an "adventuring archer" might have at the start of his career.  The proper use of the longbow or similar weapon should be extremely difficult, and unless the milieu is set in a time where technology allows for the mechanics required to manufacture a proper crossbow, one can assume that most of the character’s life has been spent learning how to shoot.  An archer who tries to tank an opponent should realistically be quickly and unceremoniously destroyed.  An archer might be able to land a shot into the eye of a man 50 yards away, but when that man’s pals start running for him while he fumbles to grab another arrow, he’s got real problems.

There is one historical exception to the rule about archers being the meat of one’s attacking forces, and this is horse archery, only ever successfully practiced by the Mongols and the early Japanese (plus some late bronze/early iron cultures like the Parthians).  Mounted archery, while extremely difficult to learn and use, was a great skirmishing tactic, with soldiers riding right across the front lines of enemy infantry, harassing them with arrows and staying at a (hopefully) safe distance.  However, the general principles are the same:  do not get close to the enemy, run away if he charges you.  For the Japanese, this meant leaving matters to your lines of ashigaru conscripts with yari; for the less territorial Mongols, they would typically feign retreat and continue pounding their opponents at a distance, only closing to finish with saber when the enemy was already beaten soundly.

Note:  It should be noted for anyone who wishes to use this as a model for their "adventuring archer" character that the Mongols used tiny recurve composite bows with a draw weight of about 160 pounds and an effective range of about 350 yards, compared to the more typical 50-60 pound pull/200ish yard range of the English longbow.  This technology was not available anywhere else in the world.  Under the genius of Temuchin/Chinggis Khan and his best generals (most notably Subedei), they utilized speed, mobility, and deception in a way the world had never even heard of.  They were considered superhuman in almost every respect by their terrified enemies.  The Mongols were an example of imbalance in real life combat, and their total dominance reflects this imbalance.  In a mixed fantasy setting, any GM or developer who decides that players can be Mongols would be required to impose very severe disadvantages to make up for this.  A historically accurate Mongol in a world of Teutonic knights might as well have a submachine gun.

Realistically speaking, then, the use of archery in a typical fantasy medieval setting should be relegated to support in group combat, or special circumstances like killing enemies across a river (who will probably hide to avoid this after shot number one).  The use of the bow is not uncommon for hunting purposes, and it stands to reason that a well-rounded "adventurer" would know how to fire one in the circumstances appropriate to archery use.  The "solo archer," then, is rightfully confined to his primary historical purpose:  hiding in a tree stand waiting for a deer to wander by.