geeman
10-07-2002, 11:09 PM
Sorry, guys, I meant to change the subject line of the post there when I
first focused in on the crossbow issue. Anyway:
At 06:15 PM 10/7/2002 -0400, Travis Doom wrote:
>I`m of the opinion that the BR designers snuck in the crossbow rule in
>an attempt to "correct" the major problem that crossbows had in 2e D&D
>(basically, that they did not accurately represent the lethality of a
>crossbow as a weapon). It seems to be to be a very good 2e house rule
>that made it into print as a campaign rule.
I agree that that was their intention. I guess the question becomes then,
"did they go far enough in 3e?"
I`ve fired a LOT of bows and crossbows in my time, and my personal take on
the subject is that they certainly improved crossbows in 3e, but they still
aren`t "realistic" in many regards. One thing that I thought was a good
addition to the 1e-2e rules was the "point blank" concept that was
sometimes used. Unfortunately, the rule itself was a little unwieldy for
practical use when playing out combat, but it was the kernal of a good idea.
At 12:04 AM 10/8/2002 +0200, Carl Cramer wrote:
>We let crossbows cause auto-criticals on any threat roll that is also a hit
>within 30 ft. That way, anyone with a crossbow has at least a 5% chance of
>inflicting a critical hit - which makes them pretty dangerous militia
>weapons.
Now, that`s a very interesting additional rule. I like it. It
incorporates the aforementioned "point blank" concept but is much easier to
handle. Kudos.
>Also, we allow crossbows to scale freely in size. That gives quite a variety
>of crossbows:
>
>Hand crossbow: T: 1d4, S: 1d6, M: 1d8 - short range, one-handed
>Light crossbow: S: 1d8, M: 2d6, L: 2d8 - medium range, quick to reload
>Heavy Crossbow: M 1d10, L: 2d6 - long range, slow reload
What do you mean by those reload times? 1 per round and 1/2 per round per
the core rules, or is it something else?
>We also made the Hand Crossbow a martial weapon (at least for Ainureans),
>and it is qute a common cavalry weapon - check the illustration on the
>cavalry war cards.
That seems sensible. Any particular cultures that use the hand crossbow
other than Anuireans? I`d probably limit it to Anuirean, Brecht and maybe
the Khinasi, personally.
Gary
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first focused in on the crossbow issue. Anyway:
At 06:15 PM 10/7/2002 -0400, Travis Doom wrote:
>I`m of the opinion that the BR designers snuck in the crossbow rule in
>an attempt to "correct" the major problem that crossbows had in 2e D&D
>(basically, that they did not accurately represent the lethality of a
>crossbow as a weapon). It seems to be to be a very good 2e house rule
>that made it into print as a campaign rule.
I agree that that was their intention. I guess the question becomes then,
"did they go far enough in 3e?"
I`ve fired a LOT of bows and crossbows in my time, and my personal take on
the subject is that they certainly improved crossbows in 3e, but they still
aren`t "realistic" in many regards. One thing that I thought was a good
addition to the 1e-2e rules was the "point blank" concept that was
sometimes used. Unfortunately, the rule itself was a little unwieldy for
practical use when playing out combat, but it was the kernal of a good idea.
At 12:04 AM 10/8/2002 +0200, Carl Cramer wrote:
>We let crossbows cause auto-criticals on any threat roll that is also a hit
>within 30 ft. That way, anyone with a crossbow has at least a 5% chance of
>inflicting a critical hit - which makes them pretty dangerous militia
>weapons.
Now, that`s a very interesting additional rule. I like it. It
incorporates the aforementioned "point blank" concept but is much easier to
handle. Kudos.
>Also, we allow crossbows to scale freely in size. That gives quite a variety
>of crossbows:
>
>Hand crossbow: T: 1d4, S: 1d6, M: 1d8 - short range, one-handed
>Light crossbow: S: 1d8, M: 2d6, L: 2d8 - medium range, quick to reload
>Heavy Crossbow: M 1d10, L: 2d6 - long range, slow reload
What do you mean by those reload times? 1 per round and 1/2 per round per
the core rules, or is it something else?
>We also made the Hand Crossbow a martial weapon (at least for Ainureans),
>and it is qute a common cavalry weapon - check the illustration on the
>cavalry war cards.
That seems sensible. Any particular cultures that use the hand crossbow
other than Anuireans? I`d probably limit it to Anuirean, Brecht and maybe
the Khinasi, personally.
Gary
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