Strength Bonus on Crossbows

[Krushnak]

I know some of you dont think the crossbows do enough damage nor do they have enough ap so heres something ive been thinking about including in my game and i would enjoy hearing what you guys have to think about it.

Light crossbows cant be given a strength bonus above 2 but dont require a minimum and Heavy crossbows cant be given a strength bonus below 2(probably max 6, leaving that up to individual g's).

The strength bonus adds to damage and ap just like on the exotic bows but if you dont have a strength bonus as high as the crossbows rating then it requires an extra move action to reload for every point you are below the minimum.

eg: you have a strength of 12(+1) and the crossbow has a strength bonus of +3 then it would take you two extra move actions to reload it.

Im unsure how the rapid reload feat should act with this, i guess it should just halve after all penalties are applied.

This should make cossbows much more deadly in game allowing heavy crossbows to reach the massive damage on a max dice roll with a +4 strength bonus and easily hitting the threshold with a crit.

[Evil_Trevor]

Hi,

I do agee that the damage/ap figures for crossbows are too small, but I would just increase them, a standard crossbow is not affected by the strength of it's user you can't just pull it harder or anything.

[Krushnak]

a standard crossbow is not affected by the strength of it's user you can't just pull it harder or anything.

im saying it can be pulled harder just that its inbuilt tension can be higher and being strong should help with the reloading. you could be strength 10 and use a +6 strength bonus crossbow it would just take your 3 extra rounds to reload it.

[Timestheus]

The problem is that anyone can use a crossbow no matter how hard the pull on it would be. Heavy crossbows use a crank system to pull back and lock into position to fire.

That is really the difference between a light and heavy crossbow. One is light enough to cock by hand or using a belt mounted hook, and the other requires a crank that is set on the crossbow and used to mechanically rest the line.

[Gist_Engine]

I think he only wants to factor in the strength of the character for reload time, ie a character who is stronger can crank or pull on a powerful crossbow faster than a weaker character.

[Majestic7]

I've simply increased crossbow damage to 2d8 and AP to 6, arbalest to 2d10 and AP to 10. One critical hit from an arbalest can bring down even a level 20 guy with massive damage - that's the way I like it. I don't remember if crossbows are marked as martial weapons on the core rules, but they are definetely simple weapons in my campaign. That's pretty much the whole point with them.

There are already ways to increase damage done with crossbows in the game rules with feats such as Weapon Specialization and so forth. I as well ruled..errr... Something Eye (Sniper's Eye? Don't have my F-books at hand) feat from Hyboria's Fiercest (or Fallen?) to apply for all ranged attacks. RAW it was only applicable against surprised opponents, which pretty much limited its usefulness near zero. I don't mind ranged weapons being boosted - after all, Power Attack smashes everyone in to bloody mist in this game anyway with defenses being usually so much lower than attacks.

I've actually been toying with an idea for an archery feat which would be a bit like Power Attack for ranged weapons. Instead of increasing damage for lower accuracy, it would be something like "shoot him in the vitals" or the like - it would lower accuracy with, say, -4 and increase threat range of the attack with one for each such step taken. So +2 threat range for -8 to hit etc. BAB might be a limit like in Power Attack. That number (-4) is just an example, I really haven't thought about it at detail. It would need careful balancing in order not to get out of hand or be too useless. Prerequisites might be Precise Shot and Weapon Focus on the bow used. Perhaps it should work only within one range increment of the weapon, beyond that it being too hard to aim accurately. Synergy with Improved Critical and the like might make this feat too powerful even if it were ok by itself.