Rolaran
2006-11-20, 01:23 AM
Self-Adjusting Crossbow and Opportunistic Crossbow
"We're taking a pounding, Torven! Get back here!"
Torven looked down the ladder he had just climbed. His companions were squaring off in a courtyard against an ogre that had mysteriously appeared in the middle of an encampment. He whipped out his weapon of choice, a repeating crossbow. A careful observer would have seen a number of targeting reticules attached to the weapon, constantly sliding around in a seemingly random pattern.
Torven aimed at the ogre, and squeezed the trigger.
FWINGGG! A bolt sailed past the ogre's leg into the ground.
Torven felt a slight jerk as the crossbow moved. It was almost as if an invisible hand had given it a tiny nudge. He fired again.
FWINGGG! The shot grazed the ogre's ear. He gave a startled growl.
Torven felt another shift, and fired again.
THUNKKK! The bolt hit hard in the ogre's chest. He howled in pain.
Then Torven heard a snarl behind him, and a second ogre appeared on the wall behind him, hovering. He swooped in, and managed to knock away Torven's crossbow. Torven quickly pulled out a different crossbow. He aimed and fired.
The arrow lodged itself in the ogre mage's skull. Suddenly a high-pitched whistling noise emanated from the crossbow. Four hatches opened in the sides of the crossbow and rapidly launched the rest of the bolt's clip into the ogre. It shrieked in pain and plummeted to the ground with a sickening thump.
Torven reloaded, and turned his attention to the first ogre again. He thought again of the strange gnome who had sold him these crossbows. Expensive, perhaps, but very nifty little toys...
These are both specific magic repeating crossbows.
Self-Adjusting: This crossbow has a number of targeting reticules on it, all of which magically move around the crossbow (making them useless for conventionally targeting). If a person using this crossbow fires at the same target multiple times in a row, the crossbow automatically adjusts its aim to be more accurate. Any time the wielder shoots at a target more than once in the same round, he gains a +2 bonus to the attack roll to hit. These are cumulative, so that the second shot in a round would have a +2 bonus, the third +4, etc. The shots must all be in the same round, and reloading the crossbow or switching targets cancels the bonus.
Opportunistic: This crossbow seems normal to all but the most discerning eye, which can detect four compartments built into the main part of the crossbow. Whenever someone scores a critical hit with this crossbow, these hatches open and immediately fire all remaining shots in the clip of the crossbow (up to a limit of 4). The wielder of the crossbow cannot prevent this and cannot re-aim the crossbow when this happens, but it happens so quickly that it does not affect his ability to take further actions that turn. These shots automatically hit, but are not critical hits.
The part I'm having trouble with is figure out the requirements and cost to make these things. Here's what I was thinking for spell requirements, help with the rest of it would be greatly appreciated...
Self-Adjusting: Arcane Eye, Mage Hand
Oppurtunistic: True Strike, Haste
"We're taking a pounding, Torven! Get back here!"
Torven looked down the ladder he had just climbed. His companions were squaring off in a courtyard against an ogre that had mysteriously appeared in the middle of an encampment. He whipped out his weapon of choice, a repeating crossbow. A careful observer would have seen a number of targeting reticules attached to the weapon, constantly sliding around in a seemingly random pattern.
Torven aimed at the ogre, and squeezed the trigger.
FWINGGG! A bolt sailed past the ogre's leg into the ground.
Torven felt a slight jerk as the crossbow moved. It was almost as if an invisible hand had given it a tiny nudge. He fired again.
FWINGGG! The shot grazed the ogre's ear. He gave a startled growl.
Torven felt another shift, and fired again.
THUNKKK! The bolt hit hard in the ogre's chest. He howled in pain.
Then Torven heard a snarl behind him, and a second ogre appeared on the wall behind him, hovering. He swooped in, and managed to knock away Torven's crossbow. Torven quickly pulled out a different crossbow. He aimed and fired.
The arrow lodged itself in the ogre mage's skull. Suddenly a high-pitched whistling noise emanated from the crossbow. Four hatches opened in the sides of the crossbow and rapidly launched the rest of the bolt's clip into the ogre. It shrieked in pain and plummeted to the ground with a sickening thump.
Torven reloaded, and turned his attention to the first ogre again. He thought again of the strange gnome who had sold him these crossbows. Expensive, perhaps, but very nifty little toys...
These are both specific magic repeating crossbows.
Self-Adjusting: This crossbow has a number of targeting reticules on it, all of which magically move around the crossbow (making them useless for conventionally targeting). If a person using this crossbow fires at the same target multiple times in a row, the crossbow automatically adjusts its aim to be more accurate. Any time the wielder shoots at a target more than once in the same round, he gains a +2 bonus to the attack roll to hit. These are cumulative, so that the second shot in a round would have a +2 bonus, the third +4, etc. The shots must all be in the same round, and reloading the crossbow or switching targets cancels the bonus.
Opportunistic: This crossbow seems normal to all but the most discerning eye, which can detect four compartments built into the main part of the crossbow. Whenever someone scores a critical hit with this crossbow, these hatches open and immediately fire all remaining shots in the clip of the crossbow (up to a limit of 4). The wielder of the crossbow cannot prevent this and cannot re-aim the crossbow when this happens, but it happens so quickly that it does not affect his ability to take further actions that turn. These shots automatically hit, but are not critical hits.
The part I'm having trouble with is figure out the requirements and cost to make these things. Here's what I was thinking for spell requirements, help with the rest of it would be greatly appreciated...
Self-Adjusting: Arcane Eye, Mage Hand
Oppurtunistic: True Strike, Haste