1e AD&D: Bonus Attack stacking?

[Turalisj]

I'm trying to puzzle through bonus attacks in 1e...

I've got an 8th level ranger with 3/2 attacks. He's got a bow, which normally has 2/1 attacks, and weapon specialization in the bow....

My question is, do all these stack together?

[Mutazoia]

They don't. the 3/2 is his melee attack when using a sword (mace what have you). When he takes up his bow the 2/1 replaces the 3/2 (due to re-load times for the bow).

[Yora]

Where is weapon specialization actually explained? I can't find it anywhere.

[Thrudd]

Mutazoia is correct, the extra attacks per round for fighters only applies to melee weapons. It is completely separate from the attacks per round you get based on missile weapon type.

Weapon specialization was an optional rule from Unearthed Arcana, a new class feature for fighters and rangers. You can use an extra weapon proficiency at character creation on a single weapon to get some bonus to hit and damage with it and extra attacks per round earlier than they normally would. Bows require 3 proficiencies instead of 2 to specialize, so a ranger with bow specialization at level 1 doesn't know how to use any other weapon (rangers only get three proficiencies rather than the fighters' four). 8th level ranger with bow specialization actually gets 3 shots per round instead of 2, and at 14th level he will get 4 shots per round.

[Rhynn]

Does 1E weapon spec with bows actually increase ROF? It doesn't in 2E. (2E bow spec sucks, and I always just re-rule it to work the exact same as melee weapons... increase attacks by 50%, +1/+2 to-hit/damage.)

[MeeposFire]

Does 1E weapon spec with bows actually increase ROF? It doesn't in 2E. (2E bow spec sucks, and I always just re-rule it to work the exact same as melee weapons... increase attacks by 50%, +1/+2 to-hit/damage.)

I always thought it strange that every other weapon you can learn to shoot or wield more quickly but not the bow. Even the crossbow gets more attacks as you level as a specialist. This assumes you don't use some more obscure information found in other books of course.

[Thrudd]

Does 1E weapon spec with bows actually increase ROF? It doesn't in 2E. (2E bow spec sucks, and I always just re-rule it to work the exact same as melee weapons... increase attacks by 50%, +1/+2 to-hit/damage.)

Yes, I just busted out Unearthed Arcana to check. Specialization with bow is pretty awesome, which is why it takes an extra proficiency slot and can't be double specialized. You get a "point blank" range from 6-30' where you get +2 to hit and damage, plus double damage, +1 to hit and damage at short range. If you have an arrow nocked and drawn at the beginning of any round, you get to fire before initiative is rolled. You get 3 shots/round at 7th level and 4/round at 13th. Crossbow is the same, except the point blank range is all the way to 60', and you get +1 to hit at medium range as well, but no damage bonus. It also increases rate of fire for the crossbow starting at 7th level.
Melee weapon spec. is +1 to hit/+2 damage and bumps up the attacks/round by one category, so 3/2 rounds at 1-6, 2/1 at 7-12, 5/2 at 13+. You can double specialize by spending an extra prof. slot for +3 to hit and +3 dmg, except with two handed swords, polearms, and bows/crossbows. Specializing in a throwable weapon also increases RoF starting at level 1! A dagger specialist gets 3 throws/round at levels 1-6. A fighter or ranger with 18 Dex and dagger specialization could dual wield sword and dagger at no penalty, and also have the option of throwing 3+ daggers a round. Pretty badass (not that it is common to see a fighter with 18 Dex, but it could happen).

[MeeposFire]

Most of my warriors tended to have higher dex. Getting higher str is relatively easier to obtain than high dex and you get bonuses earlier. Perhaps more importantly I find the image of the agile warrior (even in heavier armors) to be very appealing. In 2e I would also value int highly as there were a lot of good weapon and NWP out there that can really boost your combat performance by more than what you could expect from anything less than an 18 str. Con was up there as well of course and I held all three of those scores ahead of str unless I got an 18 roll (and even then I am tempted to put my best score in something other than str).

By easier to obtain I mean you can get str from spells (you can get a good str score from a 2nd level mage spell and there are a bunch of others) and several different "common" (as in well known and seen a fair bit) items such as the famous gauntlets of ogre power and belts of giant strength.

[Rhynn]

2E bow spec also takes two slots; maybe the intent is that they stack; but after some broken telephone, the specialization ROF table omitted bows? Go figure.