Jowgen
2016-12-24, 02:54 AM
Skimming through A&E, I came accross the Stirge bolt, a +3 crossbow bolt with the following benefit:
[physical description] The round after a successful hit, the bolt begins to drain the target’s blood, dealing 1d4 points of temporary Constitution damage each round until destroyed. As a Tiny wooden weapon, each stirge bolt has a hardness of 5 and 1 hit point. While draining blood from a target, the bolt has an AC of 12 (+2 size). Stirge bolts that miss their targets are consumed.
It's an interesting piece, and so I'm naturally curious as to what fun can be had with it.
The first and probably most TO thing that came to mind is the Force WSA from MIC :
A projectile weapon with the force property turns ammunition shot from it into a force attack. [text on overcoming DR and such] Ammunition shot from a force weapon deals the same amount of damage as normal ammunition.
Now based on the line on dealing the same ammount of damage as normal, I'm rather positive a stirge bolt fired from a Force crossbow will still do its blood drain. The thing is, the only way to remove the bolt is to sunder it, and while the text gives the hardness and HP it has as a "tiny wooden weapon", the Force WSA turns it into a force effect, which... please correct me if I'm wrong... can't be sundered. Now there is a simple counter to this, namely the Styptic ASA from MIC, but for an unprepared target, the above is a straight up death sentence of Aboleth Mucus proportions.
Another thing that I noted is that a Stirge bolt, unlike a normal crossbow bolt, doesn't automatically break upon impact. Unless the creature struck sunders it, or it misses in the first place, it explictly remains intact. Am I misreading this, or does this open the dread door of re-useable ammunition?
So those are my 2 ideas, which I'm looking for feedback on. Any other ideas on how to get use out of this little thing are most welcome.
[physical description] The round after a successful hit, the bolt begins to drain the target’s blood, dealing 1d4 points of temporary Constitution damage each round until destroyed. As a Tiny wooden weapon, each stirge bolt has a hardness of 5 and 1 hit point. While draining blood from a target, the bolt has an AC of 12 (+2 size). Stirge bolts that miss their targets are consumed.
It's an interesting piece, and so I'm naturally curious as to what fun can be had with it.
The first and probably most TO thing that came to mind is the Force WSA from MIC :
A projectile weapon with the force property turns ammunition shot from it into a force attack. [text on overcoming DR and such] Ammunition shot from a force weapon deals the same amount of damage as normal ammunition.
Now based on the line on dealing the same ammount of damage as normal, I'm rather positive a stirge bolt fired from a Force crossbow will still do its blood drain. The thing is, the only way to remove the bolt is to sunder it, and while the text gives the hardness and HP it has as a "tiny wooden weapon", the Force WSA turns it into a force effect, which... please correct me if I'm wrong... can't be sundered. Now there is a simple counter to this, namely the Styptic ASA from MIC, but for an unprepared target, the above is a straight up death sentence of Aboleth Mucus proportions.
Another thing that I noted is that a Stirge bolt, unlike a normal crossbow bolt, doesn't automatically break upon impact. Unless the creature struck sunders it, or it misses in the first place, it explictly remains intact. Am I misreading this, or does this open the dread door of re-useable ammunition?
So those are my 2 ideas, which I'm looking for feedback on. Any other ideas on how to get use out of this little thing are most welcome.