Crossbow Homebrew

[SorenKnight]

It's no secret that crossbows aren't as good as bows in most 3.x games. The justification for this, so far as I can tell, is that they're simple, so of course they aren't quite as good as bows.


The main problem with that relates to why people play RPGs in the first place. A huge part of that is living out the fantasy of being some kind of badass hero. Why do barbarians choose the greataxe over the greatsword? Cause that's the archetype they wanted to play, and that weapon is a part of it for them. Similarly, crossbows have a subtly different connotation than bows, and players should be able to play that without being significantly disadvantaged. That is the purpose that this homebrew will hopefully accomplish.


Now, the simplest way to fix the problem is quite obvious. Give crossbows the same fire rate as bows. However, this creates its own problems, not only would you reverse, rather than solve, the problem, but then everything would become a little too samey for my tastes. I'd prefer a solution that makes them more different, not less. Fortunately, that's exactly the sort of solution that I have.


First of all, you give crossbows the ability to add strength bonuses. These, however, are somewhat different than bows in that you can apply a strength bonus you don't have. The whole point of a crossbow is the ability to store energy to use later, so it makes sense.


Anyone too weak can add up their Strength bonus over time until they reach the Str bonus they want to fire at. This costs one standard action for every time you do it. For example Stabby McStealy the +2 Str rogue could crank his crossbow to +4 in one round and use it in the next.

Instead of each crossbow having a set mighty bonus the maximum is determined by the amount of recoil the limbs of the weapon can safely absorb. This is effectively equal to the material's hardness. Wooden crossbows are limited to +5 Strength, Steel to +10, Mithral to +15 and Adamantine is the highest at +20 (of course, enchanting a weapon increases its hardness by 2 per +1 bonus). This puts an effective limit on how far it can go, with the goal of enable a significant advantage to be gained from the element of surprise without making it an automatic win.


Suggestions and feedback welcome!:smallsmile:

[JNAProductions]

So what if I have a Strength penalty? How does it work then?

[Mando Knight]

Anyone too weak can add up their Strength bonus over time until they reach the Str bonus they want to fire at. This costs one standard action for every time you do it. For example Stabby McStealy the +2 Str rogue could crank his crossbow to +4 in one round and use it in the next.

Unfortunately, spending an entire standard action for just +1 or +2 damage is basically nothing. Except in the case of targeting something with high damage reduction, it's always better to make two attacks that deal regular damage than it is to make one attack that deals less than twice as much damage. Factored into a game where characters could also instead spend their turn making four or more attacks with a regular bow, it just isn't worthwhile.

[Lemmy]

LEMMY TO THE RESCUE!

Ahem... Sorry...

So... I have a homebrew project (of which I'm quite proud, mind you!) that might be able to help you...

For crossbows, there are basically two ways of making crossbows viable while keeping them different from bows ("String Weapons" in the homebrew):

Crank (Manual): A weapon with this modification uses a mechanical crank to draw the string, which is then released with the pull of a trigger.
The crank transfers and maximizes the energy provided by the shooter’s muscles. Therefore, the a weapon with this modification can add the shooter’s Strength modifier to damage rolls and has its range extended by 1 step, but also has its reload action slowed by 1 step (If this pushes the reload time beyond a full-round action, the reload time is not changed, but the cost of the first addition of the Improved Reload modification to the weapon increases by +1 craft point). Reloading a crank weapon requires a free hand, but shooting it can be done with one hand (at -4 penalty, if it’s a two-handed weapon).
Each point of Strength bonus granted by the weapon adds 100 gp to its cost.

Crank (Automatic): This ability functions exactly like the Crank (Manual) modification, but thne “cranking” and reload of the weapon is done automatically. The bonus to damage is not affected by the shooter’s Strength. Instead, the weapon has its own pre-established modifier added to damage rolls, however this bonus is limited by the user’s skill, and won’t surpass [2 + half the user’s BAB] (rounded down).
Each point of damage bonus granted by the weapon adds 100 gp to its cost

It still allows crossbows to add Str to damage (because that's what cranks and levers do... They transfer energy from your arm to the string!) but keep crossbows at lower rate of fire than bows (but higher base damage).

Hope that helps. :)

[Morphic tide]

LET IT BEGIN!

Okay, first, the slower rate of fire of a Crossbow is a problem. The lack of a +Str Crossbow option is another layer of problem. My suggestion is, like you mentioned, have them have a strength value you build up with actions. But have that strength value be able to get huge. Draw strengths of crossbows are limited by two things. The tensile/compressive strength of what the crossbow is made of, and how well you can get a crank of some kind to apply a lever to draw it back.

Of course, this would work best with an addition to all bow-based weapons in the form of a strength ratio. Modifier in to bonus out. For example, Longbows can have a two to one or 1.5 to one ratio, making them get an increased effect from Strength. Crossbows, on account of abysmal draw length, get a terrible ratio, with Heavy Crossbows having a 1:2 ratio and getting worse from there. But Crossbows could have the ability to use far larger strength modifiers as a cap, making up for a bad ratio by having a much larger amount of maximum Strength modifier. Repeating crossbows would have a lower maximum strength, in accordance with their actual historic value, but would have the key advantage of better . Bows could be fired with partial strength, but crossbows always require full strength.

The mechanic of crossbows would be Swift actions or iteratives to apply Strength modifier, with crossbows having an extra ratio of modifer per swift action. Essentially, a longbow could have 1.5:1; 4:1 Str, for 1.5:1 ratio Strength modifier and 4 for maximum Strength modifier with a minimum Strength modifier of +1, getting a +6 bonus if you have +4 Strength modifier, but needing a higher quality longbow to get more Strength. A similarly priced Heavy Crossbow could have a 1:2; 8:2 entry under Strength, so the minimum Strength modifier to use it would be +2, with the required modifier to fire it being eight, so the minimum usable Strength of fourteen would need to make four attacks or spend four Swift actions. Or a mix. The ability to use Swift actions or iteratives means that high-level characters still increase their rate of fire, and crossbows would be able to be upgraded to have enormous maximum Strength modifier values for characters to exploit. It also means action economy cheese lets abnormally-strong casters properly use crossbows as a fallback weapon at higher levels, letting them contribute meaningfully without spells. Or using weapon buff spells instead of blaster spells.

Witch can sit in the corner, with her overpriced touch-AC-targetting handcannon that she turns into the most convenient firearm for the situation with a first level spell. And her spontaneous automatically-Magic Weapon-boosted dagger, also a first level spell. Seriously, a Witch/Fighter hybrid biased towards weapon use would be a scary gish monster thanks to the astonishing gish support of the Witch spell list. Weapon creation, weapon enhancement, healing, buffs, debuffs, summoning flankers... it's kinda silly how good Witch is for gishes. The Flight and Healing Hexes are godsends.

Edit: Repeating Crossbows would have worse maximum Strength values and lower minimum values, because they historically relied on poisoned bolts to properly function and the role of regular crossbows is a holdout weapon that can get off a decent shot in a pinch, or be specialized into for massive single shots with high chances of hitting. They'd be able to get full iteratives with +3 or +4 Strength, but have tiny, tiny modifiers for it and abysmal damage. Good for getting multi-procs from effects, bad for independent damage. Just like in real life. Also good for getting something to hit, like in real life.