Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
I don't think Athas has what it takes for that to be a thing.

It would be entirely rool of kewl.

Even then, I don't think D&D has the granularity to represent the benefits.
I think this is the right answer, in terms of both the tech level to create and the effects under D&D rules. That said, rule of cool isn’t inherently bad in a D&D game. IMO the way to handle it as a DM is to find out why the player wants it and what stats they think it should have. If this is a variant of how new players say they stab somebody in the neck expecting that means their dagger will do more than 1d4 damage, you may need to have a talk about how D&D works (doesn’t mean they can’t have it, though). If they’re an archery enthusiast and think compound bows are cool regardless of the stats, you might want to think about fitting it into the game. If they’re trying to munchkin their way to some mechanical advantage, that’s another issue.

If you do decide to allow a compound bow in the game, I’d treat it as an extraordinary feat of craftsmanship by a legendary bowyer, not something that could readily be replicated without substantial advances in metallurgy and precision machining that would fundamentally change the setting. Essentially it would be a refluffed magic bow (but mundane for purposes of DR or in an AMF), not an invention that’s introduced to the world.