03-02-2005, 06:29 PM | #31 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Re: Arrow damage
I don't think archers today are comparable to real archers in the 12th century. Especially English longbow archers did several hours of shooting daily. This resulted in deformed arm bones for example.
Britannica states that an English archer "could drive a heavy arrow through armour [...] at medium ranges of 150-300 yds. Each archer would have carried a few selected light arrows for shooting at extreme ranges and could probably have reached 500 yards with these" If I remember correctly they found longbows with draws of 100# (without any let-of). For crossbows, Britannica states that "draw forces well in excess of 1000 pounds became common". But compared to the crossbow, the longbow was superior. For all the archers here - could someone translate the power behind a lonbow and his archer to todays terms? What are the ST-values needed to use such a bow? |
03-02-2005, 06:47 PM | #32 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Down in a holler
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Re: Arrow damage
My draw weight is 71lbs by the scale.
I shoot a somewhat heavy broadhead so I need the poundage to keep the flight from being rainbow-like. Im shooting heavy so I can confidently take front-quartering shots. A friends 13 year old son shoots a 70lb PSE. And WINS meat shoots with it :-) Us kentucky folk must be made of sterner stuff than I thought. Tink Nathan, professional bowhunter uses 90lb+ for elephants. Anyway, a 120lb bow would be a monster. http://www.martinarchery.com/faq/facts.php#draww How modern bows work With all important charts. (howatt used to make 100lb traditional bows) |
03-02-2005, 07:01 PM | #33 | ||
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
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As far as whether the long bow was superior? Penetration wise –no. Rate of fire wise, you betcha. It really shined in massed archer formations raingin sheets of arrows down field, something one couldn’t do effectively with a crossbow Quote:
Here is an article about it that I didn’t think was half bad http://www.thefickeadventure.com/Gam...e/archery.html Here is a discussion on the forum that talked about it. I didn’t agree with all of the assumptions, but I’m really not an expert, only a studied hobbyist and sport bowman. You might find it useful http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=3539 Actually I would agree. Today's master archers are better IMO. Not because the Archer is any better himself, but because today's bows are far more accurate and reliable, and produce the same results with less stress on the body - plus the modern archer can adjust his bows and arrows in ways a medieval archer never could. That said - the average modern archer is far outstripped by the average longbowman because the average medieval longbowman was a master of his trade, not just an average sport shooter. 100o lb crossbows were (most likely) heavy arbalests i.e.= siege crossbows, usable for punching through the mantlets and wooden covers on battlements during a siege. You can’t really compare it to the longbow because its purpose was different. |
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03-03-2005, 02:41 AM | #34 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
A bit of an aside from damage dice and all that, but:
In every RPG I've ever seen, arrows that thwock into a combatant do their damage and then... disappear. No black shafts sticking out of Boromir in games, just points of damage and that's that. I don't think many gamers *want* to worry about the extra realism of plucking out arrows, or the action penalties for a PC bristling with crossbow bolts... But just out of curiosity, has anyone used houserules for the "aftermath" of arrows (or, eww, javelins and spears), or seen an RPG that does? |
03-03-2005, 02:54 AM | #35 | |
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
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03-03-2005, 03:39 AM | #36 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
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03-03-2005, 04:08 AM | #37 | |
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
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03-03-2005, 11:15 AM | #38 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Arrow damage
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If they break off the shaft, they can further halve these penalties (round down). If they take the time to remove the impaling missile, they must make a First aid -6 roll to remove it without damage (I also have a specialized technique for triage) or they can make a ST roll to remove it, taking half the damage it did going in. A person attempting to remove a impaled weapon from himself must make a Will roll or HT roll to do so. These rules are fast in play and give the bow, spear, thrown knife, etc a respect you wouldn't believe. The rules are fairly easy to remember also. Now, I run a fairly realistic fantasy/sword and sorcery game. YMMV with other genres or cineramic games.
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03-03-2005, 04:12 PM | #39 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Down in a holler
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Re: Arrow damage
Decisions that every PC must make:
Should I wear armor and get an arrow embedded 6 inches deep into my belly so I spend my last few days in agonizing pain before dying of sepsis? Should I NOT wear armor and get an arrow shot through my torso, killing my horse behind me and dying myself 30 seconds later from blood loss? ...Why do you keep calling me Killer GM? |
03-03-2005, 06:24 PM | #40 | |
MIB
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Arrow damage
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arrow wounds, harsh realism |
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