Why short bow instead of long bow?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by gilbertocarlos

bound in many light ropes, otherwise they can provide DR1, and you don't want that.

If you bind someone in many light ropes, they will walk out of them. This is why performing escape artists get an innocent third party to wrap them up in so much cordage they look like a spindle...

Rope has a little elasticity to it, a little "give". If a rope only has 1/16" of "give" per foot, and you tie someone up with six feet of it, he only has 6/16" of play to work with. If you tie him up with 60 feet of it, he has 60/16" or 3 1/4", which is enough for even me to get out of it.

[Kromm]

At typical, non-PC-hero skill levels (say, 9-12), a point of Bulk is a huge difference when you consider all the other penalties on ranged attacks. It's what differentiates a "barely manageable" .357 Magnum revolver (Bulk -2) from a snubby (Bulk -1); a 4-lb. axe (Bulk -4) from a 2-lb. hatchet (Bulk -3); a full-sized battle rifle (Bulk -6) from a light, mostly plastic assault rifle good for small-statured shooters (Bulk -5); and so on. All of these things have influenced real-life decisions a lot.

Realistically, though, if people can run around in conflicts with 6' spears and even longer polearms, and with Bulk -6 to -7 sniper rifles bearing Bulk -1 scopes and Bulk -1 or -2 suppressors (total Bulk -8 to -10) – and they do, actually – then a Bulk -7 or -8 bow just isn't a big deal. People who like small, sneaky, and/or nimble characters in RPGs often wheel out the argument that these things should be terribly awkward, but that's drama. The shortest Japanese yumi, for instance, are around 7' long and intended for use from horseback (this guy is using Bow Art, but the proportions are accurate). Imposing an arbitrary "past this Bulk, life becomes Hell" point would actually be cinematic in the sense of exaggerating a downside of one thing so that the upsides of something else would seem unrealistically good by comparison.

Most of the weapon stats that modify success rolls directly (Acc, Bulk, and Parry) vary little in game terms, yet get talked up in real-life terms. The difference of a point of Bulk for bows is one of those things. A level of Acc for guns is another; real-world people blow thousands of hours arguing about choosing one rifle over another for this reason alone. For that matter, they argue about .30-06 vs. 7.62×51mm when GURPS basically treats them as identical.

[Flyndaran]

Ok, awesome. Thanks for putting my concerns to rest.
All hail Kromm.

[TorgSmith]

Another thing, the players can min max all they want. The GM is not so concerned about eking out every point they can. Having a broader selection of weapons is nice. That's the advantage of playing characters that are supposed to lose.

[chris1982]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I guess my initial question would be better restated as, "If you also have a man sized long bow, would there ever be a reason to also have a short bow?"

And the answer is yes but only if you are a masochist. ;)

I could think of it of some use if you rather only hurt than kill your foes.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I guess my initial question would be better restated as, "If you also have a man sized long bow, would there ever be a reason to also have a short bow?"

It's probably cheaper to string short bows, and it's certainly cheaper to replace them. So maybe you'd have one for routine hunting, or target practice, or training your children.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I guess my initial question would be better restated as, "If you also have a man sized long bow, would there ever be a reason to also have a short bow?"

This is basically the "If you already have an awesome primary weapon, would there ever be a reason to have a cheap backup?" question, only with more specific examples.

And that's the first thing that comes to mind - as a cheap backup. Nothing sucks for the Scout quite like having his bow eaten by an acid spewing slime mid-dungeon, and if you've spent 200$ (or 900$ for the composite, or MORE for a fine composite), 50$ for a backup is pennies, and also likely all you can afford :D

Similarly, having the cheap backup weapon means you can switch to it when you think your primary, very expensive weapon might be at risk before it gets damaged (ie, "oh no, it's those acid spewing slimes again! Hide the good gear!"). Like a fighter switching to a wooden sword/club when faced with a rust monster, really.

Of course, it might also be at risk of being confiscated in town, where the shortbow might not. Leave the longbow with the bouncer/guards/secret cache of adventurer gear, and bring the shortbow.

Oh, and if there's a special material your bow can be made out of, but it's charged by the pound (One time offer! Special for you guys because you saved my princess!), you might only be able to afford it in "short-bow". The Deadly Spring charges by material weight, unlike generic DF modifiers, so this is especially relevant. If Elvish Spring-Steel-Oak costs $8000 a pound but makes the Best Bows Evar, every ounce certainly counts towards your budget. Of course at that point the question becomes "If you have this awesome short bow, why carry the "cheap" (and heavier) longbow?" :D

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Nod. The things you can get away with in sports events tend to be significantly illegal in civil society - full contact sports are nigh-on exempt from assault, aggravated assault, and assault with a deadly weapon laws, as long as they conform to "the rules of the game" or "expected failures to comply with the rules of the game".

Heck, entire hockey teams and their coaching staffs should be up for conspiracy to assault/aggravated assault for planning to sic their "enforcer(s)" on another teams enforcer(s) or star player.

My point is that in many low-TL societies, what weapons you carry affect how NPCs perceive you.

If you carry longbows and broadswords, you're perceived as war-like and up to no good, whereas shortbows and shortswords are often "standard gear" for men, and is seen as everyday and commonplace.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

If you carry longbows and broadswords, you're perceived as war-like and up to no good, whereas shortbows and shortswords are often "standard gear" for men, and is seen as everyday and commonplace.

Not really. In most cases, the question is 'are you carrying tools, or are you carrying weapons' and 'if you are carrying weapons, are they illegal for someone of your status'. Both long and short bows are reasonable tools (though they may be seen as tools for poaching), both broadswords and shortswords are weapons (and legal restrictions, if present, tend to forbid both, along with some categories of knives).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Not really. In most cases, the question is 'are you carrying tools, or are you carrying weapons' and 'if you are carrying weapons, are they illegal for someone of your status'. Both long and short bows are reasonable tools (though they may be seen as tools for poaching), both broadswords and shortswords are weapons (and legal restrictions, if present, tend to forbid both, along with some categories of knives).

While I broadly agree, I think that a a low draw weight shortbow is far more likely to be perceived as a tool than a high draw weight longbow.

Beyond a certain level of power, a bow becomes a specialist tool or a warrior's weapon. That level of power is ca 100 lbs. or so.

So a fairly cheap longbow made for normal ST, that's just a better tool than a shortbow. But a longbow made for ST 15+ and thus made from specially selected, even imported wood? That could be seen in a similar light as a scoped rifle in a fair caliber.

Sure, you could just mean to use it for hunting. But in that case, you don't have any valid reason to carry it around town. In fact, since it's so valuable and it could get damaged, doing so is probably somewhat strange.

I think that outside a situation where a hunting weapon would pass unremarked upon, having any kind of bow is probably comment-worthy and a longbow is less likely to be an afterthought carried around for small game. An unstrung shortbow attached to a saddle or backpack would be plausible as something for supplementing dinner on the road, but a longbow would be so much more cumbersome and expensive that people would expect someone carrying one to be carrying it for serious hunting if he wasn't using one for war.