Strongbow + Elven Bow

[blacksmith]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I honestly don't see anything "broken" about a 1-point perk and a 7-point piece of Signature gear giving +4 ST and +2 damage within one ultra-narrow category. A real munchkin would put all 8 points into Striking ST 4 (One Attack, Bow, -60%) [8] and not have to worry about raising Bow above DX or relying on a specific piece of gear.

But should drawing a bow really be Striking ST or Lifting ST?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by blacksmith

But should drawing a bow really be Striking ST or Lifting ST?

Min ST, bow drawing, basically all aspects of weapon use except the small matter of your encumbrance, are handled by Striking ST, because it's simpler.

Simulationists will want to introduce a lot of little house rules to tweak and adjust this, but by RAW it's all about the Striking ST.

[Kromm]

Bruno has it . . . In combat, strikes for damage = Striking ST and grapples = Lifting ST, and arrows are strikes, just like punches and sword blows. This makes things vastly easier. In any event, it's a continuum, with Lifting ST making some sense at the end where you're taking a long series of Aim and Wait maneuvers, and Striking ST making more sense once you get into Quick-Shooting bows and cocking crossbows with a single sharp jerk when you have a foot in the stirrup. Given such a split, I tend to err on the side of greater point cost.

[mhd]

OTOH, using Striking ST for bows and Lifting ST for crossbows would be a neat option further driving stereotypical dwarfs to the latter. Elves would just be more likely to have both strongbow (although probably not as a racial feature) and of course access to elven bows. Dwarves would have patience and crossbows.

[blacksmith]

Originally Posted by mhd

OTOH, using Striking ST for bows and Lifting ST for crossbows would be a neat option further driving stereotypical dwarfs to the latter. Elves would just be more likely to have both strongbow (although probably not as a racial feature) and of course access to elven bows. Dwarves would have patience and crossbows.

Yea lifting st for crossbows seems perfect.

[malloyd]

So how many plusses do I get for my compound composite elven longbow of ironwooded linden backed with shatterproofed unicorn horn?

On the subject of munchkinizing bows, how would you treat one drawn by the ST of multipule entities? Seems an obvious spell application somewhere between Air Golem and Dancing Weapon. You clearly wouldn't add them. My first instinct would be sum BLs x 5 and take the square root, even though that's not Striking ST.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by malloyd

On the subject of munchkinizing bows, how would you treat one drawn by the ST of multipule entities? Seems an obvious spell application somewhere between Air Golem and Dancing Weapon. You clearly wouldn't add them. My first instinct would be sum BLs x 5 and take the square root, even though that's not Striking ST.

My first impulse is to take the ST of the highest entity, and add 1/5th of each helping entity, as per being grappled by multiple attackers.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Bruno

My first impulse is to take the ST of the highest entity, and add 1/5th of each helping entity, as per being grappled by multiple attackers.

Sounds about right, which allows 4 ST 10 Goblins to fire off an Elven Bow which does damage at ST 18.

Or course there's also the penalty for that type of coordination...

[carllarson]

Originally Posted by blacksmith

Yea lifting st for crossbows seems perfect.

Would Striking ST effect crossbow range or damage at all? OR is it just the reload time you're looking at?

[StormCrow42]

Originally Posted by carllarson

Would Striking ST effect crossbow range or damage at all? OR is it just the reload time you're looking at?

Crossbows have their own ST score independent of the user. The ST score of the crossbow determines how much damage it does, it also determines how fast you can reload it. The discussion here is what kind of strength determines how fast you can reload a crossbow of a higher ST score than your own.