The Crossbow Apprentice
 

Crossbow Apprentice, Dwarf wizard, age 20
ST 12, DX 11, IQ 9, MA 10
Talents: Crossbow, Literacy, Missile Weapons
Spells: Aid, Fire, Staff
Languages: Common, Dwarvish
Weapon: Staff holly maul (1d+2/1d), light steel crossbow (2d)
Attacks and Damage: Punch (1d-2)
Equipment: 20 silver quarrels, belt pouch, middle class robes, backpack, 2 waterskins, 7 days rations, brand, 3 healing potions, $84 in coins

Can carry up to 96 pounds without slowing down, current load is 29 pounds, so can carry 67 pounds of loot in the backpack without complaint.
Would you keep the Missile Weapons talent (for long range fire, once xp flips into dx), or take two spells instead?
What other changes would you make?

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

Nice character.

Why the emphasis on "steel" crossbow? Or did you mean to say something else? You picked silver bolts (so as not to interfere with spell casting) but then carrying anything iron based negates that advantage.

Now a crossbow mechanism made from bronze would work perfectly (the ancient Chinese bronze crossbow proved that) and bronze bolts would sure be a lot cheaper, with neither interfering with magic.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

Any crossbow in hand negates any ability to cast spells (at IQ 9) so drop it when casting and pick it up after the fight.
If you suddenly need to cast then you don't have the available movement points to put it away, but dropping an item in hand is free.
The only case where steel in the crossbow is a disadvantage is when you are traveling with staff in hand and crossbow on the back and suddenly need to cast a spell.
Hence no reason to lose a point of damage with a bronze crossbow, or spend an extra $450 for a silver crossbow.

Archer Apprentice, Dwarf wizard, age 20
ST 11, DX 12, IQ 9, MA 10
Talents: Bow, Literacy
Spells: Aid, Fire, Staff
Languages: Common, Dwarvish
Weapon: Staff holly maul (1d+2/1d), longbow (1d+2)
Attacks and Damage: Punch (1d-2)
Equipment: 20 silver arrows, belt pouch, middle class robes, backpack, 2 waterskins, 7 days rations, brand, 3 healing potions, $96 in coins

Can carry up to 88 pounds without slowing down, current load is 27 pounds, so can carry 61 pounds of loot in the backpack without complaint.
Without Missile Weapons (or the memory points for it), this version loses long range high damage missile power.
I wouldn't advise giving up a healing potion for an untalented silver dagger for either version as dwarves hit hard enough without a blade.

By ITL 60 either version is available for rent from the Wizards' Guild for $100/week, which is cheaper than buying a mule.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

Well if you don't mind dropping it, that makes sense. But as to the second point, with the crossbow on the back, here is where the bronze crossbow mechanism would avoid the spell-casting disadvantage. You could still use silver bolts, and I for one wouldn't say that does 1 less hit damage if I were GM just because the trigger release was bronze. That wouldn't make a difference in the firing force upon release, and those Chinese bronze crossbows produced a mighty wallop.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

I remember in our Classic TFT days, we had a wizard character with a crossbow. He was eventually rich enough for a silver one with a silver arrow and a quiver of replenishment. It was a good character build.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

Sounds like fun... funny but for all the years my group played I cannot once remember any wizard taking a bow, which sounds like a no-brainer now. Even if you only allowed wooden staffs, a longbow (or smaller to start) would make a perfect staff. Always something ready for when spell-casting ST was getting too low, and you could pretend to not be a wizard as you traveled until you unleashed a spell.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

The PC in our classic game started with a bow and missile weapons talent which also helped with his missile spells. He eventually had a crossbow. However, He played the character for sevral years. He was well over 40 attributes and was our most powerful PC wizard.

Our wizards didn't tend to wield staves because they didn't provide much advantage in classic TFT.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

What is this character? I don't know any characters like that. Maybe because I'm so new.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

For Dwarf Wizard V1, might consider taking Magic Fist in place of Fire since as a missile spell, it will gain the +1 DX of the Missile Weapon talent.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

A wizard created by one of my friends. He selected spells and talents that allowed him to also use a crossbow.

It;s not a character that showed up on any of the game literature back in the early 80's.

Re: The Crossbow Apprentice
 

The advantage of fire comes when the wizard is suddenly engaged without a chance to switch weapons. Put the enemy hex on fire and make it their obligation to quickly disengage.