Pyramid #3-33 Low Tech in Review

[Jeffr0]

Oddly enough, the review netted a couple of people that wanted to pick it up when I posted it on rpg-geek. One guy even wanted to get the Low Tech econ supplement...!

[pyratejohn]

Oddly? Naaa... there are all sorts of gamers in the deep blue sea of rpg. Some of us like that kind of stuff, though we may be fewer in number than those who like other sorts of things.

These days, I'm really preferring fluff over crunch, gaming inspiration over cold, hard numbers, but I really enjoyed that issue of Pyramid.

[demonsbane]

Differently to other RPG systems, I usually find that GURPS marries very well "fluff" with "cold, hard numbers" —or in some senses, qualities with quantities—, so in the end they aren't just "cold numbers" for me :)

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by pyratejohn

Oddly? Naaa... there are all sorts of gamers in the deep blue sea of rpg.

Yep. You and I may not play games like that, but one of the most pointless questions in criticism is "who wants [something]?" with the expectation that the answer will be "nobody." There's always somebody who wants more rules.

[Jeffr0]

Yeah, I don't normally write reviews. I'm more of a session report guy. Either way, the audience for what I write is barely a fraction of the Pyramid readership.

In spite of that... it does seem to be worth it to do an occasional review as there *are* people on sites like rpg-geek that play GURPS but that don't necessarily read every twitter, forum posting, illuminator, and e23 what's new thingie like I do. Even a review by someone with totally different tastes can get people on board. (That's what I meant by "oddly enough.")

[pyratejohn]

Originally Posted by Jeffr0

(That's what I meant by "oddly enough.")

Ah, that makes sense. And it is always nice to get people on board. Especially GURPSers, on this board.

[Carlos]

If using the new bow system, does Weapon Master (Bow) still increase damage (+2 per die of damage with DX+2)?

Dwarven bow seems a powerful bow. Can it be arm-used instead of foot-used? (So now the best bows are not elven-made, but dwarven-made)

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Carlos

If using the new bow system, does Weapon Master (Bow) still increase damage (+2 per die of damage with DX+2)?

I'd make this a campaign-specific decision. The article puts bows on (more or less) the same tech base and damage base as guns. If you have an advantage that would allow a firearms user to get +2 per die of damage with a gun, then it makes sense for it to happen with bows. If not, then not.

Not much of an answer, I'll admit. Strongbow is a fairly realistic perk; I've heard it referred to as "drawing inside the bow" and basically says you can use your muscles to greater advantage if you know what you're doing. Hey, Lifting skill does that, too. So no issues there.

However, +2 damage (because you're talking mostly 1d-ish damage for most bows) is like +60%. It takes a MUCH stronger or more efficient bow to increase damage by that much; if you look at SQRT of kinetic energy, which is the damage scale from The Deadly Spring, a 1.6x multiplier on damage is 2.5x more Kinetic Energy, or the equivalent of 2.5x more draw force at constant efficiency and draw length. In short, a Big Frackin' Deal.

So it's cinematic as hell.

Now, you might find other things worth the points, such as lowering range or hit location penalties, allowing that lower (more realistic?) damage to be applied with surgical precision. You might allow (say) Pressure Points or Pressure Secrets to be used with archery, magnifying the effects of a smaller wound. Lower penalties to target Chinks in Armor would have the same effect as a damage multiplier for making an archer a high threat individual in a heavily armored world.

Dwarven bow seems a powerful bow. Can it be arm-used instead of foot-used? (So now the best bows are not elven-made, but dwarven-made)

The "Dwarven" bow is really just a footbow made of very good steel. If you open the spreadsheet and look at materials cost for the bow, the desirability of a given material is given by the cost. Materials that can deflect a lot and not break, and store a lot of energy while doing so, while being very lightweight are your high-dollar materials. If you want the best bows to be elven, allow them to have "essential wood" or "Elven Yew" that takes (say) the average properties of a sinew-backed wood bow and makes it BETTER. If you want the best bows to be Dwarven make, let them use TL8 steel or something. Or give EITHER of them carbon fiber and/or fiberglass!

I believe the Dwarven bow of which you speak is not just a steel footbow, but a COMPOUND steel footbow. That seemed very Dwavern to me, and a compound bow has a truly awesome power stroke (it holds like twice as much energy for a given draw weight and length due to the force-draw curve shape being more trapezoidal than triangular). So yeah, the best bows will be Dwarven, mostly because I posit they can build compound bows.

[Kallatari]

Concerning Weapon Master Bow

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

I'd make this a campaign-specific decision. The article puts bows on (more or less) the same tech base and damage base as guns. If you have an advantage that would allow a firearms user to get +2 per die of damage with a gun, then it makes sense for it to happen with bows. If not, then not.

With my house rules, I've replaced the +1/+2 damage of Weapon Master with +10%/+20% bonus to ST when wielding appropriate weapons.

Therefore, with my rules - in which I also use Deadly Springs to calculate bow damage - while you don't technically simply add a bonus to damage when wielding a bow, Weapon Master (Bow) does allow you to use a more powerful bow, which therefore allows you to do more damage with "a bow" than normal for your ST... but only if you're using the right type of bow.