innate woodcarving

[Deltin]

why can't you make crossbow bolts with innate woodcarving? If you can make arrows it would only make sense you could make crossbow ammo.

[Turgil]

Agreed. On the subject, wouldn't be neat if you had a slim chance but a chance to carve something exceptional? Don't know, maybe tie it to wisdom and give it a +1 hit and tag it as well carved <item>. Maybe wooden quivers could hold 10 more arrows that are well carved. Oh well my 2 cents.

Turgil Telepelen

[fotex]

Agreed. On the subject, wouldn't be neat if you had a slim chance but a chance to carve something exceptional? Don't know, maybe tie it to wisdom and give it a +1 hit and tag it as well carved <item>. Maybe wooden quivers could hold 10 more arrows that are well carved. Oh well my 2 cents.

It would be neat, but then you'll see rangers constantly carving woodpiles everywhere on the mud. It would be neat if they would make those woodpile eyesores just go away.

[Crumar]

why can't you make crossbow bolts with innate woodcarving? If you can make arrows it would only make sense you could make crossbow ammo.

Crossbow bolts were designed mainly with metal tips. Unlike arrows they were made to specifically pierce through thick steel armor. Yes arrows were made with steel tips too, but they did not have the full power of the crossbow bolt. As well arrows were designed with feathers on the end to balance them to shoot straight. Crossbow bolts use shear punching power to reach their target quickly and accurately if weighted right with metal. So not only do you need the wood carving skill but you would also need metal smith skill. In addition, if you fired a wooden only crossbow bolt it would not be accurate and would do way less damage as compared to a normal crossbow bolt if it even ever found its target.

[Deltin]

eh if you really feel they need metal tips then the tips from broken arrows that you quest or purchase should come off and then be useable, or just the tips should be sold in shops.

[Nekelet]

As I recall, besides the tipped wooden variety, bolts are often crafted entirely of metal.
Essentially just a pointed metal rod set in the groove of the bow.

[Yasden]

They're also a lot shorter, and a lot thicker (not to mention a *lot* heavier*, and designed for short-distance shots with an insane amount of thrust/power, to maximize armor piercing and bodily damage. One good crossbow bolt shot even to an arm can actually dislocate the entire limb from its socket, tearing ligaments and tendons, whereas a normal arrow fired from the same distance merely continues through the flesh, often pushing through the other side of a limb with minimal damage.

[teflor the ranger]

There are arrows like that as well. Crossbow bolts are nothing special.

The major difference between crossbow bolts and arrows are typically the length and the weight.

In general, crossbows were used for faster firing, horseback use, and a shorter learning curve, but there's no real unique application for a crossbow that a bow and arrow doesn't cover.

Covering the various type of missile projectiles, there is quite a difference in missiles:

The longbow - typically a long range, artillerly style projectile was extremely heavy and long, designed for stable flight over long arcs with a tremendous range. The heads were designed to pierce shields, typically forged in steel and sharpened.

The hunting bow - designed to injure deer and other large game, these arrows were light, lengthy, and made to penetrate through, lancing critical organs and allowing hunters to track their prey's escape route after they've been shot.

Direct fire - short, heavy arrows with barbed heads designed to inflict gruesome wounds through light armor.

also saw something neat with bow hunters last year. spring loaded, bladed heads that would pop the head blades outwards on contact. blades were flush with the arrow when being shot, and while piercing the flesh, but once inside, a spring loaded contact would force the blades open, cutting severely whatever the arrow was buried in. they dropped game so fast it was difficult to watch.

[Yasden]

I don't think they had arrowheads designed like that for the FR campaign...I could be wrong though. I'm just stating the major differences for your run-of-the-mill archers.

Crossbows fired hella fast, true, but it's a double-edged knife. The reload time for a standard crossbow is much longer than your standard compound bow.

[Turgil]

fotex wrote:

It would be neat, but then you'll see rangers constantly carving woodpiles everywhere on the mud. It would be neat if they would make those woodpile eyesores just go away.

Well at least it will give rangers something else to do :P