A thought about bow damage

[[MKF]Kapten]

I have considered switching out a lot of damage from the bows to armor piercing instead of damage.

The reason is that when I looked at the longbow I saw that every hit by a longbow to a non armored person with TO 4 will hit in the heart or the throat or whatever. There is no hydrostatic shock involved in a longbow arrow, therefore in it self it isnt any more dangerous than a short bow arrow as long as both penetrate the target.

My base line for bow damage would be put at short bow damage (5) in that case; all damage above it will be armor penetration. This will apply to crossbows as well, of course.

Can anyone see anything that will cause trouble if I introduce it into the campaign?

[Poleaxe]

don't forget about toughness.  by this logic, it should also cancel out TO.

[Hereward The Wake]

Although there is no HS shock, the power makes a differance, hitting someone with a big swallow tailed broad head, from a longbow is going to do more damage than the same arrow from a short bow as the short bow would not have the same power tp drive the arrow into the target.

All the best
JW

[deltadave]

Not sure why you would think that a short bow has less power than a long bow...  Poundage is what is the determining factor for any bows power.

Short bows are more maneuverable in brush but less forgiving of shooting form errors. Long bows are more forgiving (and thus generally more accurate) but are a real pain to move with in any kind of ground cover.  Either one can have more or less poundage depending on the user.

the shape of a bow (recurve or straight) has more to do with shooting comfort, draw smoothness, stacking and hand shock than anything else. A composite design allows more power in a lighter weight package but at the expense of some fragility, higher maintenance and more possible mechanical problems (such as delamination).

There was a pretty good thread on bow design variations a couple of months ago on this list.

[[MKF]Kapten]

Not sure why you would think that a short bow has less power than a long bow...  Poundage is what is the determining factor for any bows power.

Short bows are more maneuverable in brush but less forgiving of shooting form errors. Long bows are more forgiving (and thus generally more accurate) but are a real pain to move with in any kind of ground cover.  Either one can have more or less poundage depending on the user.

the shape of a bow (recurve or straight) has more to do with shooting comfort, draw smoothness, stacking and hand shock than anything else. A composite design allows more power in a lighter weight package but at the expense of some fragility, higher maintenance and more possible mechanical problems (such as delamination).

There was a pretty good thread on bow design variations a couple of months ago on this list.

Heh, to be honest I just made my assumptions from the game mechanics of different bows ~~
Though I guess I could add on some armor piercing on a short bow and call it a composite bow as well :-/

[Drifter Bob]

Not sure why you would think that a short bow has less power than a long bow...  Poundage is what is the determining factor for any bows power..

I think actually it's bow length and draw weight ("poundage") combined, thats why archers talk about inch pounds now.  There are also other factors like the length of the stroke.  That is why a crossbow of 200 lbs draw is roughly equivalent in power to a bow less than half that draw weight.

And that is why a longbow is more powerful than an ordinary short bow, assuming the draw weight is the same.   Of course there are also recurves, composites etc. which are more powerful, such as those of the mongols, turks etc..

JR

[Hereward The Wake]

Ok guess it depneds on what we define as short bow. As you say the draw weight and speed of the bow have more to do with how it shoots and any 'size' in general. My point was that the damage caused by a stonger bow, has the potential to greater than a lighter bow.

JW

Not sure why you would think that a short bow has less power than a long bow...  Poundage is what is the determining factor for any bows power.

Short bows are more maneuverable in brush but less forgiving of shooting form errors. Long bows are more forgiving (and thus generally more accurate) but are a real pain to move with in any kind of ground cover.  Either one can have more or less poundage depending on the user.

the shape of a bow (recurve or straight) has more to do with shooting comfort, draw smoothness, stacking and hand shock than anything else. A composite design allows more power in a lighter weight package but at the expense of some fragility, higher maintenance and more possible mechanical problems (such as delamination).

There was a pretty good thread on bow design variations a couple of months ago on this list.

[deltadave]

I house ruled the base damage of custom made bows to be equal to the Strength of the craftsman +1, or the strength of the shooter whichever is less.  I also made skill called bowstrength to allow someone to pull an overstrength bow. 1 success required per point of overdraw for each shot.

[Bob Richter]

The reason is that when I looked at the longbow I saw that every hit by a longbow to a non armored person with TO 4 will hit in the heart or the throat or whatever. There is no hydrostatic shock involved in a longbow arrow, therefore in it self it isnt any more dangerous than a short bow arrow as long as both penetrate the target.

Hydrostatic shock is overrated. Clothyard shafts are not.