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May 24, 2012 -- 12:11PM, Black_Knight999 wrote:

May 24, 2012 -- 12:09PM, dardor wrote:

May 24, 2012 -- 12:04PM, mbrand wrote:

May 24, 2012 -- 11:47AM, dardor wrote:

May 24, 2012 -- 11:44AM, mbrand wrote:

My assumption (urg.. really hate having to do that)... is that the idea is that the Heavy Crossbow requires a great deal of strength to adequately wind it up (ugh, i don't know the technical terms and am displaying great ignorance!) for effectiveness -  thus, greater strength = greater effectiveness.

They apply this greater effectiveness for stronger crossbowmen as a Hit bonus. Dunno if i like the Strength = Accuracy in this regard... but D&D's combat system is pretty abstract anyhow. Personally, I'd keep the DEX for accuracy and add STR to damage output but I don't think the system will ever be able to realistically mimic weapon combat.

If you've ever fired a crossbow IRL you'd realize that crossbows are by definition extremely accurate and don't need any sort of Dexterity to use. Strength to wind up though. So I don't see a problem with that.

Alas, I have not fired a crossbow in real life. I'm pretty wimpy -- likely I would be unable to even wind it up - all I have is 20 years of what RPGs have "taught" me about medieval weaponry (*shudder*). I do recall being told that crossbows, being point and shoot weaponry, didn't require much in the way of training to use.  So I can definitely get why DEX wouldn't be needed for accuracy. Not convinced that STR should substitute in its place... but some attribute definitely needs to.. and I can agree with you that STR Is as good as DEX for it.

Crossbows are medieval guns. With no recoil. Actually one of my favorite episodes of Top Shot was the one with the crossbow. They really are just point and shoot.

It's not strength to aim so much as it's strength to reload.

Guns with no recoil...what? So conservation of linear momentum doesn't apply to crossbows?

It does. With a gun, a small explosion is happening inside the barrel, which pushes force towards both the bullet, and the back of the barrel. That's why there's recoil. But with a crossbow, all the force is going forward because it's getting pushed by a singular string.