Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 backstabbist Mar 14, 2009 14:20:25	When I'm king of America, we're gonna do some things different. Like Crossbows. How would I do them? Glad you asked... I'll tell you how.... Like this: Lottsa Crossbow Sizes
#2 TheRealOrion Mar 14, 2009 18:57:24	I assume these are based on real-world crossbow designs? If so, I'm interested!
#3 backstabbist Mar 14, 2009 19:28:52	uh-oh I seem to have slipped up in the names for the Large & Huge sizes. I would like to use Heavy identifier for the Large size set, and Big for the Huge set, but we already have a standardized mindset in the gaming world that a "Heavy Crossbow" is a standard man sized crank loader, just a little bigger than the ~normal~ crossbow. You guys think we can use "CrankCrossbow" for what we have always referred to as a HeavyCrossbow, and use the "Heavy" descriptor for huge sized (Bipod or Large Creature) versions generic oldschool sized Crossbow Crank Crossbow Worm Crossbow Power Wormbow Shotbow "Too Big for Medium Creature" sized Heavy Crossbow Heavy Crankbow Heavy Wormbow Power Hvy Worm Heavy Shotbow "Too big for Large Creature" sized Great Crossbow Great Crankbow Great Wormbow Power Grt Wormbow Great Shotbow Does that work without making folks heads hurt? Just expanding the set of different sized crossbows to range from 1d3 to 1d20 (plus Shotbow MultiBolter)
#4 backstabbist Mar 15, 2009 12:50:59	Looking towards the future, I see PL5+ Bolters, PL7 PlasBows and GravBows. I was thinking about putting in PL6 CyberBows, using the powersystem & musculature of Mechs in the "CyberArms" of the bow.... but just didnt get around to it. If we do go there, we might have to elevate the power levels of Plasbows & Gravbows to fit the Cyberbows in between Bolters and Plas. Thankfully we have a set damage point for a medieval weight and speed bolt, so we can just place that speed & weight for weapons smaller & smaller as things get more powerful.... such as the .38Boltgun as a Small weapon with standard 1d8 crossbow weights & velocities. Bolters are simply a standard 357 8" revolver, with or without the Rifling, that you manually load a 10" bolt down the muzzle (there is a stop on the shaft behind the Head to prevent the shaft from engaging the cylinder). The Cylinder is loaded with 6 plastic wad LowVelocity shells that drive the bolt out the barrel just 200fps, good for a Crossbow Bolt but way below ballistic speeds. After manually loading & firing 6 times, one uses a Speedloader to replace the 6 LV Plastic Wad shells and then may resume standard load bolt & fire. The LV Wad shells have a reduced report as well, so treat the Bolter as a Silenced Firearm for listen checks. This feature has made the Bolter so popular that it spawned several sizes and styles, from the petite Lil Miss Bolter to the massive MongoBolter, to the BigBolter emplacements / bunkers. Rifled Bolters need to fire special (same cost) ammo, take longer to load, but get +50% Range Plasbows are a plasma expansion piston & rod that force the bow arms to spread. The valve controlling the plasmabottle has programmed acceleration for best effect for whatever weight bolt you set it for. This bow force drives a bolt of the same weight & speed of a standard medieval crossbow from a Plasbow half the size. After 100 shots the PlasBottle needs to be recharged at a proper plasma conduit equipped shop/ship. Gravbows employ a T shaped bow arm base that use Gavitic force to both attract & repel the arms of the T's to pivot the legs with the string. This DoubleActing bow force surpasses the dreams of what a plain Plasbow could reach, the Gravbow fires the same bolt at the same speed as Plasbows twice its size.... the power of a medieval crossbow in a hand sized unit. I cant wait to get into the good stuff in upcoming posts stuff like Active Ordinance Warheads for bolts, Cyber-RoboLoaders, and RocketAssist bolts [i] ,
#5 kilrail Mar 17, 2009 7:51:31	Loving it, definately going to snag the plasma bows for my future tech campaign.
#6 backstabbist Mar 17, 2009 16:44:35	Bolts PL5 Explosives. Due to the penetrating nauture of using a crossbow over a Bow, the rudimentary integrety og the bolt is maintained at a sacraifce of warhead payload. The dynamic nature of Warhead capacity prevents a simple +X procedure, so that we instead use a +1DieSize. This meets our need to maintain the original KE terminal effect as much as possible while increasing that effect with a HEAT strike as well, scaled to each size. Mechanical. What used to fall into the domain of "clockwork gutrender" is now done by tiny motores & actuators to animate the bolt tip in a horrific display of carnage. Its too grants an +1DieSize to standard bolts, but is far less noisey.