Also....Was fighting a wraith, can only be damged by silver or magic weapons...so if I used a +2 crossbow w/ normal bolts does this count??? My other characters took care of the wriath w/ magic swords....but I was not sure how to play my crossbowman......
Originally posted by WizzyBlackmore
Ok, so if I have a +2 bow and +1 arrows is that a +3 to hit/damage?? Or??
For generic +2 bows, +1 arrows, etc. I've always worked on the presumption that the bonuses stack unless otherwise stated in the item's description. So, a +2 bow with +1 arrows would equal a total "to hit" modifier of +3, with +3 dmg added to the overall dmg total as well.
On the other hand, there could certainly be a bow or an arrow that add their modifier only either "to hit" or dmg. For example, you might have an "Elvish bow of Accuracy" as an item in a campaign, that only adds a +2 to the "to hit" roll, but does not add a modfifier to the dmg.
Certainly house rules could dictate as well whether or not the modifiers on bows and arrows stack, and whether those mods are added to both "to hit" and to dmg. I myself always allow them to stack and use them for both "to hit" and dmg unless it is a weapon as noted previously that only gives a modifier specifically to either "to hit" or dmg.
Also....Was fighting a wraith, can only be damged by silver or magic weapons...so if I used a +2 crossbow w/ normal bolts does this count??? My other characters took care of the wriath w/ magic swords....but I was not sure how to play my crossbowman......
I have seen this work both ways. In one campaign a DM might say that a +2 crossbow is counted as a magic weapon in terms of whether bolts shot from it could hit and dmg a creatures such as a wraith, but in another campaign a DM might say that the +2 on the crossbow doesn'y matter if magical bolts were not being shot. Someone might argue that a magical +2 crossbow somehow *imbues* a regular crossbow bolt with magic enough to hit a magic only target, while another person might argue that only a bolt that is itself enchanted would hit the wraith.
/shrug
As for the wraith question, I've never seen anyone say the crossbow would not allow you to hit (I'm sure some do I just don't know them...lol). As far as I know 2e and older edtions assume that magic bows imbue the arrows with a magic power while being shot...this is why the arrow hits better and deals more damage. Which would also allow it to hit the wraith. And, as a DM, that's how I've always done it.
What we did not do was figure the magical bonuses of the bow into the calculation of what is needed to hit a creature. So if you shot a +1 arrow with a +2 bow at an earth elemental, you can't hit him and if you shot a regular arrow with a +2 bow at a werewolf, you could not hit him either.
"This gives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls to arrows fired from it...if magical arrows are used, total the bonuses of both bow and arrows used...A nonmagical arrow fired from a magical bow is a nonmagical arrow."
In my B/X campaign, you get the greater of the two bonuses (no stacking) but either the weapon or the ammo can apply if trying to hit creatures like wights etc. Magical bows are MUCH rarer than magic arrows, though.