Saturday, January 19, 2013

D&D's composite longbow, does it even exist?

D&D lists the short bow and the longbow as its two main types.  Then it includes the "composite" version of both.  But try as I can't find a reference to a "composite longbow".  The longbow commonly refers to the English longbow which was by no means composite.  On the contrary it was build out of a single piece of wood, namely yew.


The composite bow is one made of various elements, thus its name.


It is possible to make a composite bow with the pull of a longbow.  But then the following rule would have to be amended:

If you have a Strength bonus, you can apply it to damage rolls when you use a composite longbow (see below), but not when you use a regular longbow."
It makes no sense to apply the strength bonus to one and not to the other when both have the same draw-weight.  After all they have practically the same range and damage.  It's just the build that changes and how compact it can be.  Allowing the composite bow to be used while mounted.

BTW, shouldn't higher strength mean longer range?  After all it means the character can pull a much stronger bow, right?

Source http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons "composite longbow"

3 comments:

Anaxim said...

Well, in this case, what you're looking at is how GURPS does damage. More Strength = more damage and more ranged on any muscle powered ranged weapon (including thrown ones).

Saurondor said...

Agreed, I'm also working on factoring endurance too. As pulling a heavier bow wears the archer a lot faster. As I understand the mounted archers used a lighter bow because they were the ranged weapon. Being capable of covering the last 50 yards in a few seconds they didn't need range. They needed stability and fire rate at close range as they guided their horse with their knees and rained arrows as they passed.

Ben said...

Traditional longbows were indeed made of a single piece of wood, but composite longbows are also possible. You can make a very long composite bow simply by laminating an extra piece of wood or hide to a longbow. It improves the performance and strength of the bow. Here's a link to a modern artisan who has made a 71" composite longbow with a 120 pound draw weight.

http://www.ironwoodbowyer.com/Composite_Bows.php

I'm not totally sure if such bows were made historically, but obviously it's possible and you could introduce them into a fantasy setting easily enough.

In any case, I agree that the strength bonus of a given bow should be based on its draw weight.

Another factor is the speed of shooting. A lighter weight bow allows you to shoot much faster than you might imagine if your only experience is with RPGs. There are real archers out there who can shoot 10 arrows in 6 seconds (I've done posts about this on my blog and would be happy to provide a link.) Obviously the archery rules in D&D aren't based very closely on reality. But you can say the same thing for most of the combat system. So much of it is heavily abstracted or simplified. When you try to match it all up to reality, it can become frustrating.