Bow (weapon)

The bow, also the long bow or short bow, is a missile weapon consisting of a wooden semi-rigid flexible arc, with a high-tensile bowstring joining the ends of the bow's "limbs." It fires wooden arrows tipped with metal and stabilized by feathering called fletching. The maker of a bow is called a "bowyer"; the maker of arrows is a "fletcher." The crossbow is discussed on a separate article.

Make

Bows used in Alexis' game world are composite in construction; they are moderately recurved, meaning that the limbs curve away from the archer when unstrung. They are more advanced than bows used in the 15th century. The "long bow" is between 5 and 6 ft. long; the short bow, by comparison, is between 3 ft. 6 in. and 4 ft. 9 in. long. The combatant must be as tall as the bow is long, so that use of the bow is rare among gnomes and halflings. Characters skilled as a bowyer can make either.

Arrows

For game purposes, long and short bows both fire the same arrows. Fired arrows may be recovered if the intended target is missed and a saving throw is made. In the outdoors, where the primary surfacing is wood and earth, this save is against "normal blow"; but in a stone-and-wood urban setting, underground cave or dungeon, the save counts as "crushing blow."

Bowstrings

The bowstring is made predominantly of animal sinew, though linen, hemp, silk and rawhide are twisted into the string for durability. After several minutes submerged in water, sinew is of little use. It's good to have a number of bowstrings on hand, as they can easily break.

Breaks

If a roll to hit produces a fumble, the first break roll is applied to the bowstring — strings will break on a roll of 1 in 4. If the string breaks, the character must roll a d12; on a 1, the bow itself breaks as well.

Combat

Missile Range in Combat Hexes

Bow	Point Blank	Short	Medium	Long
Long bow	2-3	4-22	23-44	45-66
Short bow	2-3	3-16	17-32	33-48

Damage from the long bow is 1-8; from the short bow, 1-6. The weapon's range is excellent, as shown on the table.

To load a bow and aim requires 4 action points (AP). This prepares a long or short bow for firing afterwards. The length of time includes selecting an arrow while consciously observing the battlefield and judging the position and movement of the intended target. Characters with multiple attacks per round may load and aim a bow at a cost of 2 AP. Loading a bow can be done while sighting. It requires 2 AP to fire a bow. An aimed bow cannot be fired more than one time per round.

Loading without aiming requires 2 AP. This describes preparing the bow without paying attention to the combatant's surroundings, so as to concentrate on the action itself. A character with 4 total AP can load a bow and fire it in a single round, but doing the action this way incurs a -4 penalty to hit. Characters with multiple attacks can load without aiming at a cost of 1 AP. An unaimed bow can be fired up to twice a round.

Other Actions

Drawing a bow and getting it ready for combat, which includes loosing the string holding arrows together in a quiver, requires 3 AP.

Slinging a bow over the shoulder, if the weapon is strung, requires 2 AP. Sheathing an unstrung bow into a back scabbard requires 3 AP; the scabbard must be specially designed for the bow being used.

Stringing a bow requires 3 AP, assuming that both string and bow are already in hand. Characters who have 5 AP can string a bow and load it without aiming in one round.