Hand Crossbow

[Lord Pendragon]

And to help compesate for that -4...

Methinks this would be a good time to bust out the Cat's Grace.

 

[AuraSeer]

-4 to hit on a level 4 mage... what's the point?

The "point" is the sharp metal part of the bolt. When loading your crossbow, that end should face toward the enemy.

But seriously, give that crossbow to your party rogue (if you have one), because he might actually hit something with it. If you really want a nonmagical ranged attack, start scavenging your enemies' daggers.

 

[mmu1]

Look at it this way - a crossbow small enough to be fired and drawn back with one hand is going to be pathetically weak. As a result, you're going to have to use it in a completely different way - be a lot more selective what you aim at, etc. - than if you were shooting a full-sized, higher powered one. Hence, the Exotic Weapon Proficiency requirement.

 

[BlindKobold]

Just buy a small-sized light crossbow. The damge will probably be reduced to 1d6 instead of 1d8, so you actually get MORE damage and don't need an exotic weapon proficiency. Just look in the DMG for the scaling weapons rules. (Er... I think it was DMG)

 

[Rashak Mani]

Why is this relevant after all is a good question ... Whippit did you find a magical hand crossbow ?

I do agree the Exotic weapon prof seems a little overdone... and the only good logical explanation was the one about shooting one handed being alien to medieval people...

Kukri would be a tiny scimitar is funny... just curves the other way thou... hmm ?

 

[Fenrir]

Whoever it was that mentioned the differences in firing mechanisms is right, IMO. I was going to bring the same thing up- light and heavy crossbows have a longer stock that is braced against either the shoulder or the upper arm/elbow area (if "shooting from the hip"). Most did not have a de facto trigger, but rather a lever, as illustrated in the PHB. Hand crossbows, on the other hand, fire like a modern pistol.

Also, the lack of force issue does come into play here. I'd say the Exotic WP is fitting here.

 

[Sir Hawkeye]

Game Balance Point: Stat-wise, the hand crossbow is balanced as a simple (or possibly martial) weapon. It would make more sense as an exotic weapon if it had, for example, an 18-20 crit range or 1d6 damage.

 

[Valorian]

I as the DM have moved hand crossbows & reapeating crossbows to the special and superior items list...to my mind they just didn't warant a feat, the hand crossbow is a nothing special item, and it doesn't make sense to me that the Int 2 fighter with a feat to spare is the one using the reapeating crossbow, instead of the 18 int wizard to whom the mechanism would seem simple.
The fighter would take the rapid reload feat from S&F anyway.
I've kept the Great Crossbow (i think that's what its called...its in sword and fist), kept it a exotic weapon, but without the exotic feat it takes two full round actions to reload instead of one (kind of like the special rule w/ bastard swords....it just didn't make sense to me to impose a -4 to hit, but allow rewinding the X-bow just as quickly.

Now I made these decisons before I started the game, and had them in my house rules...if I hadn't previously said so, I'd be reluctant to make the change mid-game, just because your PC found one.

If you were a DM, would you let a small character use a hand crossbow in two hands as a light crossbow, without requiring the exotic proficiency?

 

[Omegium]

I would allow it: the difficulty from a handcrossbow comes from the way it is aimed, not from its size. And it is the same as a small crossbow is for medium sizes.

About the small scimitar kukri's and stuff: I would never allow weapons of irregular size be used by normal sized creatures. It is so abusive: clerics doing 2d6 with their oversized heavy maces, people shooting with extremely large crossbows (I need an ewp for the great crossbow in S&F? no way, I'll just take a enlarged heavy crossbow) and people throwing with oversized daggers (what do you mean you can't throw with shortswords?)