is it possible to have a xbow loaded?

[Alica Vandaark]

A guy keeps on telling me he shoots with his xbow and runs away for example.
I tell him:"loading it is equal movement."
He tells me:" I always have my xbow loaded"

So and here are my thoughts:
1st I think a bolt would simply fall off if he isnt holding his xbow all the time in his hands.
2nd the xbow would take damage being loaded all the time.
3rd it simply is one of the disadvantages of an xbow that it has to be loaded first.

What do you think about that?

 

[Shinanofran]

I think that the bolt would fall out unless he has a special covered xbow (song and silence).

also a crossbow is under a extreme level of stress when it is loaded. It has to be enough force fired to go long distances, and pierce armour, so if too much time passes before he fires of unloads, the string WILL snap.

 

[Alica Vandaark]

thx for ya quick reply

exactly what I thought....

 

[Dr. Zoom]

I assume it is unloaded when not readied, for all the reasons stated thus far. However, I have no problem with a character loading it and having it readied to fire while exploring a dungeon. This usually results in the character firing the weapon, dropping it, and then closing to melee range.

 

[theridion]

i don't think its feasable to have a crossbow readied 24/7, but like mentioned, we usually play where, when going into danger, characters can have a crossbow string pulled back, with no dart in it... then, when swapped to, a character can throw in a bolt quickly(part of the move equivalent action of pulling the crossbow off your back), and fire in the same round... sort of like getting an arrow for a regular bow(i.e. pulling out a bow and firing it in the same round)... otherwise, the usual loading penalties apply.

d&d crossbows aren't necessarily regular medieval crossbows... in the basic d&d realm, even regular weapons(non-masterwork) are of much better quality then actual medieval weapons. keeping a crossbow at the ready state(minus quarel) for an hour or so shouldn't be too bad for it... no worse than frequent crossbow use and subsequent wear during that hour.

 

[Carnifex]

In a situation where a character percieves there may be potential trouble, and thus need for a weapon, it is perfectly feasible for a characetr to carry aroudn a loaded crossbow, as long as he doesn't wave it around randomly and violently (the bolt'd probably fall out - although it's likely to be notched and thus hard to dislodge). To be honest, you could probably get away with a perfectly normal crossbow being loaded permanently for days, even weeks, on end - eventually the tension in the string would degrade at a higher rate than a xbow used normally, but adventurers can usually afford to go through a higher rate of xbows than normal people. Magical crossbows would probably be fine to have loaded 24/7, the magic reinforcing the string and keeping it taught.

 

[Gromm]

As far as having it unloaded, but still having it cocked, it wouldn't work for the simple reason that real middleages crossbows, don't have a modern firearm trigger. They have a metal bar that you push up that lowers the pin holding the string and releases the bolt. Look online if you can find some old crossbows, but I think the PHB has a pretty good picture of it (Edit: p101 Light Crossbow shows it well).

Basically it would fire while you were walking around and it was bouncing around. So you can keep it loaded while you walk, as long as its in hand, but otherwise its going to fire from all the motion.

 

[Xarlen]

Here's a question.

Let's say you have someone expecting an attack, and they make a stand.

They load three crossbows.

They proceed then to fire one, pick up the next, rense repeat.

By the rules, this would seem to take as long as it would take you to crank and load a crossbow. That seems to defeat the purpose of an otherwise faster method. Ala the Alamo.

 

[Christian]

Not if they were heavy crossbows ...

 

[Varius]

Take quick draw.

or better yet rapid reload....