Arrows

[Trellian]

Something I have always pondered upon.. is there only one type of "regular" arrow? I mean, could you take arrows someone bought for a composite shortbow and use them for a composite longbow or vice versa?

Does the same go for bolts? I mean, its kind of ridiculous if you could use bolts for a heavy crossbow with a hand crossbow.. the bolt is probably larger than the weapon?

 

[Doppleganger]

An even tougher question is; are the bolts for a light/heavy crossbow the same as the bolts for a repeating crossbow? The prices are different.... or is that because the repeater requires a 5-slot magazine cartridge? Could you reload the repeating crossbow with normal-priced bolts? With +1 bolts?

When you reload a repeating crossbow, do the bolts have to be pre-loaded into a cartridge so that you merely load the cartridge during a reload? Or, do you pick out 5 bolts from a larger supply quiver/box. load these 5 into the existing cartridge. and then load the cartridge into the crossbow, all simultaneously during your reload action?

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

In the PHB, there are "arrows" listed under short bow, composite short bow, longbow, composite longbow, and bolts listed under light crossbow, heavy crossbow, hand crossbow and repeating crossbow... i'll assume that means there is a type of ammunition for every type of bow/xbow there is...

Maitre D

 

[andargor]

If you use the MS Ranged 2002 Suite, you'd only need one type of ammunition.

Of course, the MS ammunition is only compatible with the Suite and no other ranged weapons. And they cost more.

Andargor

 

[rhammer2]

There are classes of ammo:

Long and Composite Long bows use a yard long shaft,
Short and Composite Short bows use a 2 foot long shaft
Crossbows (except for the Hand Crossbow) use a 1 foot long shaft,
Hand Crossbows use a 6-8 inch shaft.

These are real world numbers, the PH doesn't specify the ammo shaft lengths.

In the PHB, there are "arrows" listed under short bow, composite short bow, longbow, composite longbow, and bolts listed under light crossbow, heavy crossbow, hand crossbow and repeating crossbow... i'll assume that means there is a type of ammunition for every type of bow/xbow there is...

Maitre D

 

[Kemrain]

They've always been seperated in the games I've played in, ala Flight and Sheaf arrows from 2nd Ed. That doesn't mean everyone agrees with that. The players handbook does not specify, and is thus open to interpretation. I think it might simply come down to personal choice. I say they're seperate, beacuse IRL they're quite different. You might not agree, though. Either way, y'should prolly' pick one and stick with it.

- Kemrain the Short Bowman. (Short at 6'0? Hmm...)

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Thank you, Jonathan Tweet.

Thankfully, there don't seem to be any real distinctions between arrows for the various bows, or bolts for the various crossbows. It's just arrows and bolts. And I for one am grateful for that. I hate micromanagement.

Heck, as a DM, I usually don't even require my players to keep track of ordinary ammo. I just assume they have what they need. Except for magical ammo, because of monetary concerns.

 

[tensen]

There are classes of ammo:

Long and Composite Long bows use a yard long shaft,
Short and Composite Short bows use a 2 foot long shaft
Crossbows (except for the Hand Crossbow) use a 1 foot long shaft,
Hand Crossbows use a 6-8 inch shaft.

These are real world numbers, the PH doesn't specify the ammo shaft lengths.

Based on real world?

The arrow length is based most properly on the archer's draw length. Which generally is between 18-36 inches.

I personally have a 28 inch draw length that I use on a longbow. And I use the same length draw on my recurve.... My recurve could probably be considered a shortbow.

You give me a 27 inch arrow and I probably couldn't shoot it, as I couldn't get to my normal aiming point... giving me negative penalties.. Give me a long length arrow, and my aim would be off, since I point the tip of the arrow towards the target and judge my distance based on that.. also giving me penalties.

 

[DreamChaser]

Crossbows are easy though. The shorter the shaft, the more powerfully it flies but it needs to be long enough to remain stable in flight. Since the bolt lays within a slot on the top of the x-bow, it can't really be too short or too long.

I agree with tensen. I have ended up grabbing an arrow too short for my draw. It was lame.

For game simplicity, I would say that any arrow will work in any bow. If we took it realistically, the length of an arrow would vary so much that it would be impossible to use arrows found as treasure.

DC