Cost for metal bows?

[0-hr]

I've a character in my campaign who is crafting himself a mighty bow. Since he's a dwarf, and the bow is going to be mighty(+4), we've both agreed that it would be interesting for it to be made of steel (or some other metal with a goodly amount of spring to it).

Anyway, I'm not really concerned with the real world physics or anything. Really, I just considered it flavor text until I read through the sundering thread. Then it occurred to me that if someone did take a swing at this metal bow, I would look up the hardness etc. and it would be different than a wooden bow right?

So now we're not talking about flavor text; we're talking about a real advantage in some (hopefully rare) circumstances: So I need to put in some sort of a cost to balance that out.

I see wood has 5 hardness, and 10hp per inch of thickness, but I can't guess how thick a bow would be. How many hp does a normal shortbow or longbow have?

So a metal bow would have 10 hardness. It's hp would be 30 per inch, but I could see it only being a third as thick as a normal bow (so the same hp total). Does that seem feasible?

Are there any existing rules that might suggest how to modify a bow for being made out of metal? My intial guess would be to just up the cost a bit. But if I wanted to keep the cost the same, maybe cutting back the range a little would balance out the benefit?

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Taren Seeker]

You could refer to the cost of working with Duskwood from MoF. It has the same strength as steel. Duskwood is more rare obviously, but the quality of steel and the skill required in refining and shaping it (to keep the weight down) would probably keep the costs close.

Also, since it gives the same in game effect, if you're concerned about cost vs balance you can use it as a guide.

Cost is +1500 gp for a weapon.

 

[0-hr]

Not a bad idea, but I think that duskwood has other advantages, mostly designed for use on weapons that are normally made of steel. For example, making a duskwood mace allows you to then cast Spikes on it for an huge damage bonus.

Also, this bow would normally only cost a few hundred gold and I can't see increasing the cost by a factor of 5 just for 5 extra points of hardness. Maybe I'll just leave it as flavor text: even though the bow is made of steel, it still has the exact same stats as a wooden bow. Must be thinner, or the welds are the weak point, or some such. Not really worth a house rule to change.

 

[Kibo]

The thickness would vary over the whole of the weapon. I would guess that at the thickest where it attached to the grip it would maybe be half an inch thick, and near the ends an 1/8 th or 3/16ths. Maybe an average thickness of 1/4 of an inch. Don't forget it'll be MUCH heavier.

 

[Pagan priest]

A couple of points: the weight would go up significantly and the cost would be high as well. The weight would likely be twice what a normal bow weighs. This could easily be enough to throw the balance off, requiring an exotic weapon proficiancy. Even if you don't go the EWP route, it would still be heavy. The cost would be high because the maker will need to experiment around a few times to get it right. In other words, the character will have to pay for 5 - 10 bows to be made (and destroyed) just to get one workable model for himself.

As far as hit points and hardness, I think the best route would simply give it the hardness of metal (10) with the standard hitpoints for a bow.

 

[hong]

Also, this bow would normally only cost a few hundred gold and I can't see increasing the cost by a factor of 5 just for 5 extra points of hardness. Maybe I'll just leave it as flavor text: even though the bow is made of steel, it still has the exact same stats as a wooden bow. Must be thinner, or the welds are the weak point, or some such. Not really worth a house rule to change.

Are you a Sunder-happy DM (see other thread)? If so, maybe +500 gp would be warranted. Otherwise, it's just flavour.

 

[Bloodstone]

just thought you might find this interesting:

http://www.student.utwente.nl/~sagi/artikel/steelbow/steelbow.html