Disarming a bow

[kolikeos]

If I'm disarming someone's bow he gets -4 on his opposed roll due to the bow not being a melee weapon. Does he also get a +4 due to the bow being a two handed weapon?

 

[Hypersmurf]

If I'm disarming someone's bow he gets -4 on his opposed roll due to the bow not being a melee weapon. Does he also get a +4 due to the bow being a two handed weapon?

A bow isn't a two-handed weapon. Light, one-handed, and two-handed are designations of melee weapons.

A bow requires two hands to use, but it's not a two-handed weapon.

-Hyp.

 

[Sound of Azure]

While I could see somebody ruling that way, I would say no.

A bow requires two hands to use, but a character is really only "wielding" it in one hand (the other hand is used on the bowstring). I'm not sure if that would be RAW, though.

A character may fire a crossbow one-handed, but most of the time they will be firing them two-handed, to avoid the penalty for firing one-handed (-2 for light crossbows and -4 for heavy crossbows. Hand crossbows carry no penalty). In this case, they'd get the +4 bonus for wielding a weapon two-handed.

 

[Hypersmurf]

In this case, they'd get the +4 bonus for wielding a weapon two-handed.

It's not a +4 bonus for wielding a weapon two-handed. It's a +4 bonus for wielding a two-handed weapon.

Wield a greatsword? That's a two-handed weapon. Wield a longsword in both hands? That's still a one-handed weapon. Wield a crossbow? That's a ranged weapon... it's neither.

And if for some reason you really needed to come up with an equivalency, the heavy crossbow won't be a two-handed weapon, it'll be a one-handed weapon: You can shoot a heavy crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two one-handed weapons.

-Hyp.

 

[werk]

What if a medium humanoid wields a small greatsword in one hand... Is it a one handed or two handed melee weapon?

<ducks>

 

[werk]

Back on track...

To the OP:

"You and the defender make opposed attack rolls with your respective weapons. The wielder of a two-handed weapon on a disarm attempt gets a +4 bonus on this roll, and the wielder of a light weapon takes a -4 penalty. (An unarmed strike is considered a light weapon, so you always take a penalty when trying to disarm an opponent by using an unarmed strike.) If the combatants are of different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category. If the targeted item isn’t a melee weapon, the defender takes a -4 penalty on the roll."

Ranged and two-handed look mutually exclusive in context.
one and two handed = melee
ranged = not melee

I think they are saying it doesn't matter how many hands you have on your weapon if it's not a melee weapon. I wouldn't double dip.

 

[Hypersmurf]

What if a medium humanoid wields a small greatsword in one hand... Is it a one handed or two handed melee weapon?

It's considered one-handed, per the inappropriately-sized weapon rule.

-Hyp.

 

[Mycanid]

I'm wondering why you would want to disarm the bow?

I mean, do you want to keep it after defeating it's owner or something?

Why not go for sunder or such?

 

[Sound of Azure]

It's not a +4 bonus for wielding a weapon two-handed. It's a +4 bonus for wielding a two-handed weapon.

Wield a greatsword? That's a two-handed weapon. Wield a longsword in both hands? That's still a one-handed weapon. Wield a crossbow? That's a ranged weapon... it's neither.

And if for some reason you really needed to come up with an equivalency, the heavy crossbow won't be a two-handed weapon, it'll be a one-handed weapon: You can shoot a heavy crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two one-handed weapons.

-Hyp.

Ah, so. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Angerland]

I'm wondering why you would want to disarm the bow?

I mean, do you want to keep it after defeating it's owner or something?

Why not go for sunder or such?

unless it's magic or something I would also think it easier to sunder the bow rather than disarm. Or Ranger Archer in our last game almost found religion when the Drow Ftr he was fighting took a chop at his +2 Longbow of exit wounds with a +3 greatsword.