Does your ranger use a crossbow?

[Snotboy]

Ripping off rapid fire shots from a crossbow doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary--to anyone who watches enough anime.

 

[eriktheguy]

Seems fine to me

 

[Destil]

This is actually one of the few verisimilitude sticking points for me (particularly with blinding barrage).... level one rogues shooting 9 times with a crossbow in 6 seconds is a bit of an issue.

 

[Nytmare]

This is actually one of the few verisimilitude sticking points for me

You can't find any way for your brain to say ok to a non-magical, first level character attacking a small crowd of people and possibly blinding them in the process?

 

[interwyrm]

This is actually one of the few verisimilitude sticking points for me (particularly with blinding barrage).... level one rogues shooting 9 times with a crossbow in 6 seconds is a bit of an issue.

It's a special bolt that shatters on release, spraying shrapnel into the blast area.

 

[Destil]

With a crossbow, no. It just doesn't really work for me. Now I've never given people issues with it in game, nor do I plan to.

But I sort of wish crossbows were completely different mechanically and forced you into less frequent but more devastating attacks rather than just sharing attacks with shuriken...

 

[Amaroq]

By RAW, it isn't an issue - see PHB1, p217:

The crossbow is “load minor,” which means it requires a minor action to load a bolt into the weapon. If a power allows you to hit multiple targets, the additional load time is accounted for in the power.

Re: verisimilitude, no comment.

 

[Nytmare]

By RAW, it isn't an issue - see PHB1, p217:

(psst, that's kind of the entire point of the thread)

 

[Zaran]

Yeah, I'm not pointing out an error. I'm curious as to how people handle what seems like a rule designed to whitewash logical sense. Like do you as a crossbow ranger avoid powers like that because it doesn't make sense? Or do you have a roleplay idea that makes it work. Someone above mentioned their crossbow has more than one bow. Or the exploding bolt one (maybe the rogue notched the bolt so it will fly apart, reducing the range but causing the shotgun effect that is blinding barrage) These are good examples of how people deal with what is at first glance pretty silly.

I'm also a bit disappointed in some people who don't care how it works as long as they get the effect of the power. To me that is a munchkin excuse. To each his own though.

 

[the-golem]

The crossbow could be specialized refit, a repeating crossbow with a crank, a la the Chinese Repeating Crossbow. According to the website, "By means of this arrangement one hundred men could discharge two thousand arrows in fifteen seconds." Dividing the total number of arrows by the total number of men, nets 20 arrows per 15 seconds per person. Cutting that roughly in half, 9 bolts in 6 seconds is entirely reasonable.