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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7197983" data-attributes="member: 6778044">OK, so what we're acknowledging is that they are crossbows, but we've (the designers) have chosen to make them viable in an abstract combat system. But accepting that they can be used faster doesn't mean that we've accepted that they can be used differently - that is, being able to load one with one hand. I find time to be one of the more abstract portions of combat, compared to what you could actually do in 6 seconds (sometimes more, sometimes much, much less). The "6 seconds" designation is one of the problems I have with the combat system RAW, when it's a turn-based system and all of your actions including movement happens on your turn. But that's a different discussion...Yes, it's very fast. Crossbowmen formed a specific purpose in a battle, but loading a crossbow was a very long process. A heavy crossbow with a cranequin could take up to 30 seconds to reload. While this sounds ridiculously slow to us, early firearms were the same way. The advantage of the crossbow (and early firearms) is that they didn't require the strength needed for a war bow, nor the years of training to use it. They built strategies around the weaknesses of the crossbow (and early firearms) because their advantages (very little training or Strength needed) made them viable in war. Having said that, I don't accept that a round is 6 seconds of time either. Yes, that's how it's described. And combat is fast, but I don't think it's that fast, particularly depending on the size and complexity of the battle. In my campaign, I'm not using rounds any more. Crossbows take a certain number of segments to load. When I was using rounds, a crossbow (although not a hand crossbow) took one or more rounds to load.On the other hand, all crossbows in my campaign are simple weapons, and every class can be proficient in them. Since I don't have damage-causing cantrips in my campaign, it's not uncommon for spell casters to be toting a light crossbow. Other classes that don't know how to use the bow will often carry them too. They use them from behind cover initially, or shoot the crossbow, drop it, and close for melee.I'm not concerned about it being a weapon that everybody would want as their primary weapon, nor that it's not as powerful. In any event, crossbows in my campaign not only look and operate like crossbows, they function much like crossbows too. Heavy crossbows have a "Strength" bonus for a high draw weight, but don't require the high Strength to get it like a regular bow, either. Armor in my campaign has resistance to different damage types, but the better crossbows reduce or eliminate this resistance (as do bows) at short range. So they are quite effective, but have a good number of limitations too. Just like real crossbows. And oddly enough, I find that players use them in ways that reflect their historical use.</blockquote>

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