[Dusk] The Gnomish Compound Bow

[Michael Morris]

Here's an idea that struck me after seeing some bow hunters a couple years ago... Why not let gnomes have the modern compound bow.... It fits does it not??

Gnome Compound Bow
(Medium Exotic Weapon)
Cost: 200 gp
Damage: 1d8
Critical: x3
Range Increment: 100 ft.
Weight: 4 lb.
Type: Piercing

Like the modern compound bow, this bow uses pulleys and counterweights to give it a lot more pull than it's size would normally allow. Essentially a baby longbow, the gnome compound bow takes getting used to since the pulleys are geared to take over the burden of holding the weight once the arrow is notched, allowing the user of a gnome compound bow to hold his bow notched much longer than other bow user. This sensation will throw an untrained archer off on their aim, hence the weapon requires an exotic weapon proficiency. This bow fires the same arrows as a shortbow.

 

[saduff]

Good idea....but the bow should count as masterwork and increase your attack bonus. Since you have a longer time to aim.

 

[Michael Morris]

Good idea....but the bow should count as masterwork and increase your attack bonus. Since you have a longer time to aim.

Not really. The bow lets a small character effectively wield a longbow which is a large weapon. Stat wise the weapon is identical to the longbow except for being exotic. That's enough..

 

[Krug]

Interesting idea. However, you might not be able to use it with rapid reloading.

 

[Tylias Quill]

I'd thought about this weapon too. Why not note that its size allows a medium-size user to employ a compound bow whilst mounted?

Longbows and Composite Longbows are size L, and though the rules do not specifically say that it is this size that prevents their use with mounted archery, it's the explanation given in the flavor text.

The compound bow is generally no larger than a shortbow (though often considerably heavier), so this makes enough sense.

It also gives medium-size users a potential reason to spend a feat learning how to use it.

 

[Fade]

Not really. The bow lets a small character effectively wield a longbow which is a large weapon. Stat wise the weapon is identical to the longbow except for being exotic. That's enough..

So make it a +1 enhancement bonus, same as any other masterwork weapon. They're pricy enough for it, and it fits the flavor better.

 

[Michael Morris]

So make it a +1 enhancement bonus, same as any other masterwork weapon. They're pricy enough for it, and it fits the flavor better.

No it doesn't. One of the disavantages of being small is being unable to use larger, better weapons such as a longbow. This weapon, along with a feat slot, allows this weakness to be bypassed, making it quite strong as it. That said, there is no reason why you can't make a magic gnomish compound bow, indeed I have, and even a masterwork or mighty one isn't out of the question.

Is it pricey? Well, let's compare... A strict longbow is it's closest cousin, and it costs 75 gp. The most expensive of the exotic weapons is the repeating crossbow at 250 gp. Hmm... Like the repeater this weapon cheats a basic weakness of the weapon - the size of the wielder. Hence, I have no problem with letting the base price of the weapon remain.

For those strong gnomes out there a mighty gnome compound bow would increase by 100 gold for each +1 str bonus it allowed, up to 600 gp for a +4 might gnome compound bow. A masterwork gnome compound bow would cost 300 gold extra, like any other weapon. Enchanting the bow would be the same as any other weapon, with the entry price of 2500 gp for a +1 gnome compound bow.

As to the post asking if the gnome compound bow could be used mounted, the answer is yes, it can. But so can a composite longbow, and that one doesn't require any feats to be wielded.

 

[HellHound]

For those strong gnomes out there a mighty gnome compound bow would increase by 100 gold for each +1 str bonus it allowed, up to 600 gp for a +4 might gnome compound bow.

Actually - if you follow the standard Mighty pricing system, the price of the bow increases by 100% times the "+" of the mighty. Thus a Mighty +1 is 200% of cost, and a mighty +4 is 500% of base cost.

Thus the mighty (+4) gnomish compound bow would have a cost of 1,000 gp by this method instead of 600 gp by your method. And this method remains internally consistent with the pricing rules for mighty composite short bows and mighty composite longbows.