Making Arrows...

[Cedric]

Can someone help me out...and directing me to an official answer of some kind would be the best, but I'll take just plain ol' advice too.

Can you craft arrows with the bowmaking skill? Or do you need both bowmaking and weaponsmithing?

I think you should be able to do it with one skill...but *shrugs* I'm not sure really.

Thanks for the help,

Cedric

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

I'm pretty sure you very rarely need 2 skills to make 1 item. Arrows are so commonplace that it should be quite simple to make them.

Which skill to use? Can't find a definitive answer, but i'd say either one or the other is fine.

Maitre D

 

[Zentermi]

Bowyer/Fletcher (I'm assuming the craft skill remains the same in 3E)for the shaft and fletching portion.

Weaponsmith to make Iron/Steel(metal, at any rate) arrowheads.

Arrowheads are cheap and easily transportable and usually are recoverable after use(even if the arrow is considered destroyed in your campaign) barring serious mishap(arrow fired into Dragons mouth, fired into a pool of acid... etc).

So 2 skills are actually required, but just having the Bow/Flet should be enough to get anyone by...

 

[dcollins]

Can you craft arrows with the bowmaking skill? Or do you need both bowmaking and weaponsmithing?

I would agree that that Craft (bowmaking) should be used for creating arrows. There's no separate "fletcher" skill specified in the core rules, and "bowmaking" is certainly the closest appropriate specialty. (It's also balanced in that so few products are otherwise available from "bowmaking").

 

[Gnarlo]

Interesting that I was just looking at this very issue tonight, as one of my group's rangers wishes to make his own arrows (he's having a hard time in EQ withdrawal ).

Bowmaking definitely covers arrows as well; on page 66 of the PHB, about 1/2 way down the first column, it discusses using the minor creation spell to create items and says "When casting the spell minor creation, you must succeed at an appropriate Craft check to make a complex item, such as a Craft (bowmaking) check to make straight arrow shafts." I think this pretty clearly shows they intend for it to cover both skills.

/em gnarlo!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Use craft (bowmaking).

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

"When casting the spell minor creation, you must succeed at an appropriate Craft check to make a complex item, such as a Craft (bowmaking) check to make straight arrow shafts." I think this pretty clearly shows they intend for it to cover both skills.

/em gnarlo!

I'm contradicting myself, but what about arrow HEADS?

Maitre D

 

[Targeteron]

i guess that depends on the type of arrowhead... Stone, metal or simply hardened wood tip?

 

[dcollins]

I'm contradicting myself, but what about arrow HEADS?

Keep in mind the qualifier is only there because minor creation is limited to nonliving vegetable matter.

I'd definitely recommend using Craft (bowmaking) for the whole unit, for simplicity's sake. We don't break down the bow's string, or the sword's handle, or the armor's leather straps, into separate skills -- nor should we in this case.