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Message: <blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 5961942" data-attributes="member: 99817">I think you have to choose whether you're trying to provide a tactical option or recreate a specific period of history.I say that because the development of weapons has been, well, an arms race <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  It means weapons become redundant - superceded by better weapons. Modern infantry are not armed with slings because semi-automatic rifles are simply better.Yes, I think this is key. The use of weapons historically is about logistics (on an army scale).The key reason the crossbow came to prominence is because a soldier could become proficient in a week or two, rather than the years of training required for the English longbow or sling.Crossbows were rendered obsolete once black powder weapons attained a certain level of reliability and accuracy.So it's not that a sling couldn't be the equal of a given type of crossbow - far longer range, more portable, cheaper, readily available ammo, less accuracy, less armour piercing ability.But in an rpg with 'historical' or 'plausible' training and proficiency mechanics, slingers would be able to do almost nothing else on the battlefield while a crossbowman would have plenty of time to also train with sword or spear. The crossbow is simply better.Production methods and costs, technological know how, material availability, ammunition availability, military culture, the fighting styles of long-standing enemies, the years of training required - these are all things which determine historical weapon use.The bottom line is RPGs tend to offer false choices. In AD&D I think you could choose sling stones (1d4 dmg) or bullets (1d6 dmg). Maybe it was Runequest. The question is, why on earth choose stones?Historically there's a ton of economic reasons. Take those reasons away and there's simply a clearly optimal solution. Sling stones are not an interesting choice, they are simply inferior.So my point is that either the mechanics are used to balance weapons  tactically or they model weapons historically, but I don't think they  can do both.</blockquote>

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