New Item, Bracers of Archer's Strength

[Shallown]

I would do it as an Item that granted a + bonus to strnegth but only for bow use. Then price it exponitially so you could have a +4 Gloves of archer or bracers of archery that make a users strength +4 when using a bow. It wouldn't make the bow mighty or anything though you could also make gloves/bracers that did that. I would price it close to a weapon versus the gauntlets/belt of strength since all it is really doing is adding damage. So maybe 1/2 to 3/4 the price of a similair weapon bonus. I say 1/2-3/4 becuase damage with a bow is what makes bows weaker than melee weapons by comparison. It is harder to increase bow damage than melle damage.

later

 

[Pyrex]

I believe that post indicated a Str score of 20, not a Str modifier of +20, which would be a score of 50.

Actually, no, I meant a Str *modifier* of +20 which an archer with the OP's bracers would be able to wield and fire at d8+20 damage.

Seems a little cheap to me at 5,000gp for the Bracers and 2,075gp for the bow.

 

[domino]

BUT THE POINT IS THAT IT WORKS FOR WHATEVER THE NEEDED STRENGTH IS!

So exponential pricing does not work, because it works for whatever the strength bonus that's needed is.

It's using the warp wood spell, and that doesn't make any difference what the wood is, be it pine, or oak, or ironwood.

Remember? This part?

These gloves do not actually increase the strength of the wearer. Instead, what they do is bend the bow, through the use of Warp Wood spell, to bend the bow.

If all I wanted to do was make something that increases the strength of an archer for using a bow, that would be simple enough.

But that's not what I'm trying to do.

 

[Pyrex]

Yeah, I remember that part. That's the part that's broken.

That's why myself (and most of the other posters) have been recommending non-broken pricing models; all of which require an upper limit on the strength that the bracers can emulate is.

To function as you outline in your first post it needs to cost about 100,000gp.

Unless, of course, you add the following clause to the end of the description:

"However, bending the bow in this fashion does not allow the wielder to benefit from the damage bonus the bow would normally provide, it merely eliminates the -2 penalty to attacks caused by having insufficient strength to wield the bow."

Then 5,000gp is just about right.

 

[domino]

Well, that's why I later asked about things like upper damage caps.

Because spending 5000 gp for the ability to use a mighty bow like a normal bow, which would be cheaper anyways strikes me as a bit off. You'd effectively be wasting money. Even if it allowed you to get a partial damage bonus from your "real" strength.

So again, maybe a cap of +5 or so.

 

[Pyrex]

I have no problem with the bracers still allowing the character to still gain a bonus to damage from their natural Str; but for 5k allowing these bracers to allow the character wearing them *any* bonus damage is broken.

Conisder the following case:

Str 14 archer finds a +1 Mighty (+4) Composite Longbow of Smackdown

Said archer would really like to use said bow, but really doesn't want the -2 penalty to hit (because he's not strong enough to use said bow).

Said archer dons said Bracers; allowing him to overcome the -2 penalty to hit with his new nifty bow; dealing d8+2[Str]+1[Enhancement Bonus]+{weapon properties}

5,000gp seems about balanced to me in this case.

 

[genshou]

Actually, no, I meant a Str *modifier* of +20 which an archer with the OP's bracers would be able to wield and fire at d8+20 damage.

Seems a little cheap to me at 5,000gp for the Bracers and 2,075gp for the bow.

How tall is the wielder? To even deliver that kind of force, a composite bow would need to have a span much greater than any human could hope to wield. I'd estimate the bow would have a span of around 13 feet.

 

[Pyrex]

Says who? The RAW says nothing about tying the size of the bow to a maximum STR modifier. There is nothing in the RAW preventing you from crafting a Size Tiny Mighty (+100) Composite Longbow with a span of, oh, a foot or so.

Perhaps said bow is alloyed with adamantine giving it an unusually powerful draw.

 

[Bladesong]

Just a thought. Why not require a concentration check (or some other check) to "bend" the bow using the magic of the bracers and set the DC to (off the top of my head 15 + 1 for each STR bonus of the bow. So to get a full +20 from a bow based on a STR of 50 (I think that was an example I saw) you would have to succeed on a concentration check of 35. If the check roll was say 22 you could only get +7 out of it. Might help with the price by making its use less than perfect.

 

[Pyrex]

Still way to good for casters (who are likely to have maxed Concentration).

I still submit that the only way to balance this item at the 5,000gp price point is to have it negate the -2 to hit for not being strong enough, but *not* grant them any strength bonus to damage beyond their natural strength score.