D&D 5E The gastraphetes or belly bow in 5E and using movement to reload

[Quartz]

How would you model the gastraphetes or belly bow in 5e?



It's far quicker to reload than a standard crossbow but has a far lower accuracy. No goat's foot or cranequin needed. So rather than give it the Loading property, how about making reloads use movement? Say 10' of movement per reload? What range would you give it?

I'm thinking that its stat line could be

Crossbow, belly: 50 gp 1d8 piercing 10 lb Ammunition (range 30 / 100), heavy, two-handed, special loading

I'm putting the maximum range so low not because the bolts won't reach that far but to reflect the low accuracy.

And would you make it a Simple or Martial ranged weapon?

This then led me to think about using movement to reload all crossbows. Because when you're reloading a crossbow you're not moving. So perhaps a light crossbow would require 20' of movement to reload within a turn and a heavy crossbow 30' of movement and the Crossbow Expert feat would halve (or perhaps cut by 10') the amount of movement required. This would have the advantage of making the Crossbow Expert non-mandatory unless you were a high-level Fighter.

What do you think?

 

[the Jester]

AFAIK, there is literally nothing other than movement in 5e that costs movement. There are no "move actions", there is no trading your movement for a minor action, there is no swapping your movement out for some other thing. I think it's probably best to stick to that, since it's clearly a core part of 5e design.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I dunno about the bow, the stats seem reasonable but I reckon Jeorg Sprave is really a gnome or is related to a gnome. The things he comes up with.

 

[Quartz]

AFAIK, there is literally nothing other than movement in 5e that costs movement.

That's not entirely correct: armour is the obvious one (if you're not strong enough). And then there are certain spells where you take damage if you move.

 

[Bacon Bits]

AFAIK, there is literally nothing other than movement in 5e that costs movement. There are no "move actions", there is no trading your movement for a minor action, there is no swapping your movement out for some other thing. I think it's probably best to stick to that, since it's clearly a core part of 5e design.

The Steady Aim action for Rogue's Cunning Action from Tasha's is as close as it gets:

As a bonus action, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven’t moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.

It would be easy enough to take the language from the second sentence and turn it into a weapon property.

 

[MGibster]

AFAIK, there is literally nothing other than movement in 5e that costs movement. There are no "move actions", there is no trading your movement for a minor action, there is no swapping your movement out for some other thing. I think it's probably best to stick to that, since it's clearly a core part of 5e design.

There's the Dash action giving a character extra movement for the current turn. It's not called a "move action" but that's what it is.

 

[the Jester]

There's the Dash action giving a character extra movement for the current turn. It's not called a "move action" but that's what it is.

But it still uses up your action.

The Aim precedent mentioned above is probably a good starting point.

 

[Horwath]

IMHO, 5E is too generous with loading time of crossbows.

I would put crossbows like this:

Heavy crossbow; simple, 2d8 damage, twohanded, heavy, Loading: Action,
Light crossbow; simple, 2d6 damage, twohanded, Loading: Action,
Handcrossbow; simple, 1d8 damage, light, Loading: Bonus action,

Crossbow expert reduces loading from Action to Bonus action and Bonus action to free.

This contraption might qualify then as a Bonus action reload.

 

[Quartz]

This contraption might qualify then as a Bonus action reload.

What do you think of the rest of the stats?

 

[Horwath]

What do you think of the rest of the stats?

every crossbow should be simple weapon,

if it's twohanded and heavy, with Bonus action reload, I would put it at 2d6, 30/120ft