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<blockquote data-quote="Keenath" data-source="post: 4273713" data-attributes="member: 59792">Crossbow is a totally different thing from what we're talking about.&nbsp; A crossbow doesn't require the arm and chest flexibility that a true bow does, and thus is not inhibited by armor.*&nbsp; It's not archery -- it's a gun.I can't absolutely swear to this, but my understanding is &quot;...but not at the same time.&quot;&nbsp; Yabusame, however distantly related to actual samurai horse-archery, is performed while wearing a single arm-covering pad, and against targets meant to simulate a fully armored samurai (whose weak point was the face, between helmet and gorget).So far as I know, no kyudo today is performed in even simulated armor, and I don't think I've ever seen a period painting of a fully equipped samurai doing so.&nbsp; I think there are some of the terracotta warriors in China who are weilding bows, but they're all wearing a sort of jacket of small plates that resembles what we would probably call scale armor.Well, or the fact that not being able to fully bend your arm is kind of going to be a problem when you try to shoot a bow!Of course they wore all the armor that was practical -- what I'm arguing is that full plate just isn't very practical for an archer, which we can see by the fact that people didn't do it.* Of course, in real life the advent of crossbows pretty much eliminated the true bow from the battlefield; in D&amp;D we have elements of many different real time periods squished together into a single game.&nbsp; Still, crossbows won out not becuase of armor, but because J. Random Farmer could learn to use a crossbow proficiently inside of a week, while a longbow took years of constant practice to reach the same level.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Keenath, post: 4273713, member: 59792"] Crossbow is a totally different thing from what we're talking about. A crossbow doesn't require the arm and chest flexibility that a true bow does, and thus is not inhibited by armor.* It's not archery -- it's a gun. I can't absolutely swear to this, but my understanding is "...but not at the same time." Yabusame, however distantly related to actual samurai horse-archery, is performed while wearing a single arm-covering pad, and against targets meant to simulate a fully armored samurai (whose weak point was the face, between helmet and gorget). So far as I know, no kyudo today is performed in even simulated armor, and I don't think I've ever seen a period painting of a fully equipped samurai doing so. I think there are some of the terracotta warriors in China who are weilding bows, but they're all wearing a sort of jacket of small plates that resembles what we would probably call scale armor. Well, or the fact that not being able to fully bend your arm is kind of going to be a problem when you try to shoot a bow! Of course they wore all the armor that was practical -- what I'm arguing is that full plate just isn't very practical for an archer, which we can see by the fact that people didn't do it. * Of course, in real life the advent of crossbows pretty much eliminated the true bow from the battlefield; in D&D we have elements of many different real time periods squished together into a single game. Still, crossbows won out not becuase of armor, but because J. Random Farmer could learn to use a crossbow proficiently inside of a week, while a longbow took years of constant practice to reach the same level. [/QUOTE]

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