oblivionsbane 714 Share Posted July 9, 2014 A Guide To Bows By oblivionsbane This is a guide I wrote to explain not just how to emote bows, but why you need to emote them a certain way and the differences between each. When I first joined LotC these guides were a lot of how I learned how to RP and became the RP'er that I am today. So I am making this not only to try and help fill the void that guides like Crossbow 101 left now that it has been taken down, but also to provide the most thorough guide on bows possible. I also advise reading ski_king's guide on how to get shot after reading through this guide. A link can be found in the Further Guides and Reference portion at the bottom of this post. Types of Bows -Short bow- Short bows are basically just small curved pieces of wood with a string. Quality varies, but generally they don't exceed 60 pound draw weight. This is what most bows on LotC are assumed to be in PvP/MC unless otherwise stated. Short to medium range -Recurve bow- A bow that is basically strung against it's natural curve. This allows for a little more power. Usually these max out around 85 pounds or so at most, normally having 60-65. Short to medium range. -Composite bow- Extremely complicated and time consuming to make. It can take six months to a year to produce just one. It is basically a recurve bow with horn and sinew made into it, giving it a lot of power for it's size. Also due to the glue that is used to hold it together, it is very sensitive to water so you need to keep it as dry as possible. It maxes out around 110 to 120 if made with absolute quality. These bows were known for their effectiveness in horse archery, especially if being used with a tool called a thumb ring. It also has the same emote order as the previous two, making it quite the weapon. Medium to long range. -Longbow- The strongest of all the conventional bows, usually standing around six feet tall, making it somewhat cumbersome. It can have an extremely high draw weight for a bow, maxing out around 200 by some claims. Because of it's draw, it requires training in certain techniques and large muscles built just for it in the arm used to draw with. It takes about four to six years to reliably and effectively learn how to use a longbow. This bow takes an extra emote to balance it's strength and attribute for it's added time to draw. Elves usually use these bows, since they are also usually taller and live long enough that they can take full advantage of the longbows extensive learning curve. Also it is worth mentioning because of their size and shape they were rarely used on horseback. In the hands of a skilled longbowman, a longbow is one of the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield. (As an added note, longbows don't exactly have a typical range/strength that other bows do. Longbows can be shot high up into the air, and gravity pulls the arrow down at fast speeds making their power and range variable upon how it is fired. Although firing in the air is more than a little inaccurate most of the time.) Medium to very long range. -Crossbow- The crossbow is a widely varied weapon utilizing internal mechanisms to fire. It's mechanisms consist of a trigger, usually a metal bar on the underside of the weapon, and a piece of metal that pops up with an audible click for the string to rest against when spanned called a nut. When the trigger is pulled the nut drops down and the string goes forward, catching the missile and propelling it. Medium to extremely long range for the most powerful ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziq5zm4uO-Y Two things really set one crossbow apart from others, it's draw weight, and the method in which you span it. There are multiple ways to span a crossbow, which method is chosen is usually decided by the actual draw weight of the weapon. If it has a fairly low draw weight, like a eighty to a hundred pounds, it can be spanned by hand. If it is more in the league of typical crossbows, around 200-300 pounds, it is spanned by a lever that attaches to the stock and the string, pulling the lever back and placing it behind the nut. Or alternatively there is a belt where a piece hangs down that attaches to the string. You attach it then simply stand up, using the muscles in your legs to span it. Left to right: Windlass, levers(top), cranequin(bottom), and belt spanner. Then there are the big boys, the cranequin and the windlass. These bows can range widely in power, usually having over six hundred pounds of draw weight, and maxing out in some finely engineered bows at a little over a thousand. The cranequin is a crank that spans the weapon by using gear(rack and pinion), the windlass however uses pulleys. Crossbows, depending on the method used to span them, can take at the very least four and at most about six or seven emotes for the windlass and cranequin. As a final note, it is IMPOSSIBLE to carry a loaded or even spanned crossbow with you. It would more than likely go off on accident from you carrying it. Not to mention it would damage the machine if you leave so much stress on it for so long. Finally you can't carry a loaded crossbow around with you, the bolt only goes into a little notch, it can very easily fall out. If any of that doesn't faze you, the fact it is power gaming on par with catching an arrow in mid flight, should. How to Emote -Normal Bow, Recurve Bow, and Composite Bow- Take out the bow, get an arrow from your quiver, nock it while pulling the bow back, aim and then fire. -Longbow- Take the longbow out, get an arrow from your quiver, nock it and begin to pull the bow back, raise the bow, aim and fire Crossbows: -Hand spanned- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, span the bow back and pick it up, set a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. -Lever- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, get the lever out and attach it to the bow, span the bow before taking the lever off and picking it up, load a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. -Cranequin/Windlass- Get the crossbow out, set it on the ground putting your foot into the stirrup, get the cranequin/windlass mechanism and attach it to the bow, wind back the cranequin/windlass, unwind the device just a bit to set the string against the nut before taking the spanner off, pick the bow up and load a bolt into the notch, aim and fire. Piercing Armor This is dependent mainly on the strength and distance away the bow is fired. Here is a table on armor penetration(for typical plate.) Draw weight/Range: 0-50 Up to chain mail from ten meters. 50-100 Can pierce plate reliably out to fifteen meters. 100-150 Can pierce plate reliably out to about twenty-five meters. 150-200 Armor penetration as far out as thirty five meters. 200+ Increasing penetration at increasing ranges. Other Bows -Chu-Ko-Nu- This is basically a repeating crossbow invented by the Chinese. It works by having a magazine on top of the bow attached to a handle. When you pull the handle up and back it spans the crossbow for you and drops a bolt down into it's notch. When the handle is fully pulled back it automatically launches the bolt. These bows usually had low draw weights and were extremely inaccurate, made to not even be aimed. Now, I should say that these are BANNED on LotC to my knowledge. The reason being people power gamed them saying they were capable of high draw weights, while still keeping their relatively high rate of fire. -Yumi- This is the Japanese bow. They were varying in size, but were all large, the largest being one of if not the largest bow ever used in combat being close to and sometimes just exceeding seven feet tall. They had low to medium draw weights because higher draws were never needed on the Japanese battlefield. They were however capable of impressive range. It should also be noted these bows were made to be used on horseback along with on the ground. -Crossbow pistol- This is basically a crossbow small enough that it can be held and fired with one hand, sometimes incorporating a pistol grip. They used low draw weights of not more than 40 pounds. Again, these were power gamed and subsequently BANNED as far as I know. (Also the pistol gripped ones are more modern technology and don't fit the theme.) Equipment -Thumb ring- A ring that goes on the thumb that allows you to pull the bow string back using the more powerful thumb digit. This is primarily used in horse archery to give a cleaner and more controlled shot while galloping or at a canter. It works by basically having it so that the string rests against it rather than the flesh of your thumb. -Quiver- You probably know what this is already, but basically it is a container for arrows usually put on your back or sometimes your belt. -Bow case- Not seen being used often, it was basically a case you put a bow in while running around to help protect it from the elements and make it easier to carry. -Wrist guard- A piece of leather or equivalent that goes on the hand that holds the bow to protect from the string hitting the hand. -Bow scope- Doesn't exist... Yet. Arrows There is a wide variety of arrow designs in the world, that can do an equal variety of things, but mainly you need to know three. -Bodkin- Popularly used for piercing armor. They are short and come to a point rather quickly. -Broad head- Basically an arrow with two to four blades coming outward from the main arrow. This is what you probably think of when thinking of a typical arrow. -Blunt- These are for stunning a target or for practice shooting. They hurt a lot and can do fair damage to bones and organs if it hits in the right spot with enough power. Further Guides and Reference http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/83764-how-to-be-shot-a-combat-guide/ Medium Crossbow Video Longbow Video Composite Bow Video (That last one I would pay more attention to the examples rather than what they say. They say somewhere in there, or what it sounds like to me, that a composite bow could have a four thousand pound draw, which is /quite/ impossible.) 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leave me alone 993 Share Posted July 9, 2014 theres already a crossbow guide 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivionsbane 714 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 theres already a crossbow guide If you are talking about the one by temp, it got taken down. Figure it happened when the Rose left and they deleted or retracted all their forum pages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Paul Ryan 1138 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Pretty good guide, and well written. A word of warning, though, is that you should never say something can "reliably" penetrate armor, especially when you factor in "spur-of-the-moment" haste of shooting, a moving target, and a fair number of modern recreational testing backing plate armor and gambeson combinations. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivionsbane 714 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Pretty good guide, and well written. A word of warning, though, is that you should never say something can "reliably" penetrate armor, especially when you factor in "spur-of-the-moment" haste of shooting, a moving target, and a fair number of modern recreational testing backing plate armor and gambeson combinations. Thanks! And oh yeah, there are a hundred and one things that really go into piercing armor. That penetration thing is really simplified. Not only to accommodate for the 32 block chat range that LotC has, but also that the max range of the shot is actually for the high in that draw weight category. For instance the 50-100 at 15 meters would mean at 100 lb draw it could do it at 15. A lot goes into piercing armor, but for the typical new person that basic table of distance should give them a good idea of when they start really being able to pierce armor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ski_king3 0 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I had a guide on how to get shot by bows, feel free to take a gander and use it for ideas to implement here. Some of the stuff was contested in the comments, so it's not 100% solid just because a few things aren't totally black and white, but most of it could probably be applicable here. Regardless, nice guide, +1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varsatorul 18 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Nice guide, I didn't know bows could also be roleplayed as crowsbows. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space 2333 Share Posted July 9, 2014 One thing I noticed was you didn't mention stringing a bow. I just glanced over the preparing section, but bows aren't carried around with their string on (mostly, I suppose.) I'm not an expert in bows by any means, by the way. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivionsbane 714 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 One thing I noticed was you didn't mention stringing a bow. I just glanced over the preparing section, but bows aren't carried around with their string on (mostly, I suppose.) I'm not an expert in bows by any means, by the way. Bows were usually left unstrung when thought to not be needed. For instance when you get home you would normally take the string off, as having the constant pressure on it all the time would be bad for it (in the sense that taking the string off once in a while would be good for it.) The thing is in the world of LotC you could need that bow in a moments notice, so you would probably have it strung before leaving your home, or taking it out of storage. It's more of one of those unmentioned things, like how you normally don't see people sharpen their swords and such after every fight. The bow wouldn't be strung when immediately needed, rather it would be strung in advance for when it might be needed, and unstrung when you knew it wouldn't be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aedan The Bard 350 Share Posted July 9, 2014 This guide will become a requirement for the Adunian clans' warriors. Thank you a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed article :) Also: Despite people probably strung their bows the moment they left their homes, it should be enforced that they emote the process. Perhaps you should add it to the guide; it would be a really nice detail. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivionsbane 714 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 This guide will become a requirement for the Adunian clans' warriors. Thank you a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed article :) Also: Despite people probably strung their bows the moment they left their homes, it should be enforced that they emote the process. Perhaps you should add it to the guide; it would be a really nice detail. It's more of flavor, I mean anyone can do it that way and just push it into the emote used to get it out. It's just really whether you carry it strung or unstrung, which is just your personal decision rather than a requirement. Thanks for the feedback! :) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderssn 1115 Share Posted July 9, 2014 -Crossbow pistol- This is basically a crossbow small enough that it can be held and fired with one hand, sometimes incorporating a pistol grip. They used low draw weights of not more than 40 pounds. Again, these were power gamed and subsequently BANNED as far as I know. (Also the pistol gripped ones are more modern technology and don't fit the theme.) What about Latchet Crossbows? I believe they can be shot by just using one hand, easy on horse back etc. And Ballestrino ('Crossbow')? "The assassin's bow" would that be 'Banned' as well? I like the guide tho. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aedan The Bard 350 Share Posted July 9, 2014 The reason I insist on adding the process for preparing the bow is because it's a somewhat long and detailed process. Most people think it's as simple as hanging the string from one tip and then bringing it all the way to the opposite tip, but it involves holding it vertically between your knee and your feet, then bending it carefully, etc. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivionsbane 714 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 What about Latchet Crossbows? I believe they can be shot by just using one hand, easy on horse back etc. And Ballestrino ('Crossbow')? "The assassin's bow" would that be 'Banned' as well? I like the guide tho. I would say the latchet is fine, since it is basically just a lever crossbow made to be used by a single hand. As long as you go through the proper number of emotes and don't power game what a bow could do you are fine. Also remember common sense, you know what would be OP, so don't do it. The ballestrino on the other hand, one it is just a fancy pistol crossbow, and two it actually appears next to worthless in combat, the only video I could find actually describing it as a toy. I do need to say I am not a GM or LM so I cannot say what is and isn't allowed. Although in my opinion the latchet would be fine if RP'ed like a normal lever crossbow that is made to be operated by one hand, while the ballestrino would probably not be allowed (or recommended.) The reason I insist on adding the process for preparing the bow is because it's a somewhat long and detailed process. Most people think it's as simple as hanging the string from one tip and then bringing it all the way to the opposite tip, but it involves holding it vertically between your knee and your feet, then bending it carefully, etc. It actually isn't as complicated and doesn't take as long as you might think, someone who is skilled with the bow could do it pretty quickly. If you want to see it done you can go to the Further References at the bottom and watch the composite bow video. Near the beginning it has a guy actually stringing one with his legs and he is actually just doing it relaxed, not in a hurry. That's the main reason I say it is more of a flavor thing. It isn't exactly necessary unless you are just a stickler about it in character and are trying to take extra good care of your bow. Again though, really glad you like the guide! xD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderssn 1115 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I would say the latchet is fine, since it is basically just a lever crossbow made to be used by a single hand. As long as you go through the proper number of emotes and don't power game what a bow could do you are fine. Also remember common sense, you know what would be OP, so don't do it. The ballestrino on the other hand, one it is just a fancy pistol crossbow, and two it actually appears next to worthless in combat, the only video I could find actually describing it as a toy. I do need to say I am not a GM or LM so I cannot say what is and isn't allowed. Although in my opinion the latchet would be fine if RP'ed like a normal lever crossbow that is made to be operated by one hand, while the ballestrino would probably not be allowed (or recommended.) Yeah, Obviously it's not useful in combat, I suppose that's why it's called the Assassin's bow. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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