I set before you the great bow of King Odysseus now!
The hand that can string this bow with the greatest ease,
that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes -
he is the man I follow, yes, forsaking this house
where I was once a bride, this gracious house
...
"Look at our connoisseur of bows!" "Sly old fox -
maybe he's got bows like it stored in his house."
"That or he's bent on making one himself."
"Look how he twists and turns it in his hands!"
"The clever tramp means trouble-"
"I wish him luck," some cocksure lord chimed in,
"as good as his luck in bending back that weapon!"
So they mocked, but Odysseus, mastermind in action,
once he'd handled the great bow and scanned every inch,
then, like an expert singer skilled at lyre and song -
who strains to string a new peg with ease,
making the pliant sheep-gut fast at either end -
so with virtuoso ease Odysseus strung his mighty bow.
Quickly his right hand plucked the string to test its pitch
and under his touch it sang out clear and sharp as a swallow's cry.
Horror swept through the suitors, faces blanching white,
and Zeus cracked the sky with a bolt, his blazing sign,
and the great man who had borne so much rejoiced at last
that the son of cunning Cronos flung that omen down for him.

not totally germane to the OP, just fuckin' bad ass.

Bows are handled well in Harnmaster Gold.  Each bow has a draw weight, and a related damage & range.  If you use a more powerful bow than your strength and skill can handle, you get a reduction in the damage and range.  If you use a lighter bow, there is no difference.  So it makes sense to choose a bow matched to your ability.

Quote from: bottgBows are handled well in Harnmaster Gold.  Each bow has a draw weight, and a related damage & range.  If you use a more powerful bow than your strength and skill can handle, you get a reduction in the damage and range.  If you use a lighter bow, there is no difference.  So it makes sense to choose a bow matched to your ability.

Not bad rules but you can either draw the bow back or not so, IMO, it makes more sense that if your strength isn't high enough you can't use the bow at all. If your strength is barely meets the requirements it would reduce the RoF, while firing a bow the is much lower than your max draw should increase RoF.

Quote from: McrowNot bad rules but you can either draw the bow back or not so, IMO, it makes more sense that if your strength isn't high enough you can't use the bow at all.

Being able to draw (and hold, though some designs make that easier) a bow does not equate to being able to do it fast, efficently, and with ease that doesn't detract from whatever skill you do have.  I haven't done a lot of archery but I've done enough to know there are pull weights I can draw and fire with that I'm totally crap with aiming. Plus impact on RoF can equate to less time to assess/aim (in RPGs we are usually assuming a time limit on an action).

I put an arrow through my uncle's garage door once because of this. He's a stout little bugger, he had a really beefy pull weight on his bow. I could pull it so I (and he) figured no problem, how could I miss his large target he had for home. D'oh!

P.S. Then there is the factor of "buck fever", having an arrow notched and pointing it at a target can have an significant psychological factor. Then put a bear at the other end of the arrow and things get really crazy [I'm told]. I'm not sure how you'd put that into rules though. Not sure you want to get into psychological rolls to shoot a bloody arrow.

Quote from: McrowNot bad rules but you can either draw the bow back or not so, IMO, it makes more sense that if your strength isn't high enough you can't use the bow at all.

Well, then there's the story I related about myself up-thread, where I was strong enough to draw the bow, but not strong enough to control and aim it.  If anyone wants to get picky enough, you could set not only a minimum threshold for proficient use (able to both draw and aim without penalty), but also a lower strength threshold for bare minimum proficiency (able to draw the bow, but not handle it well -- hefty penalties).  Below that lower threshold, one can't pull the bow at all.  Picky, but it could be done.

!i!

Quote from: Reimdallnot totally germane to the OP, just fuckin' bad ass.

Hey, you never need an excuse for that.  Hells yeah.

Bows in GURPS

Each type of bow has a strength rating. Range is determined by the type of bow and the wielders strength. Damage is determined by the wielders strength, type of bow, and type of arrow. A character can use a bow stronger than himself, but he'll be penalized. Beyond a certain wielders strength, the bow will not do any more damage, I apply this to range as well.

The draw length of a bow is sort of tied with the type of bow. Though I allow these bow types to have customized strengths.

When I wrote a generic rule set for bows, I discarded thoughts of the type of bow, and simply made damage a factor of draw strength, which in turn was a factor of might.  Therefore the stronger you are the more powerful bow you can draw, and so the more damage you did.  If the bow you were using provided some kind of mechanical advantage (I.E. a cantilever crossbow or composite bow) then the might requirement to achieve the same draw strength was reduced. This made being strong an advantage for doing more damage with a bow (though it did not mean you could shoot straight).  

(Warning Shameless plug :-) In the event you want to see these rules they are in section 15 of the core rule book (press the download button on this website //www.nucleusroleplay.com and see nucleus5.1.pf)

Quote from: DwightBeing able to draw (and hold, though some designs make that easier) a bow does not equate to being able to do it fast, efficently, and with ease that doesn't detract from whatever skill you do have.  I haven't done a lot of archery but I've done enough to know there are pull weights I can draw and fire with that I'm totally crap with aiming. Plus impact on RoF can equate to less time to assess/aim (in RPGs we are usually assuming a time limit on an action).

I put an arrow through my uncle's garage door once because of this. He's a stout little bugger, he had a really beefy pull weight on his bow. I could pull it so I (and he) figured no problem, how could I miss his large target he had for home. D'oh!

P.S. Then there is the factor of "buck fever", having an arrow notched and pointing it at a target can have an significant psychological factor. Then put a bear at the other end of the arrow and things get really crazy [I'm told]. I'm not sure how you'd put that into rules though. Not sure you want to get into psychological rolls to shoot a bloody arrow.

Well, putting much of the stuff discussed in this thread into use in an rpg would create a disaster, IMO. :haw: