Why crossbow over bow?

[dymondy2k]

I can understand flavor of a scimitar and the sword but basically they are pointy sharp object you hit things with.. the cost is fairly the same and the mechanics are the same.. With the reload time of the crossbow though, you are taking a serious hindrance to battle because of the crossbow 'flavor'. Its selling point is its simplicity but the class restrictions remove that from play..

[Hywaywolf]

I am not disagreeing with you about min/maxing weapons. The bow is better than the crossbow. I personally never play with a crossbow unless I don't have a bow and I find a crossbow in a dungeon. But I have played with people that preferred to use the crossbow. That's their business and I am not going to tell them they shouldn't. and I don't think other weapons should be altered to make up for the quirks of players .

[Dimirag]

Sometimes players choose a crossbow not for flavor, but knowing that its a better weapon than a bow. It's not the same as someone choosing a dagger over a longsword

[shawnhcorey]

Sometimes players choose a crossbow not for flavor, but knowing that its a better weapon than a bow. It's not the same as someone choosing a dagger over a longsword

Daggers are better for close fighting. Don't you watch Game of Thrones?

[Dimirag]

Actually, I don't

[dymondy2k]

I guess it would work as a shoot and forget weapon, but I can't imagine the crossbow being the better weapon if ranged was your specialty.

[Hywaywolf]

Sometimes players choose a crossbow not for flavor, but knowing that its a better weapon than a bow. It's not the same as someone choosing a dagger over a longsword

You choose a weapon for the task involved. maybe you want to shoot prone so you choose the crossbow. Maybe you are in a city where most people don't go around wearing longswords and you still want to be armed, so you choose a dagger.

[Dimirag]

Not every player choose his weapons based on what it's to come, some do it based on whims, on a mental picture, on background or on straight "power".

On a purely mechanical way, a crossbows should be better than bows. I don't involve flavor into the mechanics, after all, they are flavor and not mechanics.

The "Advanced" system's crossbows has a higher damage die (1d8 and 1d12, making 1d6, 1d8, 1d10 and 1d12 for different crossbows), and have the bolts weighting less than a normal arrow.

[Woe]

Not every player choose his weapons based on what it's to come, some do it based on whims, on a mental picture, on background or on straight "power".

That's exactly what happened and why I started the thread. I rolled a dwarf with a crossbow, because dwarves are crossbowmen in my mental model. Missile volley against an ogre, and on the second round, he was reloading while the elves fired again. I had forgotten about the slower ROF for crossbows, and then wondered (both as a dwarf questioning his combat effectiveness as well as a PC wondering if I chose poorly). I was curious enough to see what others felt.

[Longman]

You didn't choose poorly. The crossbow has some advantages in my game, that the bow does not. It suits the dwarf well.

Historically, there were long periods in the High Middle Ages when the crossbow was considered the superior infantry weapon, for range, armor piercing ability, and also because it is easier to train people to use it. The longbow came into favor in the Hundred Years war, and the English relied heavily on it in that period. It's clear that there were advantages and disadvantages to both, that came to to the fore in different situations.

My image is that your dwarf has probably spent most of his time training in melee, and just has the crossbow as a one-shot, before melee starts. If there is more missile fire, he will be at a disadvantage, but he'll also be better in the wind.