A couuple ideas

[galorin]

I wanted to stick in a few of my own thoughts on bows, but first, I want to put forward a weapon that I am quite fond of, and I just think is cool.  It\'s a real weapon, popular from 1400 to the middle of the 1600\'s.

On the battlefield, the armies would face each other, and the archers would fire.  There would be a charge, then the armies would stop and throw... hurlbats!

Cool name for a cool weapon.  It\'s a throwing axe, usually made of 1/4\" thick steel, and sharpened on every point.  They were lightweight and easy to throw.  I wouldn\'t want to vouch for accuracy but they could be thrown from a distance and would be effective against unarmored or lightly armored opponents.  To find out more, just google for hurlbats.

My reasoning for putting them in the game, would be thus:  To give melee fighters a way to attack an enemy at a longer range before moving in to attack with their main weapon.  It could also be used by mages that are low on mana, but I see it as more of a foot soldier\'s weapon.

It would be a piercing weapon, doing the same damages as a dagger.  We can have the same classes, fire hurlbat, frosty hurlbat, etc to boost it\'s damage.  This weapon would also have a high chance to be retrieved from a defeated opponent, given it\'s durability.  It would also be easy for a blacksmith to make, and could even be cast as opposed to forged.

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Now for my bow ideas.

I\'ve studied bowmaking on and off for the past year, intending to build my own bow.  I\'ll personally start with a board bow (not on here) since I already made a greenstick bow as a youth.  Here are my ideas for the styles of bows that I\'d like to see.

Greenstick bow
  Can be made by anyone with the archery skill, as it is just a branch broken off a tree with some string tied to it.  Very weak bow, not very durable or accurate, but a good bow for a beginner, or if you\'re in need of a bow during the 6 weeks or so that it takes to season a stave before fleshing out the bow, plus the time it takes to tiller, finish, and break in the bow, before your new bow is ready to be strung and shot.  Advantages, easy to make for anyone intending to be an archer.  Disadvantages, weak, inaccurate, and easily broken.

Horn Composite bow
  Compact, lightweight, and very powerful bow.  It uses a length of horn as the bending surface.  This would be an expensive bow, and would take a lot of crafting skill to even attempt to make, with many failures before a succesfull one is made.  Advantages are a lightweight, accurate bow that can be fired from a riding beast (when/if we get them)  Disadvantages, less accurate than a longbow.

Backed bows
  This is a technique used to increase the strength of the bow.  The back of the bow (part facing away from the user) is lined with another material.  I\'ve seen sinew, rattlesnake skin, and wood veneers used.
  Backing is normally done before a bow is finished, and increases the price of the bow, and the skill required to manufacture it.  It can be done after the bow is finished, so it can be offered as an upgrade if you\'ve obtained a sweet bow, don\'t want to give it up, but want it to hit harder.  Advantages are increased power and increased durability.  Disadvantages are increased cost over an un-backed bow.

[arcain]

i think that they for sure should have some way of enchanting arrows..with like elemental power or posion them and stuff...enchant them with accuracy..that would be cool

[darkw00t]

well there is a thing called search....

Once the bows are made you could use stuff to strengthen and protect them (like beewax and stuff), an arrow could have different arrow heads.. most would use a bodkin but there is different choices for different enemies

Enchanting a bow could be realistic and unrealistic, setting an arrow on fire is possible but remember the arrow could set fire to the bow which would burn your hand and your body, freezing an arrow would be a bit hard (even if you were a mage) as it wouldn\'t last long, poisoning an arrow would need some knowledge of poisons there is lots of other elements of enchanting your bows

[galorin]

Beeswax is a preservative, used in finishing the bow to make it watertight and prevent warping.  It has no effect on the draw weight of a bow, just how long the bow will last.  It also makes the bow look prettier.  As I suggested, sinew, snakeskin (and other leathers) and wood veneers could be added to increase the draw weight, thus increasing the power of the bow.

After some reflection, I feel that if bows/arrows could be enchanted, then it should be the bow that is enchanted.  Different arrow types would be used.  I\'ve seen armor piercing arrows, game hunting arrows (designed to would rather than kill) and broadheads in museums.  I think that broadheads, and armor piercing arrows should be in game,  Poisoned arrows are a no-brainer, but would need a knowledge of poisons.

Never underestimate the power of a mage.  When we start using magic in the game, we can throw realism out the window.  So it should be possible for a bow to be enchanted by a mage to fire an arrow that does fire or ice damage.

Here\'s another thought, but not a weapon I would want to see in-game, just another cool weapon.  The Atlatl.  It\'s a flexible spear, between 6 and 8 feet long, with a weighted head, and a fletched tail, thrown by a crafted stick the length of a forearm.  Well-constructed Atlatls would bend the spear during the throw and have more power and accuracy than a spear thrown by hand.

When the Spaniards came to South America, it was a feared weapon the natives used against them.  It could penetrate and pin a conquistador inside his armor from 100 yards or more.  In modern times, people are using them to hunt wild boar on private game reserves... a very dangerous animal by all accounts.

Anyhow... What do yall think of the hurlbat idea?  Good, bad, or just wacky?

[arcain]

i think any idea is worth hearing...again on the enchanting thing.maby they could make enchanting a skill...like for charter mages and stuff...i dont know..

[galorin]

Creating an enchant weapon spell and combining that spell with an elemental spell, like fireball would give a spell that could be cast on a weapon, and enchant it with the element of fire.  

The boost to damage could add a percentage of the weapon\'s base damage, in the form of elemental damage.. i.e a 10 slash sword could get a 20% boost from enchantment with the fire element, and do 10 slash and 2 fire damage.  It could also be a percentage of the spell\'s power when cast by a mage.  So a mage that could cast a fireball that does 20 damage would be able to add 2 points of fire damage to a weapon, whereas a mage that could do 100 points of damage with the same spell could add 20 points fire damage to a weapon.. Complex thing this is, and one for more thought, perhaps another thread.

I have not thought much about enchanting the weapons, just a diversity of real-world weapons that can be used, and would not be out of place in a fantasy world.  This is where my greenstick, composite, and backed bow ideas, as well as the Atlatl came from.