Topic: Help me explain this real-world weapon in RM terms

[dutch206]

The repeating crossbow, invented during the 4th century BCE and perfected by Zhuge Liang during the three kingdoms period:

http://www.arco-iris.com/George/chu-ko-nu.htm

It could hold ten bolts at once and had a rate of fire of one bolt per second!

[Marc R]

If I'm not mistaken, it is in the Oriental Companion.

[Right Wing Wacko]

And in real life, they shot darts rather than bolts...

I believe there is a Mythbusters episode concerning the repeating crossbow...

[dutch206]

I believe there is a MB episode about everything.  So far, my favorite has been the one where they tested ninja devices.

[markc]

  I also saw the show that said they shot smaller darts. But having said that in D&D 1st it was one of my favorite weapons for my monk.

1)In RM I think I might use the dart table, increase the range and x2 the damage. But even then that might not be the best fit.
2) How about an easy -10 to Lt Crossbow and cut the range by 25%? IMO that might be the easy fix.

 Also remember that it takes a lot longer to reload once the weapon is out of ammo than another crossbow of any type. I think the time was 3+ min to reload the weapon.

MDC

[Marc R]

There's also a larger, wall mounted one, a siege weapon kinda devise with a crew of two I believe.

[Ecthelion]

Another possible weapon table would be that for the Hand Crossbow found in The Armory. Just use that table, adjust the reloading time and determine the fire rate plus number of shots per salve and you should be done.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

The repeating crossbow, invented during the 4th century BCE and perfected by Zhuge Liang during the three kingdoms period:

http://www.arco-iris.com/George/chu-ko-nu.htm

After reading the description, I would say to treat it as follows:

Light Crossbow (-10; max of 140 on the attack table) Use the range modifiers for the Long Bow (but only up to the 201'-300' range, since the range given in the description is 75 yards (225').

When attacking a crowd (little to no space between the targets), if the wielder is just shooting into the crowd, the targets will be random, and he gets full OB against all.

If attacking a single foe, only 1d10 of the 10 attacks will hit, first attack gets 1/2 OB, the rest get 1/4 OB. Against multiple foes in a small area, I would say just 1/2 OB on first attack, 1/4 OB on each subsequent attack.

This is a weapon made specifically for attacking crowds, it will be much more difficult to use accurately against individuals, or even small groups of individuals.

And I fully agree with the 3+ minutes to reload once all bolts are fired.

[markc]

Another possible weapon table would be that for the Hand Crossbow found in The Armory. Just use that table, adjust the reloading time and determine the fire rate plus number of shots per salve and you should be done.

 I completely forgot about the hand crossbow table. That might be better then the Lt Cross depending on how powerful you want it to be.

MDC

[dutch206]

Just finished thumbing through the OC:  no repeating CB.  However, I did find a couple of nifty ninja gimmicks for a sweet, innocent-looking sing-song girl. 

[Marc R]

Could it be in the Arms Companion then? I could swear I've seen it before.

[vroomfogle]

Only thing in Arms Companion is a "Crossbow Reloader" - a few paragraphs and a table on a device that helps reload arbalests primarily rather than light or heavy crossbows.   And the rules aren't very good in my opinion.

[Marc R]

Hmm, perhaps, at last, proof that I've lost my mind. . .

[pastaav]

I would be hesitant to use range modifiers for longbow...descriptions of real world longbow shots are quite more impressive than what is suggested by the long bow range modifiers. I think the repeating crossbow should be very short range, like a sling or something similar.

[Nders]

Agreed Pastav: Fix the Longbow! Nerf the Pebble crossbow!

[PiXeL01]

There is a crossbow in Oriental Companion (the Oyumi) which from the picture at least appears to be the sort after repeater (pp 73). According to what I could scrounge up on wiki the Oyumi was a repeating crossbow.
It isnt treated as much in the companion though.


On a side note I always though the ranges of the weapons in OC were a bit weak ...