I was looking for some items to give out to grogs. These items should be easy to make and use only a small amount of vis. Otherwise only few convents could afford to give several of these items to their grogs.
Any suggestions?´
I would like to propose the following:
Devastating Crossbow:
ReHe 13 (Base3, R:per, dur: mom., Target: ind), unlimited uses +10
Trigger action: pulling the sting of the crossbow
When the string of the crossbow is pulled, the bow bends back by itself. Thus any mechanism used to do this is not required. When propelling the bolt this is done my mundane force (the bow beeing no longer under the effect of this enchantment). Thus MR is no use against the bolt. Aiming is done by the crossbowman using the ability "crossbows" rather than using "finesse", whichmost grogs are lacking. With this enchantment crossbowmen can fire as fast as bowmen.
You could also use a metal bow to propell the bolt doing more damage and using ReTe 14 (Base4: moving metal in a slightly unnatural way, R:per, dur: mom., Target: ind), unlimited uses +10
Trigger action: pulling the sting of the crossbow
To enchant a crossbow one would need 2pawns of vis only.
But be aware: Mundanes watching your grogs pulling back the string of a crossbow with their bare fingers might cause rumors...
Fruny wrote:
What happens if the string breaks? Is the enchantment ruined?
Well, being part of the enchantment, the whole thing would be useless...
This raises the important question: How may times can you fire a crossbow, beofore the bow sting snaps? This might dramatically increase the aount of Vis needed to maintain a force of let's say 4 crossbowmen.
Well reviewing something on the history of crossbows i found that initially in Europe only wooden bows were used. By the end of the 12th century compound bows came into use with bows made of wood, and animal horn (add an animal-requisite to the enchantment making it level 14). Metal bows did not come into use until the 14th century. -But hey, what are Verditus-smiths good for?
Good idea! It will still cost 2 pawns, so that shouldn't be a problem
An other option would be to enchant the metal foothold of the crossbow (I assume heavy crossbow): once you put the foot on it to reload, the bow becomes supple. The foothold is much more enduring than the bow itself: you can keep changing the bow as long as the metal foothold is OK.
However, the glove is MUCH more powerful. Make it so that it affects inanimate objects at touch range with a Re or Mu effect (Mu Te or ReTe) when tyou utter a certai8n word and then you can have your grogs grabbing blades and retorting them with their hands! A Blade does not return to "normal" straight position once you release the effect, after all. Or opening doors in pretty m,uch the same way. Nice item.
It would be more discrete to enchant arrowheads of bows piercing armors.
What about a sword which could penetrate metal armors?
Or cause a light effect e.g. a paralyzing when it senses blood.
Composite bows were in use in Eastern Europe from ancient times. Especially by Cumans, Pechenegs, Hungarians, "Byzantines", Tatars, Bulgars, Mongols later Russians and maybe Lithuanians. Not to mention the Arabs and Turks in Asia Minor.
Also sinew were used to composite bows.
quote]Birbin again
Composite bows were in use in Eastern Europe from ancient times. Especially by Cumans, Pechenegs, Hungarians, "Byzantines", Tatars, Bulgars, Mongols later Russians and maybe Lithuanians. Not to mention the Arabs and Turks in Asia Minor.
Also sinew were used to composite bows.
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Sorry, did not make this clear. I was refering to crossbows only. These came into use with a composite bow at the end of 12th centry in western Europe, though they were used in Constantinople some time earlier. Records exist that early versions of them suddelndy dissolved when heavy rain poured down on the battlefields of western Europe.
A nice and subtle application for weather magic.
The string need not be part of the enchantment..enchant only the bow.
That would be resisted...Instead, use a heavier bow, and get the force naturally. You are already using magic to bend it, so why not.
Point in hand...(and to answer a question)
I used to shoot a 75# longbow. For a while I used a natural material string. The sting would generally snap after about 100 shots (est). I went with a dacron string, and the usage went up about tenfold. This bow would put a wooded arrow through a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood without a problem. Fred Bear and Howard Hill shot bows that were much more robust. One such example is the 125# bow used to shoot arrows through an elephant's skull...just a matter of enough force to get the job done...
Err, no.. it wouldn't be resisted.. the spell you quoted is just the spell to bend back the metal arms (or draw the wire) of the bow.. not to propel a bolt in any way ^^
