Heavy Crossbows Weigh too much

[Cowtankerous]

a GREATSWORD weighs only 6.0
a Heavy Crossbow weighs 18.0

this clearly is stupid.
it is almost as bad as heavy armor weighing 55

[~Draugkir~]

it is not stupid.

you are referring to heavy crssbows.
Heavy Crossbows from the Medieval Age time, use rather heavy metal mechanisms. Only those mechanisms will weight proably more than a 2 hander. You still have to add the wood ( dense wood is kinda heavy ).

so.. nope.. not stupid.

Heavy armor sometimes would weight more than 55.
If you want to test it, go to one of those shops that make replicas, and ask them to wear one.

You will understand what im saying once you get one on you :)

[Icyage]

well someone never LARPed ^^

[robomagon]

Those weights sound pretty accurate to me.

[SpiralRazor]

Originally posted by ~Draugkir~:

it is not stupid.

you are referring to heavy crssbows.
Heavy Crossbows from the Medieval Age time, use rather heavy metal mechanisms. Only those mechanisms will weight proably more than a 2 hander. You still have to add the wood ( dense wood is kinda heavy ).

so.. nope.. not stupid.

Heavy armor sometimes would weight more than 55.
If you want to test it, go to one of those shops that make replicas, and ask them to wear one.

You will understand what im saying once you get one on you :)

a heavy crossbow does NOT weigh 3x what a greatsword does...thats for sure, ive handled both. The armor weights are pretty accurate though...ive worn full real chain with kings links and yeah.....you also need a gambeson underneath it. i think it came close to 80lbs with coif etc. I made it for about 3 hours before endurance gave out:)

[SpiralRazor]

Theres bigger problems with the game anyway at this point then the weights.....75% of the weapon options avaiable arent being used because of the game mechanices..

Dex melee = rapier

str melee = whatever does 2-8 as well.

2 handers solely consist of the two that do 3-12 because the 2-10 options have no other benefit and are direct downgrades. easily solved, but the devs are derp.

[Char Aznable]

What part of the word heavy don't you understand?

[TheStoryteller01]

I have had this discussion in pen&paper RPGs since my 1st ed D&D set.

The problem with weight realism is always the same because "cumbersome" can't be measured in kilos, pounds or lbs but still should be taken into account somehow. So light armor with weight 20 which I wear on my body is not simply the same as carrying a poleaxe with weight 20 around.

But all those realism discussions make no sense as long as one can stuff 10 extra weapons into their pack - not to mention that reserve armor set - as long as the weight limit isn't exceeded.

[SpiralRazor]

a "heavy" crossbow doesnt weight 18lbs.. usually they were not used from horseback because of the goats foot or windlass but it is possible for someone that was well trained.. An arbalest is something different, i could see arbalests weighing 18lbs or more.... Arbalests were defintely devved after xbows, and appeared sometime around 1350-1400.....It also dealt far more damage then a standard Xbow. An arbalest could easily kill a horse in one shot even if you didnt hit the head. In fact arbalests are where the "your armor is now useless" thing came from. An arbalest in DnD should do 3-18 and weigh 20-25lbs.

[SpiralRazor]

Originally posted by TheStoryteller01:

I have had this discussion in pen&paper RPGs since my 1st ed D&D set.

The problem with weight realism is always the same because "cumbersome" can't be measured in kilos, pounds or lbs but still should be taken into account somehow. So light armor with weight 20 which I wear on my body is not simply the same as carrying a poleaxe with weight 20 around.

But all those realism discussions make no sense as long as one can stuff 10 extra weapons into their pack - not to mention that reserve armor set - as long as the weight limit isn't exceeded.

Yeah, as i said there are larger issues with the game then item weights:)

[Rednecksith]

55lbs for heavy armor is actually pretty conservative. You've got solid metal plates on top, a layer (or layers) of chainmail underneath, leather under that, and generous cloth padding to protect against chafing or pinching. Some heavy cavalry units had multiple layers of plate and chain as well.

As for the crossbow, while I do think the in-game weight is a little excessive, they still had quite a bit of heft. Most had stocks of extremely dense wood for sturdiness, with iron or steel mechanisms. If the pull were strong enough, a windlass might be necessary, which would also add significantly to the weight.

Even modern 'heavy' crossbows using much lighter composite materials can top 10lbs. Most are around the 5-7lbs mark though.

[SpiralRazor]

yeah....and theres quite a few different types of crossbows as well...or patterns if you will. I would say from experience that a mid ages crossbow of a heavier sort is around 12-15bs, not counting the pulling mechanism. Light crossbows were generally not well made at all, unless they were used for hunting by some noble and hence considerably lighter.

[reikiba]

I always thought D&D tried to handle weight and bulk with the weight stat. So, a relatively light object that took up alot of space would 'weigh' more. I could be wrong. I can't remember if I read that somewhere or just heard it from someone.

[Rexie77]

People would really complain if they had to account for the zillion or so bolts they'd have to carry to shoot them this much.

Armour info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armour

Plate armour helped stop early slow bullets. Bolts & arrows penetrating armour is also problematic; it depends on the period more than anything. It was an arms race, to be sure. Nothing was a panacea, and armour was worn until high velocity bullets made it obsolete. At least until kevlar. But that's a whole 'nother race...

[Rift]

I agree with some of what has been said, but honestly, the heavy crossbow shouldn't be 3x the weight of a two-handed weapon. That is overkill. If they were equivalent in weight that would be much more realistic.

[Tyler Durden]

Heavy armor weighed about 50 or 60 in Baldur's Gate. Doesn't seem so far fetched to me.