Also keep in mind that in 5e long/short bow is a shorthand for damage and range not the actual size of the bow. A mongol composite recurve horse bow has the size of a “short bow” but is more like the English/welsh long (self) bow in range and damage. So the real question is - is the extra range and (slight?) extra damage game breaking? Not really. As an elf there is really no way you can force them to not get the longbow at some point so you are going to be stuck with it sooner or later anyway. The nice thing is that SA damage is always D6s so it doesn’t impact that either.
We really don't know that much about the bow. None of them has survived into the modern era, and records were sparse. We know Henry VIII ordered the minimum practice range for the longbow to be set at 200 meters, which is out past the long range for a longbow. But that's also likely with practice arrows, not the heavier shafts they'd have used for war. Whether that accurately translates to 1d8...look, everything is an abstraction. It's about what feels right, not what's historically accurate.
Never mind the fact that the draw strength required for the bow likely led to skeletal deformation; which is something the game has never touched upon. And it doesn't need to. We're playing a fantasy.
There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of modern attempts at discerning the actual effective range and power behind the English longbow, but nothing conclusive. And it's kind of turned into this competition to see how far past 11 they can turn the dial to.
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But back to the main issue at hand, yeah, the elf will probably gain access to and use a longbow sooner or later. They don't need to, from an Extra Attack perspective, but there are more magic bows than crossbows. Rogues don't also need a lot of gold to fully outfit themselves. Their biggest "upgrades" are their armor (40 gp after trading in their leather), swapping out the heavier stuff in their pack for lighter alternatives (like hempen rope for silk and torches for a lantern), and maybe silvering some weapons. And if they're a Thief, they might also invest in other equipment they can use with their Bonus Action.
I say make them save for the longbow. Make getting one feel like an actual accomplishment.
Take a recurve short bow, add bone plates to the back ( compression) side to stiffen it, then add sinew/tendons to the front (tension) side to get more spring from a shorter space. You now have a composite bow that is the length of a short bow, and has the weight and pull weight of a long bow.. not really a problem that they made it a heavy weapon it is about the same weight as a long bow. Now whether the longbow ( and composite bow) actually should be heavy weapons is a discussion for another day.
Also keep in mind that in 5e long/short bow is a shorthand for damage and range not the actual size of the bow. A mongol composite recurve horse bow has the size of a “short bow” but is more like the English/welsh long (self) bow in range and damage. So the real question is - is the extra range and (slight?) extra damage game breaking? Not really. As an elf there is really no way you can force them to not get the longbow at some point so you are going to be stuck with it sooner or later anyway. The nice thing is that SA damage is always D6s so it doesn’t impact that either.
Sort of, they did give the longbow and heavy crossbow the heavy property as well as the higher damage die and better range. Implying that the weapon is also, well, heavier than the shortbow/light crossbow counterparts. But this is easy enough to just ignore and reflavor unless playing a small size race, which obviously as an elf they wouldn't be here. The implication seems to be longbows are bigger than shortbows by default, but it can certainly be reflavored.
I suspect that the heavy property for the long bow is, like some of the encumbrance weights, more about unwieldyness than weight itself. At 1.5 to 2.5 pounds it’s difficult to see it as being heavy but at 6’ long it would certainly be unwieldy in many situations.
correction - horn not bone is normally used on the compression side of a composite bow.
We really don't know that much about the bow. None of them has survived into the modern era, and records were sparse. We know Henry VIII ordered the minimum practice range for the longbow to be set at 200 meters, which is out past the long range for a longbow. But that's also likely with practice arrows, not the heavier shafts they'd have used for war. Whether that accurately translates to 1d8...look, everything is an abstraction. It's about what feels right, not what's historically accurate.
Never mind the fact that the draw strength required for the bow likely led to skeletal deformation; which is something the game has never touched upon. And it doesn't need to. We're playing a fantasy.
There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of modern attempts at discerning the actual effective range and power behind the English longbow, but nothing conclusive. And it's kind of turned into this competition to see how far past 11 they can turn the dial to.
###
But back to the main issue at hand, yeah, the elf will probably gain access to and use a longbow sooner or later. They don't need to, from an Extra Attack perspective, but there are more magic bows than crossbows. Rogues don't also need a lot of gold to fully outfit themselves. Their biggest "upgrades" are their armor (40 gp after trading in their leather), swapping out the heavier stuff in their pack for lighter alternatives (like hempen rope for silk and torches for a lantern), and maybe silvering some weapons. And if they're a Thief, they might also invest in other equipment they can use with their Bonus Action.
I say make them save for the longbow. Make getting one feel like an actual accomplishment.
Take a recurve short bow, add bone plates to the back ( compression) side to stiffen it, then add sinew/tendons to the front (tension) side to get more spring from a shorter space. You now have a composite bow that is the length of a short bow, and has the weight and pull weight of a long bow.. not really a problem that they made it a heavy weapon it is about the same weight as a long bow. Now whether the longbow ( and composite bow) actually should be heavy weapons is a discussion for another day.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I suspect that the heavy property for the long bow is, like some of the encumbrance weights, more about unwieldyness than weight itself. At 1.5 to 2.5 pounds it’s difficult to see it as being heavy but at 6’ long it would certainly be unwieldy in many situations.
correction - horn not bone is normally used on the compression side of a composite bow.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Jounichi and others there is a thread now in the general topics for discussion of bows if you want to add your comments and questions for discussion.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
With Tasha's he could have heavy crossbow proficiency if he wanted. Longbow isn't OP at all. I'd just have him roll gold.