I play a kobold rogue who recently had one of her arms ripped off at the shoulder. (Yes, she is a one armed bandit!)
She's a L6 Arcane Trickster and we play it off that she's attacking with weapons in her real hand and uses mage hand as an occasional "phantom limb" replacement for the missing one .
Recently another PC "dissapeared" (properly in game) and since all my characters weapons were sold to resurrection another PC, she's going to take the missing ones bow.
Yes, you're seeing the issue here.
It's an Oath Bow so has some very good stats. The bow weighs 2 lbs and mage hand can lift ten, so that's not an issue.
The trouble were trying to figure out is if I can either hold the bow with mage hand and notch an arrow with the real one or hold the bow in the real one and nock an arrow with mage hand.
Nope - a longbow will have a draw weight in excess of 60 lbs, so the mage hand will not be able to hold it during the draw process or draw the string at all. I suspect that a shortbow would be the same.
Guess it would be "easier" to hold the bow with the real arm, as that is were the precision and fine-aim focuses; the arrow gives direction, but you aim with the bow itself, so as long as the DM allows the mage hand to be used to put the arrow in the correct position and pull the cord, you should be fine.
EDIT: I did not consider the Oath Bow to be a longbow... pretty hard to use for a small character, even one with both their arms :-/
I think small PCs will have disadvantage boring a longbow even with both their hands, since it is a heavy weapon. But ask your DM. Perhaps you can use a dexterous kobold foot claw to hold the bow, mage hand to steady it, and normal hand to draw and fire. This forum will be able to offer nothing which overrides your DM's decision though.
If you are playing 5e character size and weapon size don't matter. This is just up to your DM. "Realistically" mage hand can't help you use a bow, 10 lbs of force just won't cut it for holding the bow or the string when it comes to drawing it.
But what matters is your DM's ruling. If your DM allows it, use whichever hand to hold the bow, from a physics standpoint the two hands are opposed, equal pressure is exerted on both, it doesn't matter.
If you are playing 5e character size and weapon size don't matter...
Except in the PHB it does state that "Small creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls with heavy weapons", a longbow is one of the heavy weapons, and an Oathbow is a longbow.
This isn't supported by RAW, but if your DM is willing to work with you it should be mechanically possible for a one armed person to span and fire a light crossbow. There are a number of devices that let a person use their legs and back instead of their arms to pull back the string. Look up some historical images of crossbowmen using a belt claw. Then you use the good arm to support and aim and the mage hand to pull the trigger. If I were DMing I'd say it's still a slow process, so Crossbow Expert wouldn't apply, and you'd probably attack without proficiency for a while until you get used to the system.
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I play a kobold rogue who recently had one of her arms ripped off at the shoulder. (Yes, she is a one armed bandit!)
She's a L6 Arcane Trickster and we play it off that she's attacking with weapons in her real hand and uses mage hand as an occasional "phantom limb" replacement for the missing one .
Recently another PC "dissapeared" (properly in game) and since all my characters weapons were sold to resurrection another PC, she's going to take the missing ones bow.
Yes, you're seeing the issue here.
It's an Oath Bow so has some very good stats. The bow weighs 2 lbs and mage hand can lift ten, so that's not an issue.
The trouble were trying to figure out is if I can either hold the bow with mage hand and notch an arrow with the real one or hold the bow in the real one and nock an arrow with mage hand.
Nope - a longbow will have a draw weight in excess of 60 lbs, so the mage hand will not be able to hold it during the draw process or draw the string at all. I suspect that a shortbow would be the same.
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Guess it would be "easier" to hold the bow with the real arm, as that is were the precision and fine-aim focuses; the arrow gives direction, but you aim with the bow itself, so as long as the DM allows the mage hand to be used to put the arrow in the correct position and pull the cord, you should be fine.
EDIT: I did not consider the Oath Bow to be a longbow... pretty hard to use for a small character, even one with both their arms :-/
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I think small PCs will have disadvantage boring a longbow even with both their hands, since it is a heavy weapon. But ask your DM. Perhaps you can use a dexterous kobold foot claw to hold the bow, mage hand to steady it, and normal hand to draw and fire. This forum will be able to offer nothing which overrides your DM's decision though.
If you are playing 5e character size and weapon size don't matter. This is just up to your DM. "Realistically" mage hand can't help you use a bow, 10 lbs of force just won't cut it for holding the bow or the string when it comes to drawing it.
But what matters is your DM's ruling. If your DM allows it, use whichever hand to hold the bow, from a physics standpoint the two hands are opposed, equal pressure is exerted on both, it doesn't matter.
Except in the PHB it does state that "Small creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls with heavy weapons", a longbow is one of the heavy weapons, and an Oathbow is a longbow.
Weapons with the Heavy trait cause disadvantage when wielded by small creatures.
Weapons with the Two-Handed trait require two hands (one carrying the weapon another free) to use.
Weapons with the Ammunition trait require a free hand to load.
A Longbow or Oathbow have all of these traits.
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This isn't supported by RAW, but if your DM is willing to work with you it should be mechanically possible for a one armed person to span and fire a light crossbow. There are a number of devices that let a person use their legs and back instead of their arms to pull back the string. Look up some historical images of crossbowmen using a belt claw. Then you use the good arm to support and aim and the mage hand to pull the trigger. If I were DMing I'd say it's still a slow process, so Crossbow Expert wouldn't apply, and you'd probably attack without proficiency for a while until you get used to the system.