So I've been obsessed with a crossbow wielding, swashbuckling Sea Elf pirate character concept and I've worked out wanting him to have both a magazine fed, pump action heavy crossbow for insane turns with Fighting Spirit (Yes the pirate is a Samurai Fighter deal with it), and a magazine fed hand crossbow with a mare's leg style lever action. I'm no weapons engineer, the specifics of which I'm fluffing over to establish a flavor I like that fits crossbow expert eliminating the loading property.
Anyways, with that context, on to the question. Is there any precedence for shoulder slings and straps for crossbows? I would like to be able to stow the heavy crossbow without taking an action or dropping it on the ground, allowing me to draw the hand crossbow for following turns where I don't want to use Fighting Spirit. To be clear, I'm only looking to make that one stowing action be free. Drawing the heavy crossbow would be as normal, as would drawing/stowing the hand crossbow. Am I looking for too much? I really want the classic "swapping between flintlocks as they are used" pirate flavor without touching firearms and the Gunner feat. My build is also already feat heavy, and would appreciate this ability coming from a purchasable item as opposed to a homebrew version of Gunner that works for crossbows.
Is this a reasonable homebrew item to approach a DM about?
From a "can I use rifle-type slings to justify dropping my crossbow without dropping my crossbow?" perspective? Sure, why not. if your DM is already letting you have guns-in-all-but-name crossbows, go for it.
From a firearm enthusiast's perspective? Slings are generally for long-term carry, not emergency ditching. You'd want some sort of drop line for that. Even back in the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates didn't simply throw pistols off to land God knows where - those things were expensive, and a pirate wanted to keep their expensive weapons. Instead they'd attach them via drop loops and lines to their belts, and when one gun was done they'd let it drop and dangle. A drop line for an eighteen-pound pump-action heavy crossbow would be amusing to see ("WEIGH ANCHOR, ELF MAN!") but not very practical. There are methods of wearing a slung rifle that allows you to stow the gun quickly, but they're intended for rifles and require a specific sling setup and training. Not sure how adding a three-foot steel bar to the front of yon non-boomstick would work with most sling techniques, though I can posit that the answer is "poorly".
The other idea, for a Crossbow Buccaneer who doesn't want anything to do with black powder, is to obtain and train a crossbow-reloading monkey that quickly scampers down your arms to reset your weapons for you between shots, thus negating the loading property a'la Crossbow Expert. The same monkey can also be trained to dart out and retrieve a dropped crossbow and stow it appropriately whenever the elf ditches a bow, elsewise returning to his perch on the elf's shoulder. Apply eyepatch and tiny monkey tricorne, and you've got the perfect answer for working with flintlock crossbows on the high seas.
Yeah I'm currently DMless, but I figured the flavoring of my crossbows adopting certain firearm technologies would be harmless because Crossbow Expert mechanically backs up any concepts I would have for why I'm able to load and fire multiple crossbow bolts in six seconds.
Those are good points about the logistics and use for slings/straps in reality, and how that would translate poorly to a heavy crossbow. I think that, like the mechanics of magazine fed crossbows (and in the case of the hand crossbow: having four arms in an X formation that spring open when the weapon is cocked) I'm willing to look past that to arrive at an aesthetic I find enjoyable. I'm threading a weaving line between wanting "logical explanations for mechanics" and "skipping past logical hookups that are inconvenient and don't bother me".
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So I've been obsessed with a crossbow wielding, swashbuckling Sea Elf pirate character concept and I've worked out wanting him to have both a magazine fed, pump action heavy crossbow for insane turns with Fighting Spirit (Yes the pirate is a Samurai Fighter deal with it), and a magazine fed hand crossbow with a mare's leg style lever action. I'm no weapons engineer, the specifics of which I'm fluffing over to establish a flavor I like that fits crossbow expert eliminating the loading property.
Anyways, with that context, on to the question. Is there any precedence for shoulder slings and straps for crossbows? I would like to be able to stow the heavy crossbow without taking an action or dropping it on the ground, allowing me to draw the hand crossbow for following turns where I don't want to use Fighting Spirit. To be clear, I'm only looking to make that one stowing action be free. Drawing the heavy crossbow would be as normal, as would drawing/stowing the hand crossbow. Am I looking for too much? I really want the classic "swapping between flintlocks as they are used" pirate flavor without touching firearms and the Gunner feat. My build is also already feat heavy, and would appreciate this ability coming from a purchasable item as opposed to a homebrew version of Gunner that works for crossbows.
Is this a reasonable homebrew item to approach a DM about?
From a "can I use rifle-type slings to justify dropping my crossbow without dropping my crossbow?" perspective? Sure, why not. if your DM is already letting you have guns-in-all-but-name crossbows, go for it.
From a firearm enthusiast's perspective? Slings are generally for long-term carry, not emergency ditching. You'd want some sort of drop line for that. Even back in the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates didn't simply throw pistols off to land God knows where - those things were expensive, and a pirate wanted to keep their expensive weapons. Instead they'd attach them via drop loops and lines to their belts, and when one gun was done they'd let it drop and dangle. A drop line for an eighteen-pound pump-action heavy crossbow would be amusing to see ("WEIGH ANCHOR, ELF MAN!") but not very practical. There are methods of wearing a slung rifle that allows you to stow the gun quickly, but they're intended for rifles and require a specific sling setup and training. Not sure how adding a three-foot steel bar to the front of yon non-boomstick would work with most sling techniques, though I can posit that the answer is "poorly".
The other idea, for a Crossbow Buccaneer who doesn't want anything to do with black powder, is to obtain and train a crossbow-reloading monkey that quickly scampers down your arms to reset your weapons for you between shots, thus negating the loading property a'la Crossbow Expert. The same monkey can also be trained to dart out and retrieve a dropped crossbow and stow it appropriately whenever the elf ditches a bow, elsewise returning to his perch on the elf's shoulder. Apply eyepatch and tiny monkey tricorne, and you've got the perfect answer for working with flintlock crossbows on the high seas.
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Yeah I'm currently DMless, but I figured the flavoring of my crossbows adopting certain firearm technologies would be harmless because Crossbow Expert mechanically backs up any concepts I would have for why I'm able to load and fire multiple crossbow bolts in six seconds.
Those are good points about the logistics and use for slings/straps in reality, and how that would translate poorly to a heavy crossbow. I think that, like the mechanics of magazine fed crossbows (and in the case of the hand crossbow: having four arms in an X formation that spring open when the weapon is cocked) I'm willing to look past that to arrive at an aesthetic I find enjoyable. I'm threading a weaving line between wanting "logical explanations for mechanics" and "skipping past logical hookups that are inconvenient and don't bother me".