Invented and wielded by Strike Force General "Lady" Ona Pierken during the campaign to regain the Deep Gnome city of Deephearth from occupying undead and kobold forces, this heavy crossbow is the first and only portable crossbow of it's kind. The fine Deep Gnome craftsmanship of this weapon grant it a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
The Wasp's three tension bows work together to launch each bolt, increasing projectile speed and range. If used to fire wooden bolts, the range is increased to 200/800ft. If used to fire all-metal bolts, the weapons damage changes to 2d8 piercing damage and the ammunition's range is 100/400ft. The all-metal "spike" ammo is considered siege ammunition and does double damage against structures and constructs. If "spike" ammo is used against a creature, the "spike" ammunition imposes disadvantage on any attempt to use "missile snaring" and on any saving throw or skill check against being pushed back or knocked prone by the attack.
The Wasp is readied to fire by sliding the rear-most handle along the underside of the crossbow, which moves a bolt from the ammo cylinder into the barrel as it is slid forward and pulls the strings from the bows to the firing position as it is slid back to the resting position at the rear of the slide.
The Wasp uses an ammo cylinder housing 8 magazines with storage for 3 bolts each that rotates as the weapon is readied to fire to ensure 24 bolts can be fired from the weapon before a reload is necessary. The reloading trait of this weapon is removed, but the Wasp requires upkeep cleaning and maintenance during short and long rests or the wielder risks running out of ammunition in combat or weapon failure at the GM's discretion. Weapon proficiency with heavy crossbows prevents the need for skill checks to perform upkeep cleaning and maintenance, but all of this is left to GM discretion.
Reloading the weapon in combat requires proficiency with heavy crossbows to be done as a bonus action. If not proficient, reloading requires the wielder's action and bonus action to accomplish. The bonus action retrieves the next ammo cylinder and the action is used to release the previous cylinder and replace it with the new cylinder.
Proficiency with a heavy crossbow allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
Notes: Bonus: Magic, Damage, Combat, Ammunition, Heavy, Loading, Range, Two-Handed
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Posted Jul 15, 2019First version. Comments welcome.
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Posted Jul 15, 2019What is the draw weight of the crossbow? Because this is a repeating crossbow it should have about a draw weight of 60kgs(120Ibs), effective range of 60m(200ft) and a max range of 120m(400ft), with these (range) measurements the reloading would be fine. If you would want higher range then the draw weight would increase(what would be the case with 3 tension bows it would be very heavy) and so would the time to fire. It will likely take more than 6 seconds to reload the weapon with a higher draw weight so that should be at least 2 rounds for a non proficient character and I would say 1 round for a proficient character.
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Posted Jul 15, 2019I did consider the draw weight of the crossbow, for sure. I determined that the application of all three bow strings on the same bolt would significantly increase the speed of the projectile OR allow a heavier projectile to be fired, at the cost of increased strength required to draw the weapon to reload.
With three times the power from the draw, I determined that doubling the distance for the crossbow to fire a wooden bolt was a safe and conservative estimate. At the same time, given that the heavier projectiles are meant to be solid metal "spikes", I felt that it was a safe and conservative estimate to give those projectiles a bit less than the original range of a wooden bolt, but comparatively close.
When considering the draw weight on the weapon, I believed this wouldn't be a major factor for the General that wields this as she is a Fighter class with her strength stat at 16. I determined that she had sufficient strength score to be able to reload this weapon quickly. This strength score came naturally for her class given her heavy armor proficiency. I looked but was unable to see a way to set a strength score prerequisite to wield this weapon, but it was something that I thought was appropriate.
As far as this being a 1 or 2 round reload, the design of the weapon streamlines this (so long as the wielder has the required strength to utilize it) action by use of a sliding handle. A simple (though strenuous) forward and back slide of the cocking handle along the underside of the weapon slots the next bolt into place and draws the bows for the next shot. I did a good deal of research on this as far as how to design the weapon so that this would seem like it was possible, but being that this is a fantasy game, I didn't do any mathematics to confirm it.
The goal was to create a heavy crossbow that had the potential to be more impressive on the battlefield. This was a perfect match for the Fighter-based archer I had in mind for the General. Altogether, I think the weapon is as impressive as I intended the General, herself, to be.
I hope this better explains my logic behind this weapon. I encourage further commenting on this weapon as each perception of the challenges/boons of this weapon help guide me on my future homebrew creations. Thank you for your input.