The Bowcaster... underpowered? My take on it.

Naaman · Vice Admiral Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 3190

Considering that a bowcaster is to wookiees what a lightsaber is to Jedi, I always thought that it should be a more worthwhile weapon, especially since receiving one is a right of passage for a wookiee. Also, if it takes a certain amount of strength to use and has a really low fire rate, each shot should really count.

Here's my spin on it:

Model: Wookiee bowcaster
Type: Energy/projectile hybrid
Scale: Character
Skill: Bowcaster
Ammo: 6 quarrels; a power pack can make 24 shots before needing to be replaced.
Cost: Not sold to non-Wookies
Availability: 3, R
Fire Rate: 1
Range: 3-10/30/60
Damage: 5D+2
Game Notes: A character who wants to make more than one shot in a round must make an easy strength check to hold the weapon steady. Reloading a new set of quarrels requires a moderate strength check. A character with 5D or more in strength does not need to make these checks.

schnarre · Commander Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 333

...I gave the weapon Speeder-scale damage. Worked fine (despite the limited ammo for it, & the high strength to use it).
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Raven Redstar · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:01 pm Post subject:

Speeder scale damage makes for a fair adjustment to me.

4D standard damage becomes 6D against character scale targets. Makes it a natural choice for a 5D strength character like a wookiee.

Naaman · Vice Admiral Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 3190

Good idea, shifting scales, but do you allow the dodge bonus for a character scale target? Or is the damage just scaled?

Fallon Kell · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject:

garhkal · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 5:11 pm Post subject:

MA-3PO · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:24 pm Post subject:

Don't recall who but someone on Rancor Pit had the fine idea of making ammo with different effects. The 4D is your standard quarrel but you could use a 6D explosive quarrel instead. I thought one that is basically a less powerful grenade launcher would be neat.

Naaman · Vice Admiral Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 3190

I like that idea, too. Although, I do feel that the "base" damage should be higher than 4D... A wookiee can punch harder than that.

Raven Redstar · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:27 pm Post subject:

Matthias777 · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:55 pm Post subject:

Esoomian · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 9:13 pm Post subject:

Well speeder scale weapons give +2D to damage against character scale targets but character scale targets get +2D to dodge but if it is a speeder scale weapon being aimed and fired by a character scale uhhh character is that dodge bonus still applicable?
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Hellcat · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:35 pm Post subject:

This isn't the first time this has been brought up. You might be interested in previous threads on the subject and what was said there.

[Poll]Wookie Bocaster Underpowered?

Wookiee Bowcasters

Bowcaster
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CRMcNeill · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:25 am Post subject:

The thing I like the most about the bowcaster is that it is a combination of solid and energy effects, in that it allows a solid shot to take advantage of the greater effectiveness of energy vs. armor (i.e. ST Armor is +2D vs. physical attacks and +1D vs. energy, so because the bowcaster fires a solid shot in an energy cocoon, ST armor only adds +1D to resist the damage).

I particularly like the idea of multiple ammo types. Just think of the options: high explosive, armor piercing, chemical dart, homing tags, etc.

One quibble I have with the WEG stat is the Fire Rate of 1. The one scene where we get to see a bowcaster in action (Chewbacca taking out the biker scout in ROTJ), he definitely seems to be firing much faster than one might expect from a pump action weapon, almost at a semi-auto fire rate. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to allow multiple shots per round, just at an increased MAP.
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garhkal · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:59 am Post subject:

I do remember someone (iirc over on the holonet) discussing that the bowcaster should actually do 2 lots of damage. 4d physical, then 4d energy.
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ZzaphodD · Rear Admiral Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 2426

I cant really see why the weapon needs a boost to begin with...

Sure its not a Wookie repeating blaster, but why should it be?

Do wookies need heavier firepower? Please read the threads about bulletproof wookies. Do we need to add more firepower to that? Their only drawback is that they have to get up and close as it is.
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