Enchanting bows?

[Cinos]

I allow it, and have them affect the bow as well (otherwise I feel ranged fighters lag to much in capability compared to melee). If you're insisting arrows must be for added damage, bonuses to strike, durability, or lighting arrows on fire all seem valid.

[JuliusCreed]

Just a quick question what is your guys opinion on enchanting bows? do you allow it if so what sort of enchants do you allow? I know you can enchant arrows but that seems to be very costly considering it a 1 time use. Any help would be appreciative.

Enchanted bows are a seriously unsung item. Anybody remember the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon? The bow in it was pretty sweet. Most concepts for Magic bows are pretty much left to GM's discretion rather than any hard copy creation rules in the books. One particular concept I came up involved tailoring a magic bow for a Ranger with an enchantment similar to the Eyes of the Wolf spell. Or there's the idea of doing the same thing with an enchantment like the one found in an Eye of the Eagle magic crystal. Let your creativity flow on this one.

[Damian Magecraft]

I have done
Attuned (only he who is "worthy" (read attuned) may draw it).
Greater range
Greater Damage (adds PS bonus to arrow damage)
Greater accuracy
when I find my notes I will post more.

[MrShowtime]

I think there are lots of enchantments you could add. I don't think added damage should be one since it's the arrows that do damage and not the bow.

I like indestructible (though parrying with a bow makes no sense logically), greater distance (eyes of the eagle), color change, continuous glow, impervious to (whatever you want), invisible weapon, teleport wielder, turn wielder invisible, turn wielder resistant (to whatever you want) and so on.

Or you could enchant the arrows. Like returning arrows, does added lightning/fire/water/ice/whatever damage, inflicts double damage to demons/deevils/dragon/whatever you want, indestructible, and so on.

GM has final say on most everything but why be able to enchant one weapon and not another when it makes total sense?

[Damian Magecraft]

I think there are lots of enchantments you could add. I don't think added damage should be one since it's the arrows that do damage and not the bow.

I like indestructible (though parrying with a bow makes no sense logically), greater distance (eyes of the eagle), color change, continuous glow, impervious to (whatever you want), invisible weapon, teleport wielder, turn wielder invisible, turn wielder resistant (to whatever you want) and so on.

Or you could enchant the arrows. Like returning arrows, does added lightning/fire/water/ice/whatever damage, inflicts double damage to demons/deevils/dragon/whatever you want, indestructible, and so on.

GM has final say on most everything but why be able to enchant one weapon and not another when it makes total sense?

Oh I dunno see my first post on a work around for that.

[Lt Gargoyle]

I am writing some up for my players. I do not follow all of the Palladium enchantment rules for items and weapons. I do not see why a person taking the time cannot enchant a weapon or item as they choose. Just make sure you do not destroy your game balance.

[gaby]

Like say limited the number of enchantment to what?

What abilities You , Lt Gargoyle think makes good Enchantments?

What do you think destroy a game balance?

[Damian Magecraft]

Like say limited the number of enchantment to what?

What abilities You , Lt Gargoyle think makes good Enchantments?

What do you think destroy a game balance?

well by the book only 3 enchantments may placed on a weapon.

[Killer Cyborg]

One of my characters was a Long Bowman, and he eventually got a magic bow.
It was Indestructible, had Foebane, and Surefingers (IIRC).
I also made an arrow that had Indestructible, Super Sharpness, and Teleport to Wielder.

I erred on the conservative side and didn't let the bow's enchantments carry over to the arrows.

[Lt Gargoyle]

Like say limited the number of enchantment to what?

What abilities You , Lt Gargoyle think makes good Enchantments?

What do you think destroy a game balance?

I write the weapon to meet my desired effects and then think of which enchantments may have been used to make the weapon. I do not see the need to limit the weapon or any item to 3 enchantments if I want it to do something.

For abilities that make a good enchantment are going to add to the story of my campaigns. Or something that will help player characters out in times of trouble. And I like to have a campaign goal, so i know what my players are going to work towards. the adventures are what it take to get to that goal. And once the acheive that then i will make anew one or we will start a new campaign. So the magical item should be full of flavor for the campaign of for the character in question. I do draw alot of imsperation foe magical items from my old AD&D campaigns. Since we had enough idea's i do not see anything wrong with rewriting them up for Palladium Fantasy (these are idems me and my friends thought up, not those written up in thier books)

I think BAD GMs and players can destroy game balance quickly. If you find you gave your players a item which is to powerful then remove it. have a thief steal it. or better yet let it get destroyed doing something heroric. I think a dragon character can be a balance issue, if your not playing a campaign which will challange that character while not instantly getting the other players killed. (non of my players in Fantasy asked to play a dragon, yet.)

i will type of one of my favorite bows tonight and post it here shortly for you.

[sHaka]

Have you checked out the Rune Arrows of Ith'arian article in Rifter #28? Might be a good basis for inspiration (I'm thinking of running a campaign based around them).

[Lt Gargoyle]

Like say limited the number of enchantment to what?

What abilities You , Lt Gargoyle think makes good Enchantments?

What do you think destroy a game balance?

Sorry about the delay there Gaby, But here is the bow I have written up and transfered to Palladium when I shift over to thier system.

Twilight
Twilight is a superb long bow made from a indestructible transparent metal with and ivory handle which is lined with silver. Twilight string is made from a finely interwoven silver strings with many spells of enchantment which make it unbreakable and silent when fired. When held in the hands of an archer Twilight has double the range of a normal long bow. Twilight is attuned to the Glass Steal Arrows and their Glass Steal Quiver of Glass Steal Arrow Return!
Twilight was made by the Elfin moon goddess as a gift for the Elfin maiden Annabell Butterfly, who fought against many of the evils in the world, passing Twilight on to her first born daughter, as it would continue until now.

Quiver of Glass Steal Arrow Return
The Quiver is attuned to six glass steal arrows which are enchanted to return to the quiver once shot from Twilight or if someone tries to use them with any other bow. If an arrow is permanently lost from a magical or any other form of destruction, a new arrow will form on the next full moon.

The Glass Steal Arrows: are normally plus two, but when fired at a creature with regeneration they are plus three. When fired from Twilight a silver streak follows behind for about two feet much like the end tail of a shooting star across the night sky. It instantly explodes when it hits any target or surface doing three dice six, which cannot be regenerated with magic or natural ability. Only the natural heal of time will heal one struck with a Glass Steal Arrow of Twilights. Note: If someone attempts to fire a Glass Steal Arrow from any other bows then Twilight the instantly return to their Quiver.


Hope you enjoy.

[tuvermage]

once created an series of enchanted bows that had no string, had crystals above and below the grip that represented the element it fire. had 1000' range 3d6 damage, each mystic arrow required 1 PPE. red was fire, blue was ice, white was light, black was darkness, green did no damage but wrapped the person in vines, yellow was energy, pink healed instead of doing damage.

[azazel1024]

Here are a few enchantments I can think of. Speaking of, it would be nice to see some specifically for bows/crossbows enumerated at some point.

Featherweight - Bow weighs 1 ounce, 5,000gp
Bow of unerring release - Bow has +3 to strike, 15,000gp
Mighty resiliance - Bow is effectively indestructable, which also means it can be strung permenantly and can be used to parry bladed weapons, etc with no worries about being damaged, 50,000gp
Draw of the Titan - Mystically high draw strength, but still pulls as normal, +25% to range and +3 to damage, 20,000gp
Draw of the Fairy - Regular draw strength, but the actual physical pull is very light, only a couple of pounds to draw and fire it. +1 attack per melee and +1 to strike, 20,000gp
Bolts of mystic force - The bow requires no arrows, but fires bolts of mystic force when the string is pulled back and released. 2d4 damage and a range of 300ft. Alternately normal arrows can be used and are mystically augmented, +1d4 to damage. 75,000gp
Bow of all seeing - The bow seems completely mundane, but 6 times daily the user can enchant an arrow fired by the bow such that the user actually sees through the arrow as it is fired, like some kind of scrying arrow, or a modern remote sensor platform. Also both for the fired scrying arrow, and anytime the bow is drawn, the user can see the invisible (no 6 times per day limitation, only the scrying arrows are so limited). Great for firing over castle walls, encampments, shooting up in to the air looking for people, etc. 40,000gp

Up to 3 enchantments can be used on a bow, the titan and fairy enchantments cannot be used on the same bow.

[Amberjack]

Why not a variant of Spits lightning/Spits fireball, that has same limited uses, but instead enchants arrow three time per day to do additional fire/lightning damage.

[Mercdog]

I thought of an enchantment for ranged weapons I just call Reload. Basically, you load the weapon, say the command words and the ammo disappears. Then in combat, you say the activation command and the weapon reloads itself. Basically, it gives bows and crossbows a magical 'clip of ammo'. Cost is 10,000 for 4 shots, with a maximum capacity of 20.

You can use enchanted arrows, but you can't 'call up' specific arrows for use. It works on a first loaded=first fired basis.