Hoof Crossbow

[Sapare]

Curious on the specifics of this item. I understand it removes the negatives to reloading(aka, being allowed to reload), but does it still suffer the negatives of 1 handed shooting.(-2 on attack roll) Balancing wise it seems to make sense, considering that it otherwise makes crossbows circumvent fingerless alltogether. 2nd and more minor point is the question of weapon changing, is the hoof crossbow considered wielded in your primary hand, or 2ndary? Logically it wouldn't stop you from pulling a sword, but rulewise I assume it is taking up your primary(mouth) slot.


Hoof Crossbow: Wielded by many a pegasi, this
weapon (with its almost comically oversized trigger
and handle that a pony’s fetlock can wrap around and
trigger) functions as a light crossbow and can be cocked
with hind-hoof levers.

[David]

It is a light crossbow. You seem to have a clean grasp on it.

[Sapare]

It is a light crossbow. You seem to have a clean grasp on it.

So yes, the average Pegasus using 1 hoof crossbow would suffer -2 to hit because the hoof is not actually a "hand" and he is shooting 1 handed(having only 1 hand), and if he wanted to pull out a sword he would need to drop/sheath the crossbow first? If this is correct I don't need reassurance, I just wanted to restate it so you were not misunderstanding my question.

[brokenimage321]

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that ponies only get one "hand"--their mouths--which, aside from location, functions identically to a hand.

If one of my players were to ask this question, I would say that a Hoof Crossbow gives them an ability to treat a hoof as a temporary hand for the purposes of the crossbow: that is, they still only have one "hand," but they can temporarily shift the location of that hand from the mouth to the hoof.

In other words: in actual play, they could either use their "hand" to aim, reload, and fire their crossbow, or they could use their "hand" to draw and use a longsword, but not both in the same round.

Looking at it another way: IIRC, drawing and sheathing weapons is basically a free action in 5e (don't have the text in front of me), so, though you may need to put away the crossbow and draw the sword, you can do so without spending an action.

[David]

Even in Pathfinder, dropping what you're holding is free.

[_L1pE_]

One thing I'm curious about this weapon is, how are the "hind-hoof levers" supposed to work? I have a hard time envisioning how that's supposed to look, really wish there was a visual example of that.

[David]

Two levers for either foot. You step on them and press down, this makes two hooks spring up, grab the string and pull it back to cocked position in a nice circular motion. You step off and you just need to slap a bolt into place.

[brokenimage321]

FWIW, Equestria Prevails on Deviantart has some fun fantasy-style pony art that might give you a better visual. Different style of weaponry, but still.