Bows in melee (not firing them), what do you treat them as?

[garhkal]

OK. Since some here don't allow bows to be fired in melee, when an opponent is too close for you to shoot an arrow out (and thanks to the show Arrow we have others who may wish to melee with their bow too)..

A) do you even let them use the bow in melee (as a weapon itself)?
B) if so, what is it treated as, club, something else?
C) do you have it save against anything (normal or crushing blow) each time its used to see if it broke?

[Cole]

OK. Since some here don't allow bows to be fired in melee, when an opponent is too close for you to shoot an arrow out (and thanks to the show Arrow we have others who may wish to melee with their bow too)..

A) do you even let them use the bow in melee (as a weapon itself)?
B) if so, what is it treated as, club, something else?
C) do you have it save against anything (normal or crushing blow) each time its used to see if it broke?

A.) No, it's not something that can be used as a weapon in melee unless the PC has a prof in improvised weapons or something similar.
B.) However I can't stop em from trying, so if they struck an opponent with it, I would treat it as a staff, with a penalty to damage.
C.) NO saves etc. Just a crappy staff, with a crook to it 1d3 dmg most likely

[Brightmantle]

To answer the Thread text: I treat them as "Broken" if used in melee. Saving throws round after round after round till "snap"! Damage you say? 1-pt. maybe. It's not a melee weapon.
A crossbow can "bhut stroke "for 1d3 damage + strength mod. per round. Still makes Item saves when applicable. Bows are for this.

[Stik]

BM pretty much took the words out of my mouth. I was going to say "kindling".

Although marginally better than no weapon at all, a bow is far too light to do much damage as a melee weapon, a problem compounded by the fact that it tapers toward the ends. and is heaviest in the middle, where the grip is.
If a character were truly desperate, I might allow it to be treated similar to a club, doing 1d3 points of damage, and a save every round to see if it's still a bow afterwards, regardless of whether or not the character scored a hit. Remember, a lot happens in a melee round. For every attack roll, there are several feints, aborted swings, parries, etc, that are not played out.

Oh, and you don't "fire" a bow, or an arrow, for that matter. Bows are "shot," and arrows are "loosed." Fire has no part in the process. Although you might fire a bow after using it as a skinny club in melee, "fire" in this case meaning "to use as firewood."

[Crasez58]

Oh, and you don't "fire" a bow, or an arrow, for that matter. Bows are "shot," and arrows are "loosed." Fire has no part in the process. Although you might fire a bow after using it as a skinny club in melee, "fire" in this case meaning "to use as firewood."

Is your name short for stickler?

[Stik]

Not at all. It's just a pet peeve. Every time I read a book or watch a movie where the commander of a group of archers shouts: "Fire!" I cringe.

It's like seeing the word "okay" in a medieval fantasy setting. The word "okay" didn't come into the lexicon until the 19th century. It's completely out of place, and really takes me out of the moment. You won't see me or my NPCs using it anywhere in my online games.

Another pet peeve: the entire medieval period being considered one monolithic time period in movies. Excalibur was a prime example of this, because in that film the knights were walking around in 15th to 16th century plate armor. If King Arthur really lived, he lived in the early 5th century, which means that fancy armor is about 1,000 years out of date. It would be less of a mistake for the cowboys in a western set in the 1890s to be using M16 rifles (invented in 1959).

[Crasez58]

Not at all. It's just a pet peeve. Every time I read a book or watch a movie where the commander of a group of archers shouts: "Fire!" I cringe.

It's like seeing the word "okay" in a medieval fantasy setting. The word "okay" didn't come into the lexicon until the 19th century. It's completely out of place, and really takes me out of the moment. You won't see me or my NPCs using it anywhere in my online games.

Another pet peeve: the entire medieval period being considered one monolithic time period in movies. Excalibur was a prime example of this, because in that film the knights were walking around in 15th to 16th century plate armor. If King Arthur really lived, he lived in the early 5th century, which means that fancy armor is about 1,000 years out of date. It would be less of a mistake for the cowboys in a western set in the 1890s to be using M16 rifles (invented in 1959).

lol i gotcha and understand i just gotta pester someone or my day isnt complete