Bow question

[Zipp]

Now that I'm reading it again, a passage in Kingdoms always confused me.

"Bodyguards: COMBAT SKILL 18   ENDURANCE 34

Due to the speed of their attack you cannot make use of a bow."

You cannot make use of a bow? Could you anyways in combat? I am right in believing that you can only use a bow when instructed by the text, right?

[Thomas Wolmer]

That phrase occurs in many places. I read it just as an explanation that unfortunately you cannot use your new hot weapon against this foe. (Since otherwise you often have the chance to use the bow instead of heading straight into close combat.)

[Sol]

Right, and YES the text is redundant.

I've never seen the bow used in "real" combat... only when you roll a D10 and have a chance to kill or hurt your enemy before combat begins.

I also found it interesting that there is no bow in the kai series... at least not under Weaponskill. I also found it interesting that when choosing your Weaponskill weapon, there are 2 chances to get the sword. Is it because Dever had plans to include a bow later, or because he wanted you to have a better chance in getting WS for the Sommerswerd?

I believe the first use of the bow to be in Book 4 where you can pick up someone else's bow in Ruanon and shoot at the Vassagonian Commander with it. You can't keep the bow, but you are allowed at least the shot ... "his cruel eyes flicker and close..."

Perhaps the bow was not a traditional kai weapon, and so could not be taught to young initiates?

[Zipp]

At some point you can get a jahkan bow, was that book four?

[Ghost BearNot Signed In]

Book 5, and if you want to, you can keep it as a Weapon for the Magnakai series.

SPOILERS

You can get it by diving into the sea to escape Marouk, then climbing into the boat, and not having Mind Over Matter.

I believe that the reason there is two swords on the random number table is because a sword was probably the most common weapon in use amongst the Kai at the time.

That's the IC reason anyway. OOC, you're probably right in that he wanted to increase the chance of you getting it for the Sommerswerd.

-GB

[Peregrine]

As I see it, Weaponskill was meant to teach the Kai Lords to handle themselves in close combat, and so Weaponskill with a bow wasn't an option. Still, they did practice with it, I'd say - you get a bonus to that shot in book 4 if you have Weaponskill (any weapon).

As for the doubled sword, it needed to be padded to ten, and the sword is, as stated, probably the most common weapon and therefore the obvious choice. Whether he intended to introduce the bow later, who can say? I'd guess not - even if it wasn't given as a Weaponskill option, which makes sense, having a bow would still be handy during the Kai series. It's possible he thought of it somewhat after writing the first books... maybe when he wrote the shot in book 4, or when he figured he needed a tenth weapon for Weaponmastery...

[Sol]

That's a good explanation. It is just one of those weird little things (9 weapons) since I am very sure that Dever was capable of thinking up a tenth weapon in Book 1.

I also like the notion that Kai are trained first in the hand-to-hand arts of fighting.

Or maybe Silent Wolf just wouldn't have had personal ability with the bow.

[BenKenobi]

Or maybe Silent Wolf just wouldn't have had personal ability with the bow.

No ! It cannot be ! Lone Wolf has personal ability in EVERYTHING !!!

When Joe Dever thinks to add the new weapon, we see that immediately it gives to you the chance to get THE BOW, the mighty Silver Bow of Duadon

In the Grand Master serie, the use of bow is less fashionable because of the spells of Kai Alchemy and Magi-Magic... continuously Joe Dever looks for new elements to introduce in the gameplay, when passing to a new serie.

I don't think he had in mind the use of the bow from the start.

[Sol]

I suppose another explanation would be that Joe did not want to add another layer of difficulty to Book 1 - 5. I wouldn't consider it too much more difficult, but granted there are a fair number of rules to read and understand before you can start playing. Compared to some other gamebooks especially - some of which have no rules at all.

[Laguna Blade]

BenKenobi said:

In the Grand Master serie, the use of bow is less fashionable because of the spells of Kai Alchemy and Magi-Magic... continuously Joe Dever looks for new elements to introduce in the gameplay, when passing to a new serie.

I don't think he had in mind the use of the bow from the start.

Yeah, Lone Wolf can enhance the bow's capability by Magi-magic so that the tip of the arrow will burn fiercely.

[Black Cat]

Laguna said:

Yeah, Lone Wolf can enhance the bow's capability by Magi-magic so that the tip of the arrow will burn fiercely.

Or he could use it to harden the tip of the arrow. But you can also use Alchemy instead of the Bow. Then, you don't have to think about buying arrows all the time.

[Sol]

During the Archery Contest with Altan, do you think it is unfair to use your Mindblast/Psi-Surge on him? It may be unfair to use your shield...

[Peregrine]

Guest-Sol said:

During the Archery Contest with Altan, do you think it is unfair to use your Mindblast/Psi-Surge on him? It may be unfair to use your shield...

Given that the only way to use a shield in target archery would be to bash the other guy over the head with it, yes, I'd say the shield is unfair. ;D As for psychic attacks, well, I don't think I've ever had a problem with it personally, but after reading a section in one of the books (probably the same one, I think) where you use the same trick to win an arm wrestle - knocking the other guy out cold in the process - I think this, too, might look a bit suspect, when Altan starts to sweat and stumble.

There's a few more thoughts on the subject here: projectaon.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1083580620

BenKenobi: True, but in the preceding book you can get THE OTHER BOW, the Jakan.

[columbob]

Guest-Sol said:

During the Archery Contest with Altan, do you think it is unfair to use your Mindblast/Psi-Surge on him? It may be unfair to use your shield...

I've only used my Weaponmastery with the bow bonus (+3) and my Silver Helmet bonus (+2) this time around. I won fair and square, even though I was at -6 combat ratio. I had about 11 endurance left.

[The Tagazin Poodle]

Peregrine said:

Given that the only way to use a shield in target archery would be to bash the other guy over the head with it, yes, I'd say the shield is unfair. ;D

Not necessarily. You could also use Nexus to levitate it in front of Altan's target.