Unique Weapons In Shadow World: Crossbows.

One of my favorite Shadow World blog topics is examining the unique elements that makes SW my choice of setting and showcases Terry’s creativity. I firmly believe that if Shadow World were to continue it should be a “2.0” version that embraces key elements, eliminates some generic tropes and also allows for SW to be used in other game settings–and adapted for RMU. That’s sounds like a tall order, but I don’t believe it requires a significant amount of new material, just a strong editorial pass.

Shadow World already has cool, cultural weapons, but they aren’t emphasized. In this blog I wanted to talk about the various cool dart guns and crossbows that are sprinkled throughout Terry’s work. Given the various tech levels in Kulthea and access to unique and superior materials, it’s possible to standardize some of these weapons to add to the atmosphere and uniqueness to the setting. So, instead of using a generic “light crossbow” the player or NPC may use a “Dyari Handbow” or a “Janak Springbow”.

So let’s look at a few crossbow weapons found in Shadow World.

GoldenEye Eye of Nygoret.

A beautiful light crossbow, of mahogany with a
golden alloy bow (+15) and a special spring mechanism
that allows it to be re-cocked quickly and fired every
round without penalty

Kedrick Bularis.

Double Crossbow: A compact weapon that nevertheless has the full range and power of a full-sized heavy crossbow, it also has two stacked bows and twin triggers. Thus, two shots can be fired before reloading. There is a
‘safety’ switch, and a device also holds the loaded quarrels in place, so the bow may be carried primed and loaded.

Sulfean Kuldir.

Dart Gun: A curious, baroque affair, it looks like a contorted pistol of some
kind. It is fashioned of a variety of fine metals and woods, and fires tiny
metal darts with the same effectiveness as a Light Crossbow at 1/2 hits. It
holds clips of 12 darts, and can be fired 2x a rnd

Wurliis.

Heavy crossbow with four ‘bows.’ Can fire one shot at a time, two shots at the same target (each at –5) or all four shots at one target (all at –10) before having to be reloaded and cocked

Kalta:

Featured in the Rolemaster Fantasy Weapons supplement. Loari Dart Pistol. Fire 2x/rnd (missile & melee). Can be poisoned. 10 dart clip. (Also used by the Prince Guard in Eidolon)

Per the descriptions, none of these devices appear to operate due to magical properties; instead they are just technologically advanced. I’ve started assigning different types of crossbows to certain cultures rather than the generic weapons found in Arms Law. This is just a small part of Shadow World, but one that should be expanded on.

Has anyone come up with their own unique, cool weapons?

One Reply to “Unique Weapons In Shadow World: Crossbows.”

  1. I don’t think we’ve designed specific weapons. We are using RMC Combat Companion so most attacks are already quite complex, like dual hitting polearms, fire-enhanced punches and the like.

    We have noticed the various types of advanced crossbows some years ago, to the point that we now always assume that crossbows in Shadow World can by default shot twice before requiring a reload. The players already expect that behavior whenever they encounter crossbow wielding enemies.

    I might use some of the others you mention in this post, to give them a surprise (evil GM chuckle).

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