Magic Bow

[xXZioXx]

Hello there!
This is my first post ever, so i`m not really sure what exactly i`m doing here ;)

Well, back to Topic...
I`m a relativ new DM and one of my Players is a Ranger using a Longbow. I wanted to give him sometime later a magic bow and the DMG lacks a bit on this point.
So I created my own bow. Well... it`s a relativ vague idea at the moment, but i wanted to know if this bow could be overpowered.

Thunder Bow:
1.: Arrows you shoot with this bow are not influenced by the effects of wind, magical or non-magical.
2.: The bow has 5 charges. You can expend one charge to deal 2d8 thunder damage in a 10-foot cube, originating from a point within range, Cons save for half damage. On a failed save, Creatures are pushed away by 10 feet. This emits a thunderous boom audible out to 300 feet. (this is basically the Thunderwave spell)
3.: You can charge the bow as an action, by expending 1 charge. While doing so, you are unable to move and the only action you can take is charging the bow again. If you take a different action, the charging is interrupted. The damage of the 2. effect increases by 1d8 and it`s area of effect increases by 5-foot per expended charge.
4.: Attacks made with the 2. or 3. effect deal double damage against objects.
5.: The bow regains 1d4+1 charges daily at dawn.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Welcome to the forum!

The bow looks good. I think this just about fits into the uncommon tier, except for this part:


3.: You can charge the bow as an action, by expending 1 charge. While doing so, you are unable to move and the only action you can take is charging the bow again. If you take a different action, the charging is interrupted. The damage of the 2. effect increases by 1d8 and it`s area of effect increases by 5-foot per expended charge.

Upcasting Thunderwave by spending more charges is fine in concept, but I'd be uncomfortable about having that in an uncommon item; I'd rather make the bow stronger and class it as rare. More than that, this implementation is too complicated. It'd be much better to explicitly say that you're casting the spell through the bow, and that you can cast it at a higher level by expending more charges. No need to reinvent the wheel!

[AngryJesusMan]

Echoing Ninja_Prawn, welcome to the Playground!

I concur with the above statements. In my experience I find that simplicity is usually a great way to make things seem more meshed, more fluid. (At least that's the truth for me and my players.) Pointing the player to the Thunderwave spell should be good enough.

Beyond that, I think some of the language might be a little clunky. In one sentence, you refer to "charge" in two different ways. It took me a few seconds to determine what precisely you meant.


3.: You can charge the bow as an action, by expending 1 charge. While doing so, you are unable to move and the only action you can take is charging the bow again. If you take a different action, the charging is interrupted. The damage of the 2. effect increases by 1d8 and it`s area of effect increases by 5-foot per expended charge.

If you end up pointing to the Thunderwave spell, you could say, "3. You can cast Thunderwave as a higher level spell by spending extra actions and expending extra charges. For each action that you spend, you increase the level of the spell by one spell level and you expend one charge. While doing this, you are unable to move. If you move voluntarily or take different action before loosing the arrow, you lose the spell and the charges are spent with no effect. Attacks made with the increased effect deal double damage against objects."

I suggest this for a couple of reasons.

It simplifies things by not referring back and forth to different bullet points,
It removes the need for point #4 by combining them. Spending extra charges essentially changes the spell into a Shatter spell, so why not combine the effects. This double-dips by differentiates the base use of the item from the expanded use, making it seem more attractive to the user.
My suggestion explicitly removes the ability to expand the range of the effect by 5 feet per charge. That's just my personal choice, but if you're married to the idea then go for it.

All in all, good work! I look forward to seeing more of your stuff. :smallsmile:

[xXZioXx]

Thanks for the replys!

The bow was intended as something like a miniature-siege engine, but i did not want it to be something "at-will".
Hmmm... I like the mentioned ideas :smallsmile:

P.S.: English is not my motherlanguage, that may explain some of the clunkyness :smallwink:

[Ninja_Prawn]

P.S.: English is not my motherlanguage, that may explain some of the clunkyness :smallwink:

I'm guessing... German? Based on the spelling 'relativ' (the one you were looking for in both instances is relatively). You've done pretty well though; the intention of the bow is clear.

I do feel that spending multiple actions to 'charge' the bow up is clunky from a design perspective, though. It doesn't feel like the 5e style. I'd just do "You can cast Thunderwave as a higher level spell by expending extra charges. For each additional charge that you spend, you increase the level of the spell by one" and leave it at that.

[SilverStud]

Thundering Bow
rare longbow, attunement
[[fluff text here]]
Firing into nonmagical or magical windy conditions does not impose disadvantage on attack rolls made with this weapon.
The Thundering Bow has 5 charges. On your turn and before you take an Action, you may charge the Thundering Bow as a bonus action, spending up to five charges. Until the end of your turn, you may use your action to fire the bow, causing a Thunderwave at a point within weapon range.
If you spend more than one charge, the Thunderwave deals an additional 1d8 thunder damage per extra charge spent.
The Thundering Bow regains 1d4 charges each morning at sunrise, or at the beginning of each round in a thunderstorm.

[Jorgumander]

I'm really liki ng this idea, and agree with the suggestions, however I would up the charges to 1D4+1/day or during Thunderstorms. This way you never End up getting just one. Also, I would put in somewhere that it can store up to a total of maybe 9 charges? This will encourage the player to maybe save those charges for a big fight. The last thing I would do is give the bow possibly a +1 or +2 enchantment, so that it could be used as a basic magic weapon if needed.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'm really liki ng this idea, and agree with the suggestions, however I would up the charges to 1D4+1/day or during Thunderstorms. This way you never End up getting just one. Also, I would put in somewhere that it can store up to a total of maybe 9 charges? This will encourage the player to maybe save those charges for a big fight. The last thing I would do is give the bow possibly a +1 or +2 enchantment, so that it could be used as a basic magic weapon if needed.

A +1 enchantment bonus and faster recharge would be my preference, if you're aiming for a rare item. I'd still cap it at 5 though, because the number of charges is effectively the slot level you're giving away.

So you end up with something like:

Sturm und Drang
Weapon (longbow), rare (requires attunement)

This magical longbow grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with it. In addition you can ignore strong winds from any source while attuned to this bow.

Sturm und drang has 5 charges and regains 1d4+1 charges daily at dawn, or all of its spent charges if left out in a thunderstorm for 10 minutes. While attuned to this weapon, you can use an action to expend one charge to cast Thunderwave from it, centred on any point you can see within 120 feet. You can cast Thunderwave as a higher level spell by expending extra charges. For each additional charge that you spend, you increase the level of the spell by one.

[Jorgumander]

A +1 enchantment bonus and faster recharge would be my preference, if you're aiming for a rare item. I'd still cap it at 5 though, because the number of charges is effectively the slot level you're giving away.

So you end up with something like:

Sturm und Drang
Weapon (longbow), rare (requires attunement)

This magical longbow grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with it. In addition you can ignore strong winds from any source while attuned to this bow.

Sturm und drang has 5 charges and regains 1d4+1 charges daily at dawn, or all of its spent charges if left out in a thunderstorm for 10 minutes. While attuned to this weapon, you can use an action to expend one charge to cast Thunderwave from it, centred on any point you can see within 120 feet. You can cast Thunderwave as a higher level spell by expending extra charges. For each additional charge that you spend, you increase the level of the spell by one.


Love the name of your bow, but I'm partial to Swedish myself. How about "Blixtbitar" ?

[SilverStud]

Sturm und Drang
Weapon (longbow), rare (requires attunement)

This magical longbow grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with it. In addition you can ignore strong winds from any source while attuned to this bow.

Sturm und drang has 5 charges and regains 1d4+1 charges daily at dawn, or all of its spent charges if left out in a thunderstorm for 10 minutes. While attuned to this weapon, you can use an action to expend one charge to cast Thunderwave from it, centred on any point you can see within 120 feet. You can cast Thunderwave as a higher level spell by expending extra charges. For each additional charge that you spend, you increase the level of the spell by one.

There's the official language I was going for! The reason I put in the bonus action bit was because xXZioXx mentioned not wanting to have it be quite so "at will." I don't think the opportunity cost of spending your whole turn charging it is good, but perhaps having to spend your bonus action to do so is a happy medium. Like a Paladin's various smite spells?

[Ninja_Prawn]

There's the official language I was going for! The reason I put in the bonus action bit was because xXZioXx mentioned not wanting to have it be quite so "at will." I don't think the opportunity cost of spending your whole turn charging it is good, but perhaps having to spend your bonus action to do so is a happy medium. Like a Paladin's various smite spells?

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that you're spending charges means it's already not at-will. Using the bonus action à la smite spells is definitely workable, it's just not to my taste. I mean, everyone else gets to cast spells or activate wands with an action, why can't you do the same with this bow?

[SilverStud]

No I definitely agree with you there.

I think it is an awesome weapon idea, OP, and that version that Ninja_Prawn suggested is good and has clear language.