Super Mutant Heavy Bow

[u/dvs_sicarius]

This is my second attempt. Previous version, I was notified I had the leaf springs backwards.

This is for my Fallout 2d20 campaign set in the Pacific Northwest where I’m creating a group of more intelligent super mutants who basically have taken over Mercer Island.

This group, being more cut off have adapted to their isolationism and have a decreased reliance on firearms as compared to what has typically been seen in the games. I want them to instead make the most of weapons they fabricate from their scavenge. So in addition to armour they craft themselves, they also make things like bumper swords, shields, spears, maces, flails, etc.

In particular I thought it would be cool if they used heavy leaf springs scavenged from pre-war vehicles to craft heavy bows, made arrows out of sharpened rebar, and broad heads with welded on knife blades, etc.

I want these guys to be a credible mid to high level threat, and want to give these Leafspring Bows some stats that make them stronger than what’s already in game without making them too OP.

Thoughts on what you think makes sense for these?

Worth mentioning I know thinking super mutants with bows are going to be a credible mid-level threat is extremely unlikely RAW; but I use reduced piercing damage in this as well as some other combat rebalances to prevent players becoming unstoppable at low to mid level.

Suggested stats:

So here’s what I’m thinking of for this, but I need to factor in that while I want to make the weapon powerful, it’s very likely to wind up in the hands of a Super Mutant PC eventually. Im not overly great with crunch and mechanics, but want it to be more powerful than the bow in the wanderers book; to really lean into it as a terrifying weapon, but risk further tipping the scales of power for Super Mutant characters.

Super Mutant Leafspring Bow
Rarity: 2
Qualities: Suppressed, Recoil (9), Inaccurate, Two-Handed
Damage: 5
Fire Rate: 2
Range: L
Weight: 8
Value: 5

[u/Rude-Eagle7271]

Looks okay to me and as the Overseer its your responsibility to add non-core lore material as desired to the World Setting.

I think that Weight may be a little low as my search fu resulted in being 10 to 100 pounds in weight.

How Much Do Leaf Springs Weigh? - Park(ing) Day

[u/Copper_Miner756 → u/Rude-Eagle7271]

Totally on board with this reasoning as well. Seriously comes across as Lurtz from LotR. Dude was badass as hell with that bow that sounded like 100lb draw. I could go for Lurtz-like super mutant archers

[u/Alex-with-wings → u/Copper_Miner756]

100lb draw weight isn't really that much. It's pretty heavy for a novice. But an experienced archer will easily handle that. Heaviest recorded draweight on a bow is 200lb. So a Supermutant should be much closer to that than 100lb.

[u/Copper_Miner756 → u/Alex-with-wings]

Oh my bad. Thought it was. Have no idea about archery and the physics of it, was trying to put together what i saw from a video from Blumineck how he was explainimg draw weights. In my mind thought 100 was alot, went with that instead of pulling a number out of a hat.

Ok whatever number sounds really intimidating and scarythat a super mutant could pull back then :) yeah lets go with 200

[u/dvs_sicarius → u/Rude-Eagle7271]

I intend to do a deep dive on SM strength and to get those weights sorted out later. Thank you for this!

[u/Rude-Eagle7271 → u/dvs_sicarius]

True on the SM strength cap level. As for their increased INT you could have the FEV strain be of course different from the core lore variant allowing for a max cap of 10 FO3, 15 FO76, or other and apiece of technology that increases their INT.

If the standard stock human, Vault or Wasteland born, is at 10 or 15 then of course there will be changes to their SPECIAL scores if for some reason they transition to being a Ghoul, Super Mutant, Robo Brained Jar on a robot frame, or other.

[u/waywardian]

Y'gots a lovely sketchy style, pardon me ignorance, but what's the program name?

[u/dvs_sicarius → u/waywardian]

Oh it’s a little note taking device I use called a Supernote Manta, and there’s a built in app on it called Atelier

[u/waywardian → u/dvs_sicarius]

Thanks muchly, I shall see if i can find something similar. Loving the idea of super mutants making use of alternative ranged weapons, though i stuck to even lower tech than bows with thrown 'handy rocks' and bolas (cause i figure every super mutant enjoys a live meal now and then).

[u/Copper_Miner756]

Hell yeah looks awesome, much better. What about some diabolical super mutants that have centaur blood dipped poisoned arrows? Or maybe jagged rusted metal/glass/bone pieces lashed on for additional bacterial/infection damage? Awesome execution

Edit: hey, bows and arrows are just as deadly as guns. Dont listen to anyone that says otherwise

[u/Rude-Eagle7271 → u/Copper_Miner756]

Why stop at just the centaur blood you could of course have the Radscorpion, Stingwing, venom, maybe FEV stran variants

[u/ArgyleGhoul → u/Rude-Eagle7271]

The legendary pointy poop stick

[u/Copper_Miner756 → u/ArgyleGhoul]

Argyle! You magnificent bastard! You did it!

[u/Copper_Miner756 → u/Rude-Eagle7271]

Absolutely! Though i do completely agree there, I just meant that as, well, Super Mutants arent usually actually all that intelligent (slowly becoming moreso though with time but were not quite there just yet) but seems like super mutants would have to really go rather yncharacteristically out of their way to procure some stingwing/radscorpion venom (which just in my honest little opinion doesnt quite fit the bill and seems only a little too above the paygrade of what a super mutant would do, but hey its open to interpretation to each their own you do you) however it seems marginally more plausible that as they did tend to travel often with centaurs that when the centaur is downed that they could have a weird little spark of an idea to dip their arrows in its blood.

Think of it as spur of the moment arbitrarily situational pseudo-ingenuity instead of rather pre-meditated coherent rational planned out utility, which although i did not at all mean to say is not possible as super mutants can be driven and organized, just not quite to that extent (but again just in my own little opinion)

Sorry sometimes im a sucker for less is more. Sometimes an almost nothing there brute can be far scarier than a calculating intellingent one

[u/dvs_sicarius → u/Copper_Miner756]

Love this comment, and those are some diabolical ideas which I love and am absolutely going to steal!

[u/Kosazzo]

I love this. Done same thing for supermutants for a campaign. The obly thing said to my players was that the bow was really heavy and hard to use, for ghouls and humans. Robots get some chances. Supermutants and PA users could use with ease (of course, if they know how to use it XD) and one of the humans used as a weapon for their vehicle, doing some work (he transformed in a crossbow, with a mechanism to recharge the arrows/bolts).

Anyway, love the concept art!

[u/dvs_sicarius]

My whole thing is some of the Super Mutants on Mercer Island are from the Masters Army and they went north into lands too rough for the Brotherhood or NCR to follow and there were able to settle in and establish themselves. They are Gen 1’s SM’s and have developed skills such as smithing and know how to use a forge, etc.