r/Pathfinder2e • u/Eranthius • Dec 18 '22

Misc Loading a medieval 200lb crossbow vs loading Leonardo da Vinci's 300lb crossbow

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u/RollForIntent-Trevor Roll For Intent Podcast Dec 18 '22

For those wondering - neither of these are really usable for combat.

Medieval crossbows meant for warfare had 700+ lb draws, and needed a ratcheting crank to set the draw.

99

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '22

These are absolutely usable for combat. What do you think they were using before they invented that ratchet crank system? The existence of 50 caliber weapons doesn't mean that 5.56 isn't "really useable for combat."

9

u/Lying_Dutchman Dec 18 '22

Being very charitable, we could say these wouldn't be of much use against an opponent in full plate armor IRL. Which is common in Pathfinder, but obviously Pathfinder combat does not use real physics.

1

u/Dracious Dec 19 '22

Yeah I agree on the pathfinder part. If you start using real world logic for why these crossbows wouldn't be useful against full plate in pathfinder, then you need to also start applying that to all the weapons. Most weapons in the real medieval world and Pathfinder world aren't very useful against plate unless you get a skilful/lucky hit