PowerBowPower

Long Powerbow, cannon Exalted as a 3 dot artifact:

Acc +1, Damage +3, Rate 2, Range 350, min strength 4, commitment 7

I am going step by step using the Savant & Sorcerer rules, and contributions from ArtifactCreationErrata

the bow, starting with an exceptional lon bow with the following stats:

acc +1, max strength 4, rate 4, range 250 (using the exceptional boost for rate and range), resources 3

artifact stage:

power: give it power of 3 dots for a true 3 dot power [(3 res + 3 power)/2 = 3]

       this gives me +8 to damage to play with using the following rules
                1 dam = 2 acc
                2 dam = 1 rate
                1 dam = 50 yds range
                1 dam = 1 mote commitment
      so to start I reduce the commitment cost to 7 reducing my damage to +5
      trade 1 dam for +2 acc
      trade 1 dam for +50 yds range

usefulness: 3 dots game impact: 2 dots script immunity: 3 dots

for an average of 2.75, so it is a 3 dot artifact 

Drawbacks: notoriety 3 dots

now my bow looks like:

acc +3, damage +3, rate 4, range 300 yds, commitment 7, min strength 4

now for the assumption and the question that goes with it:

 I am assuming that the max strength penalty of the bow is an even trade for the min strength requirement of the powerbow
 Is this a fair assumption?  If not, how do I handle that transition? 

here is the big question: is this reasonable? it is far more powerful than the canon powerbow, or should the long powerbow be a 2 dot artifact?

Building a bow as a 2 dot artifact , starting with a standard long bow (2 dot resource)

bow number 1: accuracy +1, damage +3, rate 3, range 250, commitment 5

  other than the range I still get a better bow, personally I would rather have the rate than the range.

bow number 2: accuracy +1, damage +3, rate 2, range 350, commitment 5

  hey, a long powerbow, with a cheaper commitment!

OK, these are both actually 2.5 dots, (usefulness: 3 dots, game impact: 2 dots, script immunity: 3 dots), but the rules do not specify wether we round off or round up but we can easily buy an extra point of drawback (noteriety 3 would be my choice), or go for script immunity of 2 making it a natural 2.

Comments

I like it (upon first glance) and I think it is reasonable. But I do feel it is far more powerful than an ordinary (core book) Long Powerbow, simply through it's Rate!!! Add Jade bonus and it goes to 5!!! Still, I like it, and wish my Archer PC had a bow that was more than Rate 2 (SOOOO SLOOOW) vs melee stuff! - Nikink

Yeah, you see my problem, what is the correct resolution, drop the conon powerbow artifact ratings by 1, or add a rate limitation, or what? with the creation rules I would never use a canon powerbow. Here is the fun part, if you keep the commitment at 10 and spread the +3 damage around you can have a rate 5 +5 accuracy bow! Fugmulch

Well, work it out as a 2 dot and see what numbers you crunch... let's do a comparison! B-) Have Fun... Nikink who does not have any books with him at the mo'

OK, as a 2 dot excercise, see above Fugmulch

Well... I would say that pretty much illustrates that the Long Powerbow should be level 2 (with cheaper commitment)! Can you make a Short Powerbow a level 1? Hmm, and actually, doesn't it say in the S&S artifact creation guidelines that you round the numbers mathematically? Which would mean that 2.5 -> 3 and that a standard long powerbow is the weakest level three artifact possible (and overpriced essence-wise to boot!). Bugger, My Archer feels even more ripped off now! B-) Have Fun... Nikink

To be fair, have you evaluated the power box changing something else besides rate and range? Perhaps the numbers work poorly for bow creation when you bump these two attributes. It looks to me like the core rate of a power bow should be higher (3). If you make it 3, does it close the gap then? Solar_NPC

Well, if we start with a normal longbow we begin at acc+1, max str 4, rate 3 resources 2, range 200 then add 3 dot power for +8 damage and 10 commitment. Here is the assumption I have not heard back on: I am assuming that the max strength 4 is an even trade for the min strength +4 of the bow. Now we have +8 damage, trade 3 damage to reduce commitment to 7, we still have a bow with acc +1, damage +5, rate 3 and range 200. Trade another 2 damage for range and we are at +1, +3, 3 and 300, still better that a core long powerbow. But in my mind it doesn't make sense to stert with a regular bow. Trade down the rate and I can get +3, +3, 2, 350. Just because confusion is one of my natural states, doesn't mean I can't try to share the love.... Fugmulch