Bows are broken. The ways in which they are broken also includes crossbows, though crossbows tend not to be as abusive given their slower rate of fire. I guess when we break it down, slings are also broken in this way, but who really uses slings anyway?
These ranged weapons offer advantages that you don’t get with any other weapon.
Here’s what I mean.
Why’s A Bow So Good?
The reason bows are broken is how they work with magical enhancements.
As you know, when you fire an arrow with a bow, any enchantment that’s on the bow is conferred to the ammo. That alone isn’t a problem. It’s the only intelligent thing to do since you don’t deal damage with the bow, you deal damage with the ammo. If this wasn’t the case, there’d never be magical bows, only magical ammo.
So What’s Broken About That?
First, the good news – the enhancement bonuses don’t stack. The highest one is used.
What does stack are any weapon abilities that don’t exist on the other. So if the bow is a +1 flaming bow and the arrow is a +1 shocking, giant bane arrow, you ultimately fire a +1 flaming, shocking, giant bane arrow.
It’s this versatility that the bow has that no other weapon has in the game.
I Still Don’t See The Problem
The main problem is that when you enchant ammo, you enchant 50 for the same cost as enchanting one magical weapon. If you’re purchasing ammo instead of making it yourself, there’s nothing that really says you need to buy 50 at a time.
On top of that, you have the option to use vastly different types of ammo with each attack you make in a round. This is the equivalent of having countless melee weapons (more than you could ever carry) sheathed on you and you make free draw and sheathing actions to switch out between each attack you make, as appropriate.
With a small investment, you can find yourself with a virtual solution to most problems in your quiver. You don’t get that sort of versatility with melee weapons.
And don’t forget – all of this can be done safely from a distance and from cover.
It Can Get Worse
When you get people that delve into the Order of the Bow Initiate or Darkwood Stalker prestige classes (both from Complete Warrior), they get exponentially more dangerous. At this point, the ability to have a swiss army weapon that can always be perfect for every situation really shines.
What’s A Swordsman To Do?
I gave some thought to designing a charge-based type of wondrous item that could grant additive abilities to a melee weapon. Such a device would likely slide over the hilt, come in the form of a wrap for the hilt or even fit into the hilt of a partial-tang weapon. The important thing would be to make sure that it was priced similar to, but slightly higher than, an arrow of similar power.
However, when I considered this further, I realized that this would start to cut into some of the greatness of the Artificer class (from the Eberron campaign setting).
It’s important when designing new items or abilities that you make sure you don’t step on the toes of other classes and effectively neuter them. While this is merely one type of infusion that Artificers have, it’s probably best to leave it alone.
Sorry melee fighters, the bow’s got one up on you for flexibility. Luckily you have a bunch of cool feats and prestige classes to take advantage of. On top of that, you have a host of new abilities from Tome of Battle – The Book of Nine Swords. (If you haven’t looked at Tome of Battle, definitely check it out!)