Ranged weapons vary more significantly than melee weapons, but are less numerous. Between sub-categories, weapons are primarily differentiated by their attack/reload speed and raw damage. Firearms are very slow to reload, but do great damage. On the other end of the spectrum, implements are quite fast, but not very damaging. Bows and crossbows represent the “middle ground” of common ranged weapons, with the former being relatively fast and powerful and the latter being slower, but even harder-hitting.
Firearms
Compared to other ranged weapons, firearms have the poorest accuracy, but do the most damage by far. They are, however, the least flexible of the ranged weapons, inflicting only Pierce damage.
Arquebuses do the most damage per shot of the firearms and have the lowest accuracy penalty, but are the slowest to reload. Pistols do less damage than arquebuses and have a higher accuracy penalty, but reload faster. Blunderbusses reload as fast as pistols and are quite inaccurate, but they fire eight projectiles that each do a small amount of damage. If the target does not have much armor and has low Deflection, or if it’s from a Sneak Attack, blunderbusses are the most devastating
Pistol - One-handed matchlock pistol.
- Bonus: Fast reload
Arquebus - Two-handed matchlock smoothbore longarm.
- Bonus: High damage
Blunderbuss - One-handed matchlock shotgun-style weapon.
- Bonus: Fast reload, multiple projectiles
Bows
Bows are the fastest projectile weapons to use. These weapons always have Best of Pierce/Slash as a property, but lack any Crush capability.
Hunting Bow - Simple bow used by commoners for hunting deer.
- Bonus: Fast attack speed
War Bow - Large, heavy-pull military-style longbow.
- Bonus: High damage
Crossbows
Crossbows are slower to reload/fire than hunting bows or war bows, but they do more damage. The more powerful Arbalests can’t be cocked by hand and need to be planted and cranked, and thus are slower to reload than crossbows, but still faster than Firearms. Like bows, crossbows always have Best of Pierce/Slash as a property, but lack any Crush capability.
Arbalest - Large, heavy-pull crossbow with a cranequin and stirrup for cocking.
Crossbow - Mid-sized crossbow with “ordinary” cocking (no crank or stirrup).
Implements
Implements are ranged, magical missile weapons that are quite fast and accurate, but not very powerful with a low interrupt value. Despite their versatility, they do the least damage of any ranged weapons. Wizards gain a bonus via their Blast ability when using Magical Implements.
Wand - Tapers to a point.
- Bonus: Best of Pierce/Crush
Rod - Larger than other implements, held in the middle, cylindrical.
- Bonus: Best of Pierce/Slash
Sceptre -Ends in a promiment “head” (sphere, skull, gem, crown, etc.).
- Bonus: Best of Slash/Crush Sceptre