Crossbow

Crude

Poor

Common

Fine

Masterwork

A crossbow, wound back with a crank: slow, true and hard.

Worn	Back
Weight	4 kg, whatever its tier
Sold by	The weaponsmith
Price	crude 9 silver, poor 30 silver, common 60 silver, fine 1 gold 80 silver, masterwork 6 gold
Damage	1.5 of a longbow’s
Range	44 m
Between shots	4.5 s

Use

It shoots from the bolt case at its man’s hip: no bolt case, no shots. Its bolt punches mail: mail and plate stop only 55% of what they would. It shoots truer than a bow but must be wound between shots, and not from the saddle. Town militias shoot crossbows. Traders keep half as many as of other weapons. A man with any bow, crossbow or javelins is ranged, or ranged cavalry in the saddle.

Made from

A common piece takes 3 kg of timber, 2 kg of iron. A crude one takes 0.6 of that, a poor one three quarters, a fine one half again and a masterwork twice. Traders buy what they lack from the town’s market, so a town with no iron soon has none to sell.