SonOfFeanor
Villager
I’ve been going through my 1e and 2e books lately, trying to get a better understanding of certain things. I expect I’ll have several questions. Here’s a big one for me. Would anyone be able to tell me how strength and dexterity modifiers (“to hit” and damage) affect missile weapons by-the-book in 2e? If you care to read them, I gathered a bunch of pertinent quotes to save you the trouble of looking for any yourselves. They are from the 2e PHB (1995 black cover version) unless otherwise noted. Apologies for the length. Many thanks for any replies!
——— Dexterity ———
- p. 20 - “Missile attack adjustment is used to modify a character’s die roll whenever he uses a missile weapon.”
- Player’s Option Combat and Tactics p. 146 - “Characters may use their reaction adjustment for high Dexterity when throwing or firing any kind of missile weapon.”
- p. 132 - “Dexterity modifiers to the attack roll are applied when making a missile attack with a hand-held weapon. Thus, a character adds his Dexterity modifier when using a bow, crossbow, or axe but not when firing a trebuchet or other siege engine.”
——— Strength ———
- p. 20 - “The [Strength] damage adjustment also applies to missile weapons, although bows must be specially made to gain the bonus; crossbows never benefit from the user’s Strength.”
- Player’s Option Combat and Tactics p. 146 - “[Characters] do not use their Strength bonuses unless the weapon is thrown…Firearms, bows, slings, and crossbows are not normally affected by a character’s Strength.”
- p. 131 - “Attack roll and damage modifiers for Strength are always used when an attack is made with a hurled weapon. Here the power of the character's arm is a significant factor in the effectiveness of the attack.”
- p. 96 - “Characters with low Strengths suffer their usual penalties when using a bow (they are forced to use weaker bows or simply cannot draw back as far). The pull of a bow seldom prevents a character from using the weapon, only from gaining the full effect.”
——— Dexterity ———
- p. 20 - “Missile attack adjustment is used to modify a character’s die roll whenever he uses a missile weapon.”
- Player’s Option Combat and Tactics p. 146 - “Characters may use their reaction adjustment for high Dexterity when throwing or firing any kind of missile weapon.”
- p. 132 - “Dexterity modifiers to the attack roll are applied when making a missile attack with a hand-held weapon. Thus, a character adds his Dexterity modifier when using a bow, crossbow, or axe but not when firing a trebuchet or other siege engine.”
>> What is a “hand-held” weapon? Is it just anything other than a large trebuchet-type weapon? Axes can be hurled, so wouldn’t you use the Str. bonus to hit (as per the rules below)?
——— Strength ———
- p. 20 - “The [Strength] damage adjustment also applies to missile weapons, although bows must be specially made to gain the bonus; crossbows never benefit from the user’s Strength.”
>> The Str. bonus applies to damage for all hand-held missile weapons except crossbows and non heavy-pull bows?
- Player’s Option Combat and Tactics p. 146 - “[Characters] do not use their Strength bonuses unless the weapon is thrown…Firearms, bows, slings, and crossbows are not normally affected by a character’s Strength.”
- p. 131 - “Attack roll and damage modifiers for Strength are always used when an attack is made with a hurled weapon. Here the power of the character's arm is a significant factor in the effectiveness of the attack.”
>> So the Str. bonuses are only for hurled weapons then? Do you use the Str. or Dex. modifier to hit? Above it says to use the Dex bonus to hit.
- p. 96 - “Characters with low Strengths suffer their usual penalties when using a bow (they are forced to use weaker bows or simply cannot draw back as far). The pull of a bow seldom prevents a character from using the weapon, only from gaining the full effect.”
>> Is this penalty to hit, to damage, or both? If it’s to hit, what happens if you have a low Str. but a high Dex.?