Items · Ranged Weapons · Cursed
Skeleton Bow
An unstrung and useless piece of cold wood, unless you happen to be dead.
Skeletons move without muscle or sinew. Zombies eat without hunger. Is it so strange that the dead can use a bow with no string?
Skeleton Bows are weapons that have been crafted by either necromancers or the hands of the dead themselves for their own use. The bow uses much the same animation magic as a skeleton does, replacing the sinew bowstring with necromantic energy. Any undead or necromantic inclined magic user can use the bow with no penalty. Greater undead, war aspected necromancers and those versed in the use of dead magic items can use the weapon with greater efficiency.
Our archers are greater than theirs, their arms do not tire, their strings do not snap, and shooting them full of arrows only replenishes their supply of arrows.
Skeleton Bows are made out specific types of wood, such as trees harvested from graveyards or mass graves, or the strange trees that grow in the underworlds and hells. A magic user can take this wood, after it is carved and shaped into a proper bow, and use a variant of the Animate Dead spell on it. This requires a gem of moderate quality to hold the enchantment, which is the weak point of the weapon. Smashing the gem destroys the bow.
Greater Skeleton Bows
These rare bows were made by greater undead, with more care to their construction, and attention to the materials used. Black diamonds, xerle or adamas, and demon jade stones are used, creating masterwork weapons capable of harming celestial beings and the immortal.
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A new original thing. 5/5
This is handy to have for any army of the undead. I wonder what qualities are to be considered in the strength of the bow. With no string, what's the tension on the bow (or does it not matter, since the dead do not tire)? What range do ethereal arrows have?
Read the title and would have bet money the bows were crafted of Skeleton spinal columns. I stand corrected! Nice amount of detail with few words~
I'm really impressed with this concept. I never would have thought that you could take something so simple (a bow) and turn it into something that could cause even an experienced adventurer to second-guess himself the next time he runs into a group of simple level 1 skeletons, or even a type of graveknight that specializes in ranged combat, perhaps? I applaud the creativity and the ability to get the idea of such an unorthodox weapon into so few words. I look forward to potentially implementing this type of weapon in a future game.
I like it! And with the idea that it has about as much magic in it as an animated zombie or skeleton means it could potentially act autonomously if it had dead simple orders and a supply of arrows. Might need to prop it up though :)
Love the old school game logic in this one. Very nice!
'Our archers are greater than theirs, their arms do not tire, their strings do not snap, and shooting them full of arrows only replenishes their supply of arrows.'