Talk:Crossbow, Repeating (5e Equipment)

A very good weapon. Might I recommend lowering to cost to something more in line with the Player's Handbook weapons? This weapon is balanced for low level characters. Oportet (talk) 16:26, 5 January 2017 (MST)

Thematically, it seems more akin to a simple ranged weapon. Simply raising and lowering a lever seems pretty simple enough. And given it's inexpensive materials, no need to for excessive physical prowess, and wide availability for the time and place, it doesn't seem like a soldier's weapon. I would also say, given it's wooden limbs (rather than steel) its damage output would be less than your typical hand-spanned (or goatsfoot lever) crossbow. PunnyDM12 (talk) 21:03, 20 November 2018 (MST)

According to wikipedia quotes:

The Zhuge Nu is a handy little weapon that even the Confucian scholar or palace women can use in self-defence... It fires weakly so you have to tip the darts with poison. Once the darts are tipped with "tiger-killing poison", you can shoot it at a horse or a man and as long as you draw blood, your adversary will die immediately. The draw-back to the weapon is its very limited range. — Gujin Tushu Jicheng

Fired from the hip, the bolts were fired in sequence from pumping the corking lever forward and backward, arming and releasing in a continuous cyclic process until the magazine was emptied. This rocking action did not allow for precise firing, nor the ability to sight along the barrel as in a crossbow or a modern gun. — Liang Jieming

I suggest these stats:

Weapon: Crossbow, repeating (simple ranged)

Cost: 90 gp (complicate mechanical build, and metal is always expensive)

Damage: 1d4 piercing (plus poison, for extra costs) (lighter Crossbow Bolts, 20 bolts, 1 gp, 1 lb.)

Weight: 3 lb. (compare www.mandarinmansion.com)

Properties: Ammunition (range 30/120), reload (10 shots), two-handed. As long as bolts are in the chamber you can use extra attacks by slam firing without reloading.

Note that the ammo chamber makes it impossible to properly aim for longer distances and the shaft is usually hold against the belly. This weapon is not proper for adventure, but can be found on noble residences as a self-defense arm (indoors) for the lady to protect her against the uprising peasants or burglars—or any stalking adventurer (sneaking into the palace). Might have some use in the Underdark or for dungeon delving.

Heavier versions exists as artillery, maybe only in the far east. Versions to fire bullets like a sling or multiple bolts are in use for armies—also in the far east. ShilohBJ (talk) 18:00, 13 February 2021 (MST)