Crossbows, firing rates and a new weapon Options

[crash2029]

First: What is the fire rate of a crossbow?

PROJECTILE WEAPONS
The ranged combat rules also apply to bows and throwing
weapons. Due to their nature, however, some special rules
also apply. Projectile and throwing weapons are detailed in the
Street Gear chapter. (p. 144 SR4)

PROJECTILE WEAPON TYPES
The Projectile Weapons Table (at right) lists some of the
projectile weapons available in the Shadowrun universe. Note that
bows are purchased with a specifi ed Minimum Strength rating
which may affect a character’s use of the bow (see Bows, p. 306). (p. 145 SR4)

Crossbows: Modern crossbows are equipped with automatic
reloading devices to allow for faster fi ring rates (reloading
doesn’t require a Ready Weapon action, unless you happen to
be using a museum piece). Crossbows also feature internal magazines
(m) holding up to 4 bolts. Available in Light, Medium,
and Heavy sizes. (page 306 SR4)

So...what is the fire rate for crossbows?

Second: The Automatic Crossbow

[ Spoiler ]

The Automatic Crossbow
DV: 5P | AP: 0 | Mode: SA/BF | RC: - | Ammo: 20(d) | Availability: 8R | Cost: 750 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

The Automatic crossbow includes a drum attached to the underside of the weapon. The drum contains both the crosssbow bolts and a compressed gas canister to drive a piston in the bolt, thus allowing it to reload itself. The gas canister contains enough propellant to fire approx. 60 rounds before needing replacement. The drum is capable of "hot-swapping" the gas canister.

Crossbow Drum 2R 15 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)
Gas Canister 0 20 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

[crash2029]

Hmm. I guess nobody likes crossbows. I guess that bows can do better damage, and when I go for non-firearm chars I usually use them. But my latest build is an adept infiltration specialist loosely based off of the Prince of Persia videogame character. For thematic reasons the character is rather meak (2 Str). As I wanted him to have non-firearm ranged capacity I wet for crossbows as his Str makes them more effective.

However when checking the crossbow rules I found a conundrum. Since x-bows don't need to simple action reload, (see previous), I wonder if that means they can fire in a semi-automatic capacity similar to pistols.

The Automatic Crossbow I created was inspired by "Van Helsing" and I statted it up in case regular crossbows are not semi-auto. That and because it was cool.

So... can you fire a normsl crossbow in a semi-auto fashion similar to a SA firearm?

[BullZeye]

I'd say it's SS, so you got always time to spend one simple action for aiming (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[MJBurrage]

Based on SR4 rules where present, and previous editions where SR4 has gaps, the most RAW summary for bows follows (note that the RAW fire rate for both types is much faster than possible IRL):

• Firing a pull bow or a crossbow uses the Fire Weapon simple action.
• Modern crossbows are apparently SA weapons. Refilling the 4-shot internal magazine follows the normal rules for such a task.
• Reloading a pull bow uses a single Ready Weapon simple action (must meet the STR Min).
• Reloading other (non-modern) crossbows can only be done in one Ready Weapon action if the user has the STR Min for the crossbow. I would use half the crossbow's DV (round up) as its STR Min for this purpose. ("If a character does not have the Strength Minimum for using a particular crossbow, they must spend one additional Ready Weapon action reloading the crossbow for each point of Strength they are below the minimum.", SR3, p. 118)

[Tarantula]

Based on SR4 rules where present, and previous editions where SR4 has gaps, the most RAW summary for bows follows (note that the RAW fire rate for both types is much faster than possible IRL):

• Firing a pull bow or a crossbow uses the Fire Weapon simple action.
• Modern crossbows are apparently SA weapons. Refilling the 4-shot internal magazine follows the normal rules for such a task.
• Reloading a pull bow uses a single Ready Weapon simple action (must meet the STR Min).
• Reloading other (non-modern) crossbows can only be done in one Ready Weapon action if the user has the STR Min for the crossbow. I would use half the crossbow's DV (round up) as its STR Min for this purpose. ("If a character does not have the Strength Minimum for using a particular crossbow, they must spend one additional Ready Weapon action reloading the crossbow for each point of Strength they are below the minimum.", SR3, p. 118)

QFT, You nailed it.

[crash2029]

Thanks!