Heavy Crossbow

Heavy Crossbow
Basic Info
Cultures:
Weight:	10 lbs
Trade Value:	400
Flammable:	No
Combat Information
Skill Required:	Crossbow
Blunt Damage:	N/A
Edge Damage:	N/A
Point Damage:	9
Attack Bonus:	None
Defense Bonus:	None

The heavy crossbow is a stronger variant of the regular crossbow. While its shots are very powerful, it takes twice as long to reload than a normal crossbow. Reloading it takes 1 minute. Like the crossbow, its chief advantage is that it can be carried loaded and ready to fire at a moment's notice, wasting no time drawing back the string like with a normal bow. It's especially well-suited to hunting large, fast game, against which a single shot is generally all that is possible before the animal is too far away to shoot. They're less useful against human opponents, especially multiple adversaries, than an ordinary bow, as the long reload time will all but ensure only a single shot is possible before the enemy moves to engage in close combat, but a successful shot at the onset of combat will almost certainly inflict terrible damage.

Heavy crossbows can be carried by Foreign Traders, and can also be rarely found in Driikiläiset villages.

URW Game Encyclopedia description

The official URW in-game encyclopedia (accessed by the F1 key) describes the heavy crossbow thus:

A crossbow with a heavier bow strengthened by bone or metal.