Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dark
After some thought, I'd go ahead and just use the equivalent of Small Arms Pen 2 for trebuchets. The projectile's not incredibly fast, but it's heavy and dropping from the sky in a parabolic arc like a mortar shell.
I'm also tempted to allow shorter ranges (though that can be done by lightening the counterweight), since I've seen notes about adjusting the length of the sling that holds the projectile to change the arc and thus the range.
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You can adjust range by adjusting the height at which you release the sling.
I have seen (pictures of trebuchets) with marks on the supports for the sling arm - lowest = max range, other marks for less range. You adjust the length of the rope used to pull the sling arm down until it matches the angle for the desired range.
These are, of course, crude increments, as trebs are fairly inaccurate weapons compared to cannon from 1600 on - the tossed load is inconsistent in shape and weight, and each trebuchet will be a bit different even if produced in a consistent pattern - material used, age, current weather, and measurements used.
But for T2K or TNE, you can handle that by raising the difficulty of a shot based on the target size.
"Hit the east wall of town or something behind it" may not be difficult once the range is determined may not be too difficult.
"Hit the VW bug parked outside the town gate" may take a long while...
Uncle Ted