Affordable Bludgeoning Damage Rounds

[Egon the Monkey]

I find it rather odd that although there's a rather common +AB vs Undead crossbow, there's no way to actually load it with something that'll hurt Nightrisers effectively. Sure, you could swap to a sling, but that's just cut your damage in half compared to a crossbow or longbow, so it's no different to firing a weapon they are 50% immune to. Yes there are Holy Water Bullets but if you have a stash, you tend to save them for the big stuff.

I think that the Bonecrusher Arrows with +1d6 Bludgeon vs undead would be better off if they were reduced to +1d4 Bludgeon vs undead and were considerably cheaper, say 10gp for a stack of 99 (still 10 times the price of basic rounds). Maybe even add a small penalty to the ammo. Add in equivalent crossbow bolts and you might see some dedicated zombie shooting going on.

For example:
Bonecrusher Bolts
These heavy, lead-tipped crossbow bolts are made to shatter the dry bones of the walking dead. A crossbow loaded with these is however rather clumsy to operate.
+1d4 Bludgeoning Vs Undead
Extra Damage Type: Bludgeoning
Reduced Saving Throws Reflex -1

[Daemonic Daz]

Not that I'm for shooting ideas down on the get go. But some weapons are meant to be considerably weaker than others when fighting undead, just like some class's are weaker when fighting them.

[Egon the Monkey]

True, but a fighter can pull out a light/heavy flail, and a finesser can pull out a mace. They don't lose any damage, but have to deal with the extra weight. Using a Jergali Arbalet for example both costs you in weight and only deals with half the problem.

Add to that the fact that skeletons are the joint most common foe on the server, invading the Ziggurat regularly and its another reason not to bother playing a ranged build. Since shooting is considerably weaker against *everything*, giving them a backup weapon for undead fighting wouldn't be OP. In fact, possibly the solution is cheap bullets and bolts, not arrows. Then a +1 vs undead crossbow is viable, or a sling, but not a bow still.

[Semli]

It has been acknowledged previously that archer builds are just going to have problems, especially given the fact no one wants to be bothered to try and magic weapon work on ranged weapons. I actually like EFUA more than EFU for the simple fact that you can find ranged weapons with +1 vs. things you fight on them.

VP made an archer build work pretty well though and had a good run, which while impressive in and of itself, is likely going to be as a further excuse not to be bothered with any changes. If you're in a good timezone for DM activity you can try to rock out irregardless and obtain a bow that does elemental damage so you'll at least be halfway useful in such situations, but until then, you're likely just going to suck in such situations.

Hope that helps.