Lost Souls & Midian

Hammerhead
Attack: up to +3 against armour
Damage type: Stabbing
Damage: 1D10 + bow, partially ignores damage reduction
Features: Partially Ignores Armour, Flexion, retractable blades
Size: 3 feet long; two pounds
Cost: 20 guilder each
This is an armour piercing broadhead with an impact-enhancing piston. As the tip strikes the target, the heavy internal piston forces the three 4-inch wide blades apart--causing additional trauma--and acts as a secondary impact force. The tips of the blades sweep back into points, giving this arrowhead its name & making backwards removal impossible. The hammerhead tip causes 1D10 points of damage and ignores the first three points of armour (both fortitude armour class & damage reduction) but the heavier tip reduces the range increment by 30 feet. As a technomantic magic item, it is rather rare & may be hard to find.

Arrows of Wounding
Attack: -2
Damage type: Stabbing
Damage: 1D8+4 + bow
Features: Jagged (already factored)
Special: causes wounds
Size: 3 feet long; less than one pound
Cost: 10 guilder each
These nasty broadhead arrows have serrated notches cut into the blade edges. These tear through flesh as the arrow penetrates, causing additional trauma. In addition, there are separator plates that cause a diamond-shaped wound chanel that prevents natural clotting of the injury site. Special holes & groves are carved out of the arrowhead leading to a post-insert section at the base. This allows the blood to flow freely, even if the arrow is still embedded in the target's flesh. Without medical attention to staunch the bleeding the victim will eventually bleed out. As long as the arrow of wounding causes at least one point of damage a wound is inflicted. The target will then lose one hit point at the end of every round, and eventually will lose all life points as well. Causing ten points of damage with this weapon means the bleeding is intensified, effectively causing a second wound.

Steel-Bite Arrows
Attack -1
Damage type: Stabbing
Damage: 1D6 + bow
Features: Damages Armour, Ignore Armour, Shieldbreaker
Size: 3 feet long; one pound
Cost: 10 guilder each
While this arrow doesn't have impressive penetration ability, it chews up armour. As the concave tip contacts a solid surface it depresses the triple levers inside. These cause the expandable blades to extend... in reverse, towards the fletching. The blades are shaped similarly to a can-opener, which is precisely what the steel-bite does to the target's armour. Fortitude armour class does not protect against this attack, but reflex armour class bonuses and damage reduction/resistance still apply. Note that the armour still protects the wearer, at least for this initial shot, but the armour itself is damaged. Targeted armour has its armour class and damage reduction reduced by 1D4 points each. This carves gaping holes in the armour, reduces its general integrity, and often leaves the arrow snagged.

Sidewinder Arrows
Attack +4
Damage type: Hacking
Damage: 1D8+3 + bow
Features: Balanced, Flexion, Light x2, Slick
Special: Adds 30 feet to each range increment
Size: 3 feet long; less than one ounce
Cost: 20 guilder each
The sidewinder is an advanced technomantic arrow. Its shaft is composed of either high grade aluminum or carbon graphite. As normal bird feathers cannot withstand the flight of the sidewinder, the fletching is likewise an unusual petrochemical substance of technomantic origin. The strangest feature is the head. Six thin metal ribbons bend back from near the cutting tip to the base of the arrowhead. Both edges of these flat wires are razor sharp. Rather than having the edges face outward--as with most blades on arrows--these ribbons' edges face one another, cutting as the arrow spins. In flight the sidewinder spins very rapidly, far more than most arrows. This results in a straight and true flight path, greatly improving accuracy. Though a larger part of the bow's force is imparted into this spin, the arrow flies just as far as any other thanks to its light weight and perfect balance. Upon contacting a target, the spinning ribbons cut through flesh, shredding it completely. Even contact with a hard surface--such as bone--doesn't impede the sidewinder as these wires simply flex and slide out of the way, only to spring back afterwards to continue their destruction of the victim's tissues. The wound channel is nasty, leaving little chunks of hamburger where once there was whole and hearty flesh. This is an especially gruesome arrow to use whenever there's a salsa bowl at the gaming table.

Bolt with Your Name on It: For when you want your foe--or at least his heirs--to know you had it out for him, use this bolt. It has a triangular cross-section--at least in part, just before the fletching--that has been painted with a light whitewash over a thick, deep-penetrating, dark wood-stain. This allows the target's name to be easily scratched into the surface, right before you plug him with it.

Flailing Bolt: The Flailing Bolt was intended to be more a form of humiliation than a truly deadly weapon. It is still dangerous however, and should be used as a toy neither by children nor consenting adults. Thin leather straps or thongs are attached to a tightly wound spring near the tip. A small cord constrains the whipping thongs at the back of the bolt. The tail of this cord is either held by the forward hand of the archer, or tied to some part of the bow. This unbinds the whips when fired. The tip itself consists of six quarter-inch long points that curve outward in a hexagonal pattern. The Flailing Bolt is designed to hit & stick right at the top layers of skin, or clothing or light armour, rather than penetrate to cause real harm. The multitude of leather whips snap forward an instant after contact and spin rapidly now that the spring has been released. The target is thrashed, if not soundly, then hopefully in a publicly embarrassing manner. Hardened leather or any shield is proof against the physical threat of the Flailing Bolt--the target will at most feel the initial thud of impact. However for added humiliation, either of these types of protective wear will resound with a flatulent noise when so struck. Reloading the bolt is a simple matter of prying it loose and spinning the bolt while holding tight to the leather whips, thus rewinding the spring. When the spring is fully rewound, the leather straps themselves are wound about the shaft, and then rebound with the cord.

Message in a Bolt-Hole: This is a much flashier way of sending a missive by missile than simply tightly rolling a scroll around a bolt or arrow. The message is held in a protective case, that freely spins about the shaft. The message itself may be written on the enclosed paper or parchment, of thick enough stock so that ink will not bleed through to the other side. This three-foot wide by five-foot long scroll is attached on the top to the bolt, and a weight on the bottom to unfurl it when it connects with its target. The arrowhead is a four-way screw-like tip designed to bite and hold onto wood, but doesn't feel too good when buried into flesh. The message case acts as a stopper to prevent the bolt from sinking too far into the targeted wall or tree. Before firing, the archer must light a fuse at the center of the bolt. This acts as a timing mechanism. After the bolt hits its target--and the fuse burns down shortly thereafter--the message itself is opened with a loud bang and flash of light. The scroll unfurls and hangs open while coloured smoke and sparks emerge from the base of the bolt for a few moments accompanied by a loud shrill whistle. The Message in a Bolt-Hole is a one-shot item.

Bolts of Anguish: electric shock (alchemic); like a tv capacitor, (re)charged by the crafting alchemist

Bolts of Seeking: glorified whistling chasers, but each effectively has the trait Strange Luck, giving it two retests against anyone who runs away, and two retests against targets that try to zig-zag to avoid it, which can stack up to four total; using the evasion/multiple-dodge manoeuvre against these bolts counts at least as a zig-zag dodge; When fired, the Bolts of Seeking scream loudly whip back and forth in the air towards their target. This makes aiming them almost impossible: -10 to attack, or the straight roll of the die, whichever is better. These bolts also emit a contrail of smoke and explode shortly after being fired. damage?

Tracer Bolts: Sometimes just one crossbow bolt isn't enough. Sometimes you just know that you are going to have to do your damnedest to make your target look like a porcupine. Tracer Bolts can help with this. To fire one, hold or tie the activation cord to the crossbow; this is what will ignite the phosphorous contained in the rear of the bolt after launch. This is not a sudden flare-up, but a rapid increase in brightness as the bolt flies downrange--this does not illuminate the archer and gives only a general area as to her position. Shortly after it begins its flight, the bolt burns its way through the night air, leaving a visual trail on the retinas of any witnesses. This makes it easier for other archers or immediate follow-up shots to strike the target, or to correct the shot if the first tracer misses. By the time the bolt strikes it glows brightly--certainly not enough to read by, but enough to easily send more missiles towards the target. In other words, the Tracer Bolt makes it easier to hit your foe with subsequent shots whether it hits or misses. The tip is jagged and barbed, so that it stays attached to the target. The phosphor is fairly well contained within the metal housing of the shaft, but will eventually get hot enough to catch something on fire that touches it, and will almost certainly spread flame to anything in contact with the red glowing tail.