Extra turn for loading crossbow

[el_flesh]

Baloney. Unless it's a huge frikkin Gastraphetes, the crossbow should be entirely useable adjacent. And why wouldn't it be 3 AD dmg? Those bolts were strong enough to penetrate regular armor. That's why they didn't stick to longbows.
The disadvantage is it takes some penalty to reload. Have you ever tried to pull back one of those suckers? For me I would either make it 6 action to reload or else 'reload instead of move'. That ought to solve any balance issues right there.

[Goblin-King]

The other stuff was just an attempt to explain the logic.
My main argument was "balance issues"...

Same goes for the damage. If you make the game 100% abstract. Ignore all real world logic. No characters, pictures or names.
This is how it goes:

Attack A: Can only hit adjacent targets with 3 dice.
Attack B: Can not hit adjacent targets, but otherwise all visible targets with 3 dice.

No need to make a decision. Attack B is obviously better because it's ranged.
I prefer two attacks to be different, but equally good. Because, why choose the lesser?

*****

But to address the actual question in the OP...
It's not good in my opinion when the players have to "remember" stuff. The spells work great because they are cards that gets discarded as they are used.
But here goes... Maybe make a coin with LOADED/NOT LOADED (or something similar) on each side.
Once the crossbow has been shot, flip the coin to "not loaded". And then the player may only flip it back once he uses a turn.

Problem is that sooner or later the player will forget to flip the coin when he shoots.

Uhmm... did I reload or just forget to flip...?

[drathe]

I'd say, if you forgot to flip the coin, you obviously forgot to reload the crossbow. The heat of battle can distract you that way.

[Goblin-King]

I'd say, if you forgot to flip the coin, you obviously forgot to reload the crossbow. The heat of battle can distract you that way.

That's the easy part... But how about when you forget to "fire" the crossbow?

[Daedalus]

That's why my first Crossbow entry in this thread didn't include a reload description--I figured it was simpler to just restrict movement while firing. The original rules didn't bother with the loaded or unloaded condition for simplicity, but if an evil sorcerer wants that option, go with the second Crossbow description. A card or disc with the "loaded" and "unloaded" descriptors is a logical extension of this detailing, but that requires an extra step of record keeping that may be forgotten (as Goblin-King pointed out). There is no penalty for forgetting to flip, as the token/card is already set as loaded. Maybe the token or card should be flipped to unloaded before a Crossbow could be fired. The evil sorcerer would have to keep an eye on this.

A looser game could just require a Hero to anounce the reload and forfeit movement for a turn. Afterwards the evil sorcerer and Hero would remember the status. If the loaded condition wasn't recalled by the evil sorcerer, the Crossbow couldn't be shot until it was reloaded.

It sounds like reloading would require a special action, since the Hero's hands aren't free to attack with another weapon, search, or cast a spell. I imagine this is another reason why reloading isn't included in the published rules--it would have required another whole action for just 1 weapon.

This is a seperate balance idea, but I think that Crossbow bolts should be purchased, sorta like Daggers. A quarrel of 10 bolts could be priced at 100 gold coins. Now there's more reason to have a Longsword--it doesn't require upkeep.

[torilen]

I kind of agree with not having to buy crossbow bolts - just like arrows with bows.
While I would like the reality of buying these things, it is yet one more thing to keep track of, and
it negates the usefulness of those weapons a bit.

You need to buy daggers over and over, if you throw them, but they can be used on adjacent targets.
Crossbows and bows are range only, and can't be used against adjacent targets. Make a requirement
that you have to buy ammo for these, and the usefulness drops a LOT.

[Ethica]

I agree with Torilen. I would like to have heros buy crossbow ammo, but it would be quite hasslehoff.

I like the token flipping idea, it's another thing to remember about, but it does seem the most practical way. Possibly the DM keeps tokens for each hero who has a crossbow and the heroes have to remember. Then when a hero goes to use their crossbow you can say "unfortunately you neglected to load your crossbow".

[Sjeng]

I'd say, if you forgot to flip the coin, you obviously forgot to reload the crossbow. The heat of battle can distract you that way.

That gives me an idea. Why can't heroes collect their daggers and bolts from the fallen enemies?
If an enemy is attacked with a dagger or crossbow, have the hero flip a coin. Heads = the dagger/bolt is still there to pick up after the monster dies, Tails = the dagger or bolt is lost in some crack in the floor/wall/whatever or simply broken in case of a bolt.
Alternatively, you could say if an attack with a dagger or bolt is succesfull, it is sticking in the monsters body, and can be recollected. If it misses, it's lost.

[el_flesh]

If it misses, it gets damaged/bent irreparably on the floor/walls...

[cynthialee]

If it misses, it gets damaged/bent irreparably on the floor/walls...

If it hits bone it will also be rendered usesless.

If you are counting arrows/bolts in a more advanced game then rolling the dice to see if the bolt is recoverable is a good idea.
Say roll 1 D6 and if it rolls a 1 or a 2 the bolt is not recoverable.