Skipper the archer (Patreon)

Patron reward for ColdSilverD this is final party member of the 5th edition D&D game he's participating in. This is Skipper who's rogue who apparently wears a Wonderbolt uniform normally. I'm not in the game so I don't know the exact dynamics of the group or setting.

      Talking with the player I was informed that Skipper's primary weapon was a bow. This created some interesting design challenges since the character has no hands to manipulate the bow or the arrows.

      Now to make this work requires a certain amount of acceptance of how ponies operate. Especially in the Gen 4 and 5 universe. They appear to possess what has been referred to by the fandom as Gecko Hooves and the apparent uncanny ability to balance objects on their bodies.

      However even allowing for this I was presented with some challenges concerning how a pony could handle a bow. Yes during the Equestria Games they showed archery Link, but that was ponies firing from a static position. I wanted a system that would permit dynamic movement and firing. Either in the air or on the ground.

      So I started brainstorming and researching my options. Since I needed the pony to be able to fly and move on all four I would need a bow that the pony could effectively holster their bow when it was not in use. This immediately disqualified the classic longbow. Also I wanted adequate draw length for the bow but needed to keep the length of the arrows in minds.

      With this in mind I went with a recurve composite bow. These bows were used throughout the Middle East and Asia into the 19th century, and as much as I like the classic English Longbow the recurve composite bow was a superior and tactically more flexible weapon in many cases.

     Also there is a tradition in these cultures of firing arrows shorter than normal or darts by the use of instrument called a Siper or device called Nawak or Majra. This would keep the arrows down to a more manageable length.

    Also these cultures normally employed a thumb ring release which required no fingers to draw and release the bow Link.

    For the matter of holding the bow I looked into archery that allowed individuals who either had sustained amputation of their bow hand or had some birth defect that had left the bow hand incapable in grasping the bow. In this case came up with a system similar to the toy the Chinese Finger Trap. combine with a front hoof strap/guard.

     In the end I came up with a piece of Type 2 tech that looked good. The client liked it, and might even survive a preliminary bout of Fridge Logic.