Item: Wintershot
This +2 greater striking frost composite shortbow belonged to a legendary scout, Jelarial, who found herself in command of a company of elves fleeing Mierani north into the Crown of the World to escape the doom of Earthfall thousands of years ago. Wintershot resurfaced during the war to reclaim Kyonin from Tanglebriar several thousand years later, wielded by a succession of mysterious snipers whose movements through the woodland confounded the demons, so much so that it gave rise to rumors that Jelarial's ghost had returned to the south to aid her kin in a time of need.
When making a Strike with Wintershot, targets do not gain Concealment from the effects of mist or precipitation, and circumstance penalties to attacks of up to –2 imparted from strong winds are negated.
Activate—Auroral Shine 1 (cold, concentrate, light, primal)
Frequency once per 10 minutes
Effect Fire an arrow at a target. If you hit, instead of dealing damage with the arrow, the creature struck must attempt a DC 34 Fortitude save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is surrounded by shimmering lights akin to an aurora, causing it to become Dazzled for 2 rounds. If the creature was Invisible, it becomes Concealed instead. If the creature was already concealed for any other reason, it is no longer concealed.
Failure As success, but the creature also takes 2d6 persistent,cold damage, and the light affects the creature for 1 minute.
Critical Failure As success, but the creature also takes 4d6 persistent,cold damage, and the light affects the creature for 10 minutes.
Activate—Signal Flare 1 (light, manipulate, primal)
Frequency once per day
Effect You pull back Wintershot's string and fire an arrow straight upward. The arrow soars to a height of 500 feet, or until it strikes a solid surface like a ceiling. When it reaches its apex, it explodes in a brilliant burst, creating a 100-foot radius area of bright light and dim light in the next 100 feet. In the night sky, this beacon can be seen clearly for miles. The beacon remains lit for up to 1 minute in a color of your choice. Alternately, you can fire a Signal Flare like a normal arrow to attempt to strike a Target—if it hits, the arrow inflicts normal damage and attempts to counteract one darkness effect of your choice that affects the area you hit with a counteract rank of 7th and a counteract modifier of +26.
Trait Effects
Deadly: On a critical hit, the weapon adds a weapon damage die of the listed size. Roll this after doubling the weapon’s damage. This increases to two dice if the weapon has a _greater striking rune_ and three dice if the weapon has a _major striking rune_. For instance, a rapier with a _greater striking rune_ deals 2d8 extra piercing damage on a critical hit. An ability that changes the size of the weapon’s normal damage dice doesn’t change the size of its deadly die.
Magical: Something with the magical trait is imbued with magical energies not tied to a specific tradition of magic. Some items or effects are closely tied to a particular tradition of magic. In these cases, the item has the arcane, divine, occult, or primal trait instead of the magical trait. Any of these traits indicate that the item is magical.
Propulsive: You add half your Strength modifier (if positive) to damage rolls with a propulsive ranged weapon. If you have a negative Strength modifier, you add your full Strength modifier instead.
Critical Specialisation Effects
Certain effects can grant you benefits when you make a Strike with certain weapons and get a critical success. This is called a critical specialisation effect. The exact effect depends on which weapon group your weapon belongs to, as listed below. You can always decide not to add the critical specialisation effect of your weapon.
Bow: If the target of the critical hit is adjacent to a surface, it becomes stuck to that surface by the missile. The target is immobilized until it succeeds at an Interact action and a DC 10 Athletics check to pull the missile free. The target doesn't become stuck if it is incorporeal, liquid, or could otherwise escape without effort.
Related Items
| Name | Level | Rarity | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singing Shortbow | 14 | Common | 1d6 |
| Dragonfire Halfbow | 12 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Singing Shortbow (Greater) | 18 | Common | 1d6 |
| Sky-Piercing Bow | 19 | Rare | 1d6 |
| Wintershot (Heroic) | 20 | Unique | 1d6 |
| Godsbreath Bow | 15 | Rare | 1d6 |
| Bow of Sun Slaying | 20 | Unique | 1d6 |
| Composite Shortbow | 1 | Common | 1d6 |
| Mammoth Bow | 12 | Unique | 1d8 |
| Oathbow | 11 | Common | 1d8 |
| Splithead Bow | 7 | Uncommon | 1d8 |
| Horselord's Longbow | 6 | Uncommon | 1d8 |
| Dazzling Shortbow | 5 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Hunter's Bow | 3 | Common | 1d6 |
| Composite Longbow | 1 | Common | 1d8 |
| Hunter's Anthem | 11 | Common | 1d8 |
| Gakgung | - | Common | 1d6 |
| Longbow | - | Common | 1d8 |
| Mikazuki | - | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Shortbow | - | Common | 1d6 |