LE Marksmanship Overhaul

[PresumingNed]

Some ideas for an overhaul of the marksmanship & archery aspect of Skyrim

 

As your archery skill increases, 'weapon spread' (I think this is a weapon factor in CK, unless I'm thinking of GECK. Even if I am they're based on each other anyways) of arrows is reduced and your aim is better. The main difference between a novice and a master marksman would be which one of them could actually hit their target consistently. If you're a level 1 character with no archery skill you shouldn't be able to take perfect headshots at great ranges with the same accuracy as you would if your archery skill was, say, 70 or something. Also, you could 'reload' slightly faster as your skill increases. This would make progressing in archery skills much more satisfying as your character becomes noticeably better, instead of just dealing more damage.

 

With Dawnguard we're getting crossbows. Even if they don't appear that often in the game they could be tweaked and added to the leveled loot and NPCs in different versions etc, as an alternative to bows. They could work differently in the sense that aiming is easier (less spread), simulating the fact that crossbows have shorter learning curves for beginners. At least that's the impression I have.

 

Longbows should deal more damage and have higher range than hunting bows, given my admittedly non existent and entirely theoretical experience with bows. I just get the impression that historically longbows were considered more powerful and more difficult to handle. So switching the appearance of longbows and hunting bows in terms of NPC level and when in the game they appear more often seems reasonable.

 

Also, arrows should be more likely to stagger opponents and drain fatigue and health over time to simulate bleeding. Or that could be a perk or something.

 

These aren't entirely unrealistic, I think. With SKSE and the Creation Kit it shouldn't be impossible to implement.

 

What do you think?