Bow & Arrows vs. Atlatl & Spear

Let's take a closer look at the math behind the new more powerful but also more expensive Bow and Atlatl. Each now costs 5 points and has become easier to hit with. You need to roll a 7 for the Bow, and an 8 for the Atlatl.

Everyone understands the Atlatl. In this game it's basically a prehistoric bazooka. At an 84% chance to hit, it's going to succeed a little more than 4 out of 5 tries, and doing 4 damage will destroy even the deadly animals in one shot.

The Bow is a little trickier. Arrows do half as much damage as Atlatl/Spear, so it takes two hits to kill a deadly animal (which have 3 or 4 life). But it's a more accurate weapon, hitting 90% of the time. Arrows are also cheaper, costing 1/2 point per shot. So, a Bow is a better weapon against smaller animals, and perfect against a deer. Hitting twice however reduces your odds to less than the Atlatl at 81%, and the ammunition not only costs as much, but it uses up the entire Arrow card.

So, the subtle numeric differences allow each to be optimal in specific situations, but both are still versatile enough to justify the higher cost, and allow for player taste.

This is what I really like about the 3 six-sided dice system, the bell curve allows me to make significant changes in the probability with small changes in the numbers. 

October 12th Update:

I found another happy accident in the math. A bear takes 4 damage to kill, which is the same amount that a club does, with 37% accuracy. A sling and a spear, if you hit with both, will also do 4 damage, and coincidentally, also has a 37% chance of success!

Now, there are plenty of other differences between those weapons. A club costs 1 point, spear and sling cost 2 points each. The club always has a 37% chance of success. Spear and Sling, used individually, have much better odds. Sling against rabbit or squirrel is 74%, sling against deer (2x) is 55%, and spear against wolf or boar is 50%.