Hunting Equipment In Context

Here is the current state of things...

Weapon	Cost	Dmg.	Roll	Hit	x2 Hits	x3	x4
Club	1	4	11	50%
Sling	2	1	9	74%	55%	41%	30%
Spear	2	3	10	63%	40%
Atlatl	4	4	8	84%
Bow & Arrows	5 & 0	2	7	91%	82%

Dmg. = Damage

Problems: the Bow is better than the Atlatl in every way. It costs 1 more, but that doesn't include the cost of ammunition (0 for arrows vs. 2 for spears). The Sling is a weapon only good for hunting very small game, which doesn't score much.

(changes in red)

Weapon	Cost	Dmg.	Roll	Hit	x2 Hits	x3	x4
Club	1	4	11	50%
Sling	2	2	9	74%	55%
Spear	2	3	10	63%	40%
Atlatl	4	4	8	84%
Bow & Arrows	5 & 1	1	7	91%	82%	75%	68%

Balancing the equipment is an ongoing challenge, especially when you look at perceived value vs. actual value. The bell curve of three six-sided dice does a lot to conceal the math, which is good because I want people picking equipment based on theme, based on what they intend to hunt.

But looking at the math in isolation leaves out a bunch of variables. This isn't D&D, where you're buying equipment to go up against unknown challenges. We know what we're hunting.

Let's look at this from a different perspective. What weapons are best for hunting what animals? Taking it further, I'll give each weapon letter grades (A: 90-100, B: 80-89, C: 70-79, D: 60-69, E: 50-59, F: <50), against each animal. I've highlighted the changes.

(new)	Bird	Rabbit	Deer	Boar	Wolf	Bear
Club	E	E	E	E	E	E
Sling	C	C	C	E	E	E
Spear	D	D	D	D	D	F
Atlatl	B	B	B	B	B	B
Bow & Arrows	A	A	B	C	C	D

Now let's compare that to before the changes above. With this full context, it's easier to see that the Bow was overpowered and the Sling was weak.

(old)	Bird	Rabbit	Deer	Boar	Wolf	Bear
Club	E	E	E	E	E	E
Sling	C	C	E	F	F	F
Spear	D	D	D	D	D	E
Atlatl	B	B	B	B	B	B
Bow & Arrows	A	A	A	B	B	B

Let's look at the average odds against a random animal (taking the animal distribution into account). But remember, if you're paying attention you won't be hunting blind, so you can improve these odds by taking a more appropriate weapon.

Club	50%
Sling	65%
Spear	59%
Atlatl	84%
Bow	80%

The next thing to think about would be costs and logistics. You can't afford an Atlatl or Bow at the start of the game. The Bow requires slightly more overhead, but the arrows are free. You do run into equipment carrying limits, you can only just carry enough arrows at once to kill a bear. Atlatl is much more efficient, but spears are expensive. There's a nice upgrade path to starting out with a Spear, and picking up an Atlatl to improve it later. The sling is solid all around, but not great, and not the cheapest. The club is still the best option, especially when you're poor, to YOLO a bear.