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[weenog]

Well it doesn't require two light maces, it requires a light mace in each or in both hands (forget which, I'm away from my books at the moment).  In any case, a bone-headed literal reading notices that all available hands are full of great crossbow, and activates the feat.

In this particular game we were allowed to go pretty crazy because it was to be the last 3.5 game played before switching to 4E.

The DM gave me some additional leniency because of the intent and function of the character build.  This was a character whose only significant contribution was "hit the thing with the other thing", in a party with a Druid and a Wizard.  I am a very experienced player, the two players with Big Three characters were not.  While there was some showing off going on, the point was to be strong enough to pull my own weight (and if necessary, save their asses) no matter how deep the trouble we got into, while also being so one-dimensional that I wouldn't bleed over into their niches, step on their toes and make them feel bad.  I prefer melee combatants when I'm playing a Big Stupid Fighter, but in this case I chose a ranged attacker so that I could still contribute very effectively against distant and/or airborne enemies.

I included an easy Off switch for the DM in case he felt things were getting out of hand.  While I could have optimized around cover, concealment, incorporeality, and other such impediments, I chose not to.  Despite his insane firepower, something as simple as a boulder to hide behind or a wind wall spell stops him cold.

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.

I quit trying to count the time the character surpassed 40 bolts in a surprise round standard action.  The enemy certainly was surprised.

Have you considered trying to kill the entire world's population in a standard action?

Being below the curve of the horizon counts as full cover. 

[Remuthra]

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.

I quit trying to count the time the character surpassed 40 bolts in a surprise round standard action.  The enemy certainly was surprised.

Have you considered trying to kill the entire world's population in a standard action?

Being below the curve of the horizon counts as full cover. 

Hmmm... What's the Earth's material hardness?

[Harbingerjm]

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.

I quit trying to count the time the character surpassed 40 bolts in a surprise round standard action.  The enemy certainly was surprised.

Have you considered trying to kill the entire world's population in a standard action?

Being below the curve of the horizon counts as full cover. 

Hmmm... What's the Earth's material hardness?

Not Enough.

[weenog]

Again, away from books or I could tell.  It doesn't matter, though. There's still the problem of maximum range for the weapon being a mere 1440 feet (I could have had more, but I didn't feel that I needed it, mostly just wanted to be able to engage fliers and things that could move faster than me), and sunder (break object) attacks only being viable with slashing and bludgeoning weapons, not piercing weapons.

LL3, I never drew ammunition because I knew it would never work (not enough available hands, eats available actions, plus as much as I could fire, the weight would be insane).  The Quiver of Lies conjured up all ammo fired as free actions via spoken word.  The name "Quiver" makes it sound like a real quiver with some modifications, but it's actually a bracelet.

[Remuthra]

Again, away from books or I could tell.  It doesn't matter, though. There's still the problem of maximum range for the weapon being a mere 1440 feet (I could have had more, but I didn't feel that I needed it, mostly just wanted to be able to engage fliers and things that could move faster than me), and sunder (break object) attacks only being viable with slashing and bludgeoning weapons, not piercing weapons.

LL3, I never drew ammunition because I knew it would never work (not enough available hands, eats available actions, plus as much as I could fire, the weight would be insane).  The Quiver of Lies conjured up all ammo fired as free actions via spoken word.  The name "Quiver" makes it sound like a real quiver with some modifications, but it's actually a bracelet.

As to the second, there is actually blunt ammo in the published material.

[Nerjin]

Say I wanted to use a bottle as a weapon. Would that be viable at any point or would I just be ruining the party?

[weenog]

Nerjin: There are rules for improvised weapons in Complete Warrior.  A bottle would be a poor choice because of its light weight (and that's assuming the DM doesn't even step in and have it break completely afer use), but a partly broken bottle is better than an intact one -- sharp improvised weapons inflict damage as if their weight was doubled.  A bottle as a weapon would be similar to a dagger or a spiked gauntlet as a weapon, except with an attack roll penalty for being improvised, and none of the special benefits of those other weapons.  You might try using it as a surprising delivery system for another kind of damage (dragonfire inspiration bard music effect, sneak attack or skirmish damage, for example) but it would not on its own be a viable primary weapon.

---

Oh, one other piece of advice for new players: If "Hit the thing with the other thing" is your chosen contribution, make sure you hit hard enough, and accurately.  On a round-by-round basis, hit point damage only matters if you fully disable or kill at least 1 enemy per round.  An opponent with 10 hp left can fight back just as effectively as one with 100, or 1,000 -- the only way your damage output has a real, tangible effect on the next round is if it robs an opponent of their actions by putting them down.

[Remuthra]

If you're really dedicated to hitting things with bottles, said GM could always make some judgment calls to get you either war bottles or an appropriate feat.

[weenog]

If I wanted to use bottles as weapons, I would probably make a bardsader (Bard/Crusader hybrid) of a god of mischief and merrymaking (possibly Olidammara), play him off as a drunken master type, and just use the bottles as delivery systems for a heavily optimized dragonfire inspiration build.

Note: There are some niche uses, but the actual Drunken Master prestige class is pretty crap.  Don't expect it to turn bottles into superweapons for you.

[Harbingerjm]

Nerjin: There are rules for improvised weapons in Complete Warrior.  A bottle would be a poor choice because of its light weight (and that's assuming the DM doesn't even step in and have it break completely afer use), but a partly broken bottle is better than an intact one -- sharp improvised weapons inflict damage as if their weight was doubled.  A bottle as a weapon would be similar to a dagger or a spiked gauntlet as a weapon, except with an attack roll penalty for being improvised, and none of the special benefits of those other weapons.  You might try using it as a surprising delivery system for another kind of damage (dragonfire inspiration bard music effect, sneak attack or skirmish damage, for example) but it would not on its own be a viable primary weapon.

There are several ways to improve your Improvised Weapon usage, with varying degrees of officialness.

[weenog]

Aye, but let's not go too far down the improvised weapon optimization path.  Down that road lies the Warhulking Hurler, and that's even more ridiculous than bringing TF2's Heavy into D&D.

[GiglameshDespair]

Add new artefacts: The bottle of Dionysus: all enemies hit with it become drunk and are unable to stand, whereupon you slowly beat them to death.

A bottle might be light weight, but taking a bottle to the face can easily fracture a skull. I'm pretty sure one of my distant family members died from being hit by a bottle at a bus stop.
 

Aye, but let's not go too far down the improvised weapon optimization path.  Down that road lies the Warhulking Hurler, and that's even more ridiculous than bringing TF2's Heavy into D&D.

As someone who's never really played D&D, i have no idea what that is, but it sounds amusing. Explain, please.

[Remuthra]

I once learned about that while trying a strategy to carry and throw my fellow players as weapons. Apparently that way lies the ability to throw the Empire State Building like a throwing dagger.

[Nerjin]

I dunno. I'm only bringing this up cause I'd like to do something weird. I've yet to look at the rule books but y'know...

[weenog]

Improvised weapons inflict damage based on weight.  Carrying capacity is easily optimized if that's what you want to do. Hulking Hurler is a prestige class intended for giants that allows them to get better at throwing heavy things, even beyond what their size would normally limit them to.  Warhulk is a class that gains strength instead of base attack bonus and class features.

I once learned about that while trying a strategy to carry and throw my fellow players as weapons. Apparently that way lies the ability to throw the Empire State Building like a throwing dagger.

That's a baby step down the path.  When you get really extreme with the optimization, you could legitimately do a handstand, claim the planet you're standing on as a piece of ammunition held overhead, throw it, and do such extreme damage that you require up-arrow notation just to record it.