It occurred to me as I brushed myself off from a rogue NPC attack that I’d been shot with a crossbow twice. I was pretty well off for the amount of damage I could have taken, but the part that confused me was that the bolts were neither on the ground nor anywhere to be found. Something similar happens with bullets: you get hit, you are hurt, and…that’s just kinda it. You heal and you’re fine.
In real life, it wouldn’t stop there. If I’m shot with an arrow, I’m pretty consciously aware of the arrow sticking out of me. It’d probably inhibit my movement depending on where it is, and it’d hurt quite a bit. I’d be slowed down and encumbered depending on how many bolts there are and they’d probably bleed if they hit something vital.
Bullets can pierce, but currently it’s all about flat damage, and that makes guns superior in every regard. You can replace the ammo almost as easily as you can replace the arrows, and bullets just hurt more. There’s no reason to use bows except in the early game, when there’s nothing else available, but that gets fixed very quickly. Beyond necessity, there is literally no reason to use bows and crossbows.
I recommend increasing the pros of bows and crossbows and also increasing realism by having embedded projectile diseases. If hit with a bolt and the bolt does indeed stick, it inflicts you with the Embedded Arrow (x body part) disease that can stack as many times as relevant. Each adds encumberment to the body part with the expected results, which could make fights with NPCs and other monsters easier in the long run - which is necessary, since they do much less damage and archery battles tend to be a slow backtrack as you widdle the enemy down. It’d also make bows and crossbows a much more serious threat, because if you get pinned, you might not be able to get out without getting seriously messed up in the process. Bolts and arrows are no joke.
Removing them after the skirmish would also require a certain degree of care and possibly some tools to make it easier. Just yanking it might damage even more and cause even more pain, and possibly make you bleed more. Cutting the arrow would minimize the encumbering effects and allow you to make it to your base where you have more tools at hand to properly treat the wound. Fail or succeed, removing the arrow will always cause a certain amount of pain and has a pretty decent chance of causing bleeding now that the arrow is no longer blocking the blood flow. Patch that up with a bandage and you should be on a clean road to recovery.
Bullets could also have an effect like arrows, but significantly weaker, since the bullets are smaller and do enough damage on their own. There’s also the piercing factor and the fact that bullets just really don’t need a buff. Get some tweezers to quit the pain generation and encumberment and you’re good to go. Might need a bandage if you hurt yourself more removing it.
It’s mostly immersion factor but it’s also to put a little more emphasis on choosing your battles and consider the ramifications of your actions. You’ll probably chop down that guy with your rapier faster than he can crossbow you down, but there is still treatment after the battle to consider.
