Found primarily on the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyk, bowcasters were made famous by the great Wookie Chewbacca. In the hands of a skilled Wookie but unwieldy to most beings, bowcasters can be as deadly, if not more so, than any blaster.
On Kashyyk, the weapons are used mainly for hunting the many predators found on the jungle planet. They have great stopping power, but as a result are reduced to being short-range weapons. Their optimum range is thirty metres, while their maximum is fifty. Heavy and quite large, bowcasters can be taken apart and stored in utility pouches. It takes less than a minute for a trained warrior to reassemble it. Bandoliers are often found slung across a Wookie’s body, and these carry power packs, ammunition cartridges of six quarrels each, and blaster gas canisters for the bowcasters.
Thought to be a primitive weapon, the bowcaster is often underrated for its power. In essence, a bowcaster is a magnetic accelerator, which uses twin polarisers to accelerate a tensile metal bowstring, which in turn fires a quarrel at a very high speed. In flight, the quarrel is wrapped in an energy envelope, which condenses the quarrel’s explosive power into the target. This makes the fired quarrel look like an elongated blaster bolt, and although the bowcaster is much less advanced than the modern blaster, the quarrel delivers about the same amount of damage.
Built by Wookies, who are immensely strong by nature, a bowcaster needs a huge amount of strength to cock. This means that the wielder has to be patient, and time the shot just right, since it could be several seconds before another one can be taken. The cocking of the weapon involves the bowstring being notched into place, which automatically loads a quarrel from the ammo cartridge.
Multiple bowstrings can be added to allow more shots, and this is not an uncommon modification among Wookie bowcasters. Dual bow are sometimes found, but Chewie has found a much better way of getting off more shots quickly. His bowcaster has an automatic recocking system, which makes the weapon almost as efficient as a blaster. When the Empire was occupying Kashyyk, a lot of Wookies added blaster rifles to their weapons, making them very deadly indeed.
The bowstring can be replaced with a metre-long length of kthysh vine, allowing the wielder to fire the bowcaster manually. This may not seem a good idea, especially as the range is cut to thirty metres, but it does allow the bowcaster to fire wooden crossbow bolts or standard explosive quarrels. This is quite popular among the Wookies, and it is not uncommon to find them carrying treated kthysh vines in their utility pouches.
On Kashyyk, the bowcaster is seen as a very symbolic weapon. They are hand-built by master craftsmen, and young Wookies receive them when they reach adulthood. It is one of their rites of passage into the adult world. Dating back thousands of years, this tradition is still kept, and the bowcasters are often handed down through generations, with each one carved by different family members.
The Imperial occupation of Kashyyk saw many of the master craftsmen enslaved, and bowcasters were rarely made. Since gaining their membership to the New Republic, the craftsmen have once again started to build these fine weapons, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Overcoming a species by force and crushing their way of life is one thing, but the Wookies proved that nothing can crush their honour and courage. The bowcaster is an ongoing symbol of that honour.