weapon limitations (firearms)

i know this has been adressed but i just wondered if firearms were allowed in the past settings, my example would be a crossbow that shoots lightning bolts or fireballs instead of bolts.. just curious

Simple answer. Sigil yes, Faerun only in smoke powder form, and nothing even resembling a firearm is permitted on Greyhawk even in appearance. All of this however is speculative based off of the various setting restrictions up there and my ideas/information on them.

A better solution than that would be a crossbow that fires bolts of spell storing. Still stat friendly and it provides for a bit of air of mystery if not chaos. Not only that but friendly on all settings that magic works.

Towey said:

Simple answer. Sigil yes, Faerun only in smoke powder form, and nothing even resembling a firearm is permitted on Greyhawk even in appearance. All of this however is speculative based off of the various setting restrictions up there and my ideas/information on them.

A better solution than that would be a crossbow that fires bolts of spell storing. Still stat friendly and it provides for a bit of air of mystery if not chaos. Not only that but friendly on all settings that magic works.

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Agreed, this sounds about right. Though I'd double-check the bolts of spell storing with Siani for her setting.

On Faerun smoke-powder weapons are allowed, though rare, I believe. Basically anything goes in the Sigil setting, which might be your best bet for this concept. If you have further questions please feel free to ask.

Without going into the game mechanics, there are some drawbacks to using the idea of a spell launcher or thrower. In my opinion one of the biggest drawbacks in the sense of an RPG is that there is the temptation to use them for the cool factor without bothering to describe how they work, what it looks like when they're used, cost and effort of maintenance, etc. In a game where details are important, using a gimmick like this can make things a little too easy.

It's possible to simplify the idea, no to be confused with making things easy, to fit within the setting. All you need to do is skip the bolts entirely. Using the pistol crossbow as an example, just say that when the bow is cocked it generates a bolt of fire or electricity. Recharge the crossbow with spells. Voila. There is practically nothing mechanical in this scenario which can violate the setting. Using the crossbow as the device also means you just follow the same rate of fire as the normal device, which satisfies a lot of questions about balance since crossbows aren't all that fast. Then you just have to describe what it looks like.

Just an idea of course.

Sigil is the place for such a weapon, unless Nashira grants her blessing for Faerun.

Too similar in apparent function and effect of firearms for the Tavern. All anyone need to do is load a repeating crossbow with concussive or exploding bolts and someone would be spraying what amounts to automatic weapons fire around. So no, not something for the Tavern I'm afraid.

Siani

Just out of curiousity, why exactly would you need to carry it in the Tavern anyway? If there's no fighting, you don't need it except for show anyway. Might as well just carry pretty pistol crossbow at that point.

Well there it is, don't you think? Generally you wouldn't need one in the Tavern. But if they were allowable in the setting they'd most certainly show up in there. Experience is rather clear on this one.

Siani

Yes ma'am, and I do believe I resemble the primary perpetrator of that particular offense. At least from from 1996 until around 2002.