Changing firearms to martial weapons

Whizbang Dustyboots · May 24, 2005

Would making firearms a martial weapon, rather than an exotic, so that melee types could all use them without burning a feat, be unleashing a lot of havoc on a game, or would it work reasonably well? Assume the DMG gunpowder rules, although I know they're not perfect.

I'm thinking of making my next campaign (with its Faerie/Plane of Mirrors focus) be set in a time and place more resembling Shakespeare's Elizabethean England than I am the Middle Ages. Gunpowder and armor overlapping, at least partially, is part of that feel.

mmadsen · May 24, 2005

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
Would making firearms a martial weapon, rather than an exotic, so that melee types could all use them without burning a feat, be unleashing a lot of havoc on a game, or would it work reasonably well?

It shouldn't cause any problems; they're not much different (game-mechanically) from crossbows.

Ranger REG · May 24, 2005

If gunpowder personal weapons are in common use by armies in that region and time period, then that's okay to classify them as martial weapons.

DanMcS · May 25, 2005

Shouldn't be a problem. The black powder weapons from the DMG are mechanically a little better than crossbows, and quite a bit worse than d20 modern firearms (which don't take a standard action to reload after every shot). In our d20 modern game, when combat breaks out, the guy using a chain is quite often a lot more effective than the guys using the pistols- melee weapons get str bonus to damage, don't provoke AoOs, and threaten so you can take the AoO against anyone /with/ a gun.

mmadsen · May 25, 2005

DanMcS said:
The black powder weapons from the DMG are mechanically a little better than crossbows, and quite a bit worse than d20 modern firearms (which don't take a standard action to reload after every shot).

Incidentally, taking just six seconds to reload a blackpowder weapon is comically fast. Early firearms took minutes to load.

jmichels · May 25, 2005

Yeah I agree with the other posters. The gunpowder weapons in the DMG are just slightly souped up crossbows with easier to transport ammo. You just have to watch out for the resist energy protected guy that throws around big barrels of gunpowder. Just make the authorities nosy when a person buys bunches and bunches of gunpowder at one time.

Emperor Valerian · May 25, 2005

I'd say it wouldn't be too much of a problem, considering that the historical proliferation of gunpowder originally was because guns were easy to use and simple to train (compared to faster firing and longer ranged longbows, which required a lifetimes worth of training compared to a few weeks or months for a gun...).

TheAuldGrump · May 25, 2005

mmadsen said:
Incidentally, taking just six seconds to reload a blackpowder weapon is comically fast. Early firearms took minutes to load.

And arbalests (heavy crossbows) were slower than handguns...

The Auld Grump, it was part of the reason that they caught on so quickly

arwink · May 25, 2005

mmadsen said:
Incidentally, taking just six seconds to reload a blackpowder weapon is comically fast. Early firearms took minutes to load.

Think of it as one of those situations where Meta-gaming can work in the GM's favor.

One or two rounds may seem rediculously fast when the in-game time is compared to real world reloading habits, but to the guy who has to sit out five to ten minutes of the combat because he's chosen a pistol instead of a bow it'll probably feel more than long enough.

John Q. Mayhem · May 25, 2005

I strongly suggest you buy EN Arsenal: Pistols. It's very good.

I think that making most normal firearms martial would be a fine idea.

Changing firearms to martial weapons

Whizbang Dustyboots

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