Luthor Harkon
First Post
Justa thought but if you wanted quick firing to use your extra attacks couldn't u just carry multiple loaded muskets and fire them in succession?
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Fun with Flintlocks
- Thread starter Jack Daniel
- Start date
MythandLore
First Post
Luthor Harkon said:
Like in:
Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
If you have the Quick Draw feat, then yes, you can make multiple attacks with pistols.
Jared A. Sorensen
First Post
Pirates & Pistols
Jack,
Cool info on gunpowder weapons. Didja know that William Teach (aka: Blackbeard) carried six pistols on his person? Whoa.
Anyway, for gunpowder weapons (just to warrant their fearsome rarity), there should be a rule where, if you critical twice, then you roll damage -- the victim then has to make a Fortitude check (DC the damage inflicted?) or else he dies (or drops to a state where a Heal check must be made to stabilize him). Blam! Don't forget, a ball will do more internal damage than an arrow/bolt -- and it's a helluva lot harder to get out.
Or not, I mean...I'm new at this d20 stuff. So, there.
Jack,
Cool info on gunpowder weapons. Didja know that William Teach (aka: Blackbeard) carried six pistols on his person? Whoa.
Anyway, for gunpowder weapons (just to warrant their fearsome rarity), there should be a rule where, if you critical twice, then you roll damage -- the victim then has to make a Fortitude check (DC the damage inflicted?) or else he dies (or drops to a state where a Heal check must be made to stabilize him). Blam! Don't forget, a ball will do more internal damage than an arrow/bolt -- and it's a helluva lot harder to get out.
Or not, I mean...I'm new at this d20 stuff. So, there.
Last edited:
drnuncheon
Explorer
Jack Daniel said:
Er...
Muskets are notoriously inaccurate, especially when compared to rifles - unlike arrows, musket balls have no fletching to keep them going straight, and unlike rifle bullets, they don't have any spin to stabilize them.
The big advantage of muskets was that they were *easier* than longbows, meaning less training time for the soldiers who used them. There's an old English saying about how to train a longbowman: "Start with his grandfather."
J
Thorvald Kviksverd
First Post
Just a couple of real-world observations that you may, or may not, want to take into account--it is a fantasy game after all 
The gauge of a shotgun is the number of lead slugs that can be made for it out of a pound of lead--so a pound of lead would be able to supply 10 balls for a 10 gauge. Your 2lb figure for 10rds works out to being a 5 gauge i.e. an elephant gun. I don't know if that's what you intended or not.
Most military muskets in the flintlock age were in the range of .70-.75cal--slightly less than your 1" standard--while rifles tended to be around .45-50cal.
The British army of the period had the means of equipping its troops with rifles, but made a conscious decision not to. Given their preferred tactics, volume of fire was more important than accuracy--muzzle-loading smoothbores are much easier (read "faster") to load than rifles.
If you want to introduce wheellocks: They are much more reliable, but also much more expensive and time consuming to load--and that pesky key has a nasty habit of turning up missing or being dropped at the most inopportune moments. (Not unlike the German G-3)
Anyway, just a few comments off the top of my head.
Happy Tweaking
The gauge of a shotgun is the number of lead slugs that can be made for it out of a pound of lead--so a pound of lead would be able to supply 10 balls for a 10 gauge. Your 2lb figure for 10rds works out to being a 5 gauge i.e. an elephant gun. I don't know if that's what you intended or not.
Most military muskets in the flintlock age were in the range of .70-.75cal--slightly less than your 1" standard--while rifles tended to be around .45-50cal.
The British army of the period had the means of equipping its troops with rifles, but made a conscious decision not to. Given their preferred tactics, volume of fire was more important than accuracy--muzzle-loading smoothbores are much easier (read "faster") to load than rifles.
If you want to introduce wheellocks: They are much more reliable, but also much more expensive and time consuming to load--and that pesky key has a nasty habit of turning up missing or being dropped at the most inopportune moments. (Not unlike the German G-3)
Anyway, just a few comments off the top of my head.
Happy Tweaking
Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
I wouldn't ever make firearms a simple weapon - you have to remember that the ratings are a combination of ease of use, and strength of a weapon when used in D&D. Firearms are not weak enough to be simple. As for the ranges, I'm well aware of the inaccuracy of the smoothbore muzzleloaders, but the DMG gives the range of a musket at 150, compared to the composite longbow's 110'. That means that the FANTASY version of the musket can hit a target up to 500 yards away, compared to the longbow's 356 yard range.
Have you thought of adding an Armor Penetration (AP) rating for the weapons?
For instance, a flintlock pistol could have AP 2. Which means that any armor bonus is reduced by 2 to a minimum of zero. So leather armor might as well be tissue paper to a pistol, and even plate is slightly less effective.
I made shotguns (or blunderbusses in my game) have AP 0 given that the shot isn't heavy. You can customize it as you feel fit.
This makes guns extra useful for taking down more heavily armored people - making that plate armor they're so proud of look like swiss cheese.
There's a reasonably good discussion of this stuff by Kenneth Hood. I used to have a link to it, but I've only got the hard copy now. Let me know if you want a copy.
I like the misfire rules by the way. It makes the use of such things somewhat iffy - likely the case for olde style flintlocks.
For instance, a flintlock pistol could have AP 2. Which means that any armor bonus is reduced by 2 to a minimum of zero. So leather armor might as well be tissue paper to a pistol, and even plate is slightly less effective.
I made shotguns (or blunderbusses in my game) have AP 0 given that the shot isn't heavy. You can customize it as you feel fit.
This makes guns extra useful for taking down more heavily armored people - making that plate armor they're so proud of look like swiss cheese.
There's a reasonably good discussion of this stuff by Kenneth Hood. I used to have a link to it, but I've only got the hard copy now. Let me know if you want a copy.
I like the misfire rules by the way. It makes the use of such things somewhat iffy - likely the case for olde style flintlocks.
I have a suggestion for both crossbows and firearms: Change it so firing a loaded firearm or crossbow in melee does not provoke an attack of opportunity. It doesn't quite make sense logically unless you are shooting your melee attacker, but it does give them a plus over bows ...
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