LeMat Revolver

[dragonis111]

Well I saw an episode of Pawn Stars today(TV show about a Las Vegas pawn shop), and a guy brought in an authentic civil war era LeMat Revolver, it was a 9 shot black powder revolver and also had a shotgun barrel underneath the main barrel which held one round, after pulling back the hammer the user of the gun could flip the end of the hammer up or down to select which barrel he wanted to fire. (Just Imagine dual wielding these, and with guns like this, how did the south manage to lose the civil war?)​

Here are the stats so far: (please provide constructive criticism and suggestions)

LeMat Revolver
Exotic One-Handed Advanced Firearm

Cost: 6,450 gp
Revolver Dmg (S): 1d4
Revolver Dmg (M): 1d6
Shotgun Dmg (S): 1d4
Shotgun Dmg (M): 1d6
Critical: X4
Range: 20ft
Misfire: 1-2
Revolver Capacity: 9
Shotgun Capacity: 1
Weight: 3 lbs.
Type: B and P
Special: Scatter (when in shotgun mode)

1 Weight figures are for Medium weapons. A Small weapon weighs half as much, and a Large weapon weighs twice as much.
2 A weapon with two types is both types if the entry specifies “and.”

This gun has two different firing modes, revolver and shotgun. Switching firing modes counts as a swift action, and can be done with the same hand that is being used to wield the weapon by pulling back the hammer and flipping the end of the hammer into the other position.

The revolver mode of this firearm functions as a masterwork revolver with 2 exceptions, it requires black powder and bullets instead of metal cartridges, and due to the fact the bullets have to be smaller to accommodate a nine round capacity, this revolver has the same damage dice and uses the same sized ammunition of a revolver one size category smaller.

The shotgun mode of this gun functions as a masterwork dragon pistol.

Like a miniature blunderbuss, the shotgun barrel fires pellets or a bullet from its barrel. The barrel fires in a 15-foot cone when firing pellets, and has a 10-foot range increment when firing a bullet. For ammunition, the barrel uses a bullet or group of pellets and a single dose of black powder, or else a single alchemical cartridge (with either bullets or pellets) as ammunition.

This firearm is classified as an advanced weapon in every case except for the fact it doesn't take metal cartridges and uses bullets and powder instead. As the revolver uses the older type of ammunition, the attack against touch ac is only within the first range increment instead of the usual five for advanced firearms. Also due to the tendency for this gun to chain fire this gun has a 1-2 misfire chance.

Anyone proficient with a revolver or other firearms is not also proficient with this gun as this gun requires the exotic weapon proficiency (Lemat Revolver) feat to use properly without the -4 penalty due to its advanced nature. Any bonuses from feats such as weapon focus that are taken for revolvers or dragon pistols are also applied to this gun when in the corresponding firing mode.

Due to the advanced production process, this gun only comes in masterwork form which is included in the cost.

 

[Vinja]

i dont really have a mind for balance but maybe i could actually help here as this is one subject im fairly good at.

the lemat was a really cool design for its day but it had a problem with chain firing from what i recall, as in on occasion when shot the powder in adjacent cylinders would also burn causing harm to whoever would be holding it. so i think it should have a 1-2 misfire chance even being an advanced firearm.

also how they got 9 shots in the cylinder they werent as big as a standard revolver of its day, smaller caliber means smaller damage so id go with a 1d6 for its damage using pistol shot, the blunderbuss stats seem ok for the shotgun bit.

with this you get a weaker advanced firearm but with versatility, seems fair to me but then again this is just my opinion. hope it helped ya

 

[Henry]

(Just Imagine dual wielding these, and with guns like this, how did the south manage to lose the civil war?)

The South had some cool toys, but nothing like the cooler toys + manpower + money + infrastructure that the North could field. Too bad more bookmakers didn't look at the odds back then and tell people, "hmmmm... I wouldn't take this point spread if I were you."

Your stats sound good, but I'd probably make it not only be an advanced weapon, but take an extra feat beyond that, to compensate for the 9-shot cylinder + scattergun. On the other hand, the thing, like so many hybrid weapons, is poor at all jobs instead of just good at one job. I wouldn't give it the extended ranges that Advanced weapons possess, because this thing was pretty bad at range other than close and personal from what I've read and seen.

 

[dragonis111]

I added in the finished stats for the gun in the original post, read and tell me what you think!!!

 

[paradox42]

How did you figure out the cost of the weapon? Just curious what your reasoning was. I don't see anything wrong, really, with the stats and mechanics. It's unwieldy, but it's a double weapon of sorts, so that's to be expected. I could certainly see this being used in the right sort of game.

I do think that metal cartridges might be invented which would work with this, especially in a fantasy world, but they'd have to be specially made- they couldn't work with any other sort of firearm (limiting their utility and upping the cost, probably).

 

[dragonis111]

How did you figure out the cost of the weapon? Just curious what your reasoning was.

For the cost I just added 300 gp for the masterwork cost to the normal revolver than multiplied that by 1.5, as for cost I really just guessed, I might make it cost a little more as these would have a very specific market I guess. This is still open to suggestions for tweaks.

I do think that metal cartridges might be invented which would work with this, especially in a fantasy world, but they'd have to be specially made- they couldn't work with any other sort of firearm (limiting their utility and upping the cost, probably).

Historically speaking this gun was made during the early years of the civil war, cartridges weren't in use for military guns until the last year of the civil war. I might just think of some balanced rules for converting certain guns from black powder and bullet to metal cartridges, as some guns like this one and revolver rifles(my next gun I will be posting) it seems it would be easy enough to modify the revolving chamber and barrel to make use of metal cartridges. In real life I own a working replica revolving rifle that takes cartridges, but the original ones made during the civil war used black powder and bullets. A problem here is that civil war era guns are (in pathfinder rpg terms) a mix of early and advanced firearm technology, As fully advanced firearms didn't really exist until the last year of the civil war, main reason the war was so deadly, old battle tactics of standing grouped in a line, combined with new firearms that could put out many many more bullets per minute.

 

[dragonis111]

so what does everyone think?

 

[Vinja]

that seems good to me, id allow it in my games for what its worth.