Well honestly, if they're going to have the stats of existing weapons, what's the point of having them?
Like character names and NPC descriptions - it's flavour.
We haven't decided to use them yet, but the reasoning is flavour.
Well honestly, if they're going to have the stats of existing weapons, what's the point of having them?
Actually, I've been thinking on that last concern: the character builder.
The trick is to come up with character options that have minimal impact. It's easy enough to add a couple new powers here and there, some new magic items, but it's hard to swap class options.
No, please don't make the vast majority of players have to buy an additional character builder program.
The hardest thing is firearms if we wanted them. I figure the work-around would be, like, just use the stats of longbows for muskets, shortbows for carbines, hand crossbows for pistols. Greatbows would be those rare sniper rifles. (Crossbows and superior crossbows, with their 'load minor,' are kinda sub-par.)
But ultimately, guns are a minor issue. I'd like a setting where some folks use firearms, but not at the exclusion of most of the traditional fantasy tropes people tend to like in their games.