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The point is that a ranged firearm weapon can be lethal at a distance and does not require much strength to use. One could as easily ask in turn, why do people assume the introduction of firearms makes no difference to a setting? It sure made a difference on Earth.

Mouse, have you socialized this with your players? I have to confess as a ref, I would be very leery of proposing a setting with that amount of restrictions on race (and lesser extent class) without giving the players some say. I also expect my group would not go for this setting given a...

Interesting setup but one that would not appeal to me. For one, I don't like psionics which seem to figure prominently. For another, I don't care for my PC to be a reptile. If you were a player/ref I've known for some time, I'd give it a shot but I'd have to say it would be a provisional shot...

Yeah, I share that sentiment. There are many things I don't quite like about 4E but overall it's an improvement on some key issues. I guess we've never found the combats over long except for the one time we had 4 players playing 2 PCs and another 3 neophytes at the table. That was slow :)...

I had already introduced the shadow dragon concept but it was a trip a few days ago through the Orphanage in Dragon Age that reminded me how fun a dark, dismal, gruesome scenario can be :)

The Dragon Age CRPG has a lot of ambiguous morale choices. If you have it you can mine it for some ideas on opposing forces who each think they are in the right. It's at all levels of the game from little side quests to the main plot. In particular, the Chantry offers a good model of paladins...

Betrayal is very good. The setup for the current arc already had the race of small, downtrodden folks (not so cute though). One of the PCs even picked up a minion who eventually betrayed them so can't quite do that again so soon. But I'll play around with some of the other concepts; some good...

In the simplest sense, your question seems to require an obvious "yes." Most people, forces or nations feel they are in the right. More interesting is a case where they have an objective claim to being in the right. In real life, that is of course extremely problemmatic (what is objective in...

Perhaps but I think it may also be that most gamers are more able to imagine a shield or armor stopping an arrow than a bullet.

Yes, I think there is a presumption that there will be technological progress. The same as Earth? That's not necessary. But if all you need is incremental metallurgical advancements and some experimental chemistry, a steady series of improvements in firearm technology does not seem unreasonable...

Well, no scenario is perfect but basically, I don't like the firearm lethality in my campaign world. Or, if it is modeled essentially the same as a bow or crossbow, I don't want the arguments about whether the gun should be more lethal :) But to each his own.

The players have embarked (by their choice) on an arc that will involve fighting a "shadow dragon" threat. I've been working up some thoughts on these but will eagerly pillage any one else's thoughts. The brief back story: The shadow dragons were created by a god who wants to use them to...

I guess I needed to clarify my scenario further :p As the son of a nobleman, he would have in had training the bow and sword as well but there's only so far you can take a 12 year old with those weapons. So postulate equally trained 12 year olds. My thought is the rifle is much more usable to...

Here's another way I look at it. At a high level, a useful mental exercise might be to consider a high middle ages setting in a roleplaying game. Let’s say this setting is modeled closely on European technology and society in 1100. Now to this setting, let’s add D&D magic. Would the...

Fair enough, I'll add more to the scenario. The weapons are all of high quality. The bow has a pull strength of a strong adult male. Don't see a 12 year old stringing it or using it well. Can he use a sword? Probably had some training but just don't see him doing that much to a seasoned adult...

Fair enough. When I constructed these two scenarios, I was thinking of my cousins who at this age were avid hunters and could in fact use a rifle. Could they hit a man at 200 yards? Not so sure but possible. Even if the scenario 2 lad could use a bow, he almost certainly could not string a heavy...

Taking the 'heroic' battle concept further as practiced in a game. Consider two scenarios: In scenario 1, the 12 year old boy of a slain lord takes his father's best weapon, a finely crafted dwarven rifle equivalent to a snipers rifle from the Civil war. He lies in wait for his father's killer...

The fact that knights co-existed with firearms for a while does not say that firearms did not have an effect. Just as with fortifications, it took time for the firearms to develop in capability and availability to cause a change. More-over, effective use of firearms requires effect technique...

Many weapons were heralded as the end of heroic combat but I can't see how firearms weren't a big part of it. And yes, it is certainly fair to say RPGs romanticize combat.

Going back to the OP’s question, one aspect of gunpowder weapons I don’t recall seeing on this thread (apologies if someone already raised it): Historically, gunpowder weapons leveled the battle field. Meaning, they reduced the value of the highly trained, heavily armed and armored knight with...