Level Up (A5E) Black powder dealing force damage; bug or design decision?

[Yora]

Doesn't 5th edition already have thunder damage?

 

[Waller]

I always thought black powder was magical, unlike gunpowder which isn’t.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Doesn't 5th edition already have thunder damage?

Yes.

 

[Yora]

I always thought black powder was magical, unlike gunpowder which isn’t.

It's the same stuff. Except that modern firearms don't use black powder anymore and have something with more power and less smoke instead. It could still be called gun powder, which is why black power is used as a term to be specific. Black powder is still used as the main component for fireworks.
Charcoal as a fuel source, saltpeter as an oxygen source, and sulfur to accelerate the speed of the combustion.

 

[niklinna]

Well you could say that for people aware of the physics of black powder, it deals bludgeoning damage, but for those ignorant of the physics, it's magical force damage.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I actually like it.
Thunder would probably also be accurate.