Changing firearms to martial weapons
- Thread starter Whizbang Dustyboots
- Start date
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
I was toying with making them work differently for the various levels of proficiency.
Basically, my thinking was you could fire them without penalty as a simple weapon. Figure they're meant to be very easy to fire. Let BAB take care of how accurate an individual is.
The trick is reloading them... Would have a martial and exotic version of the proficiency. Each of which lowers the reload time.
So fighters would get more use out of them than a wizard...
From a 'realism' point of view I want to come up with a different mechanism for reloading than 'real world' gunpowder weapons. 6 seconds is ridiculously fast... but a top rate of fire of 1 per 2 rounds is no fun... IIRC, that's what napoleonic era elite troops could manage.
Basically, my thinking was you could fire them without penalty as a simple weapon. Figure they're meant to be very easy to fire. Let BAB take care of how accurate an individual is.
The trick is reloading them... Would have a martial and exotic version of the proficiency. Each of which lowers the reload time.
So fighters would get more use out of them than a wizard...
From a 'realism' point of view I want to come up with a different mechanism for reloading than 'real world' gunpowder weapons. 6 seconds is ridiculously fast... but a top rate of fire of 1 per 2 rounds is no fun... IIRC, that's what napoleonic era elite troops could manage.
Kobold Avenger
Legend
I think a lot of other sources other than D&D have early firearms taking at least 2 rounds to reload. This includes Iron Kingdoms and D20 Modern (past) that I can think off the top of my head. In fact matchlocks in D20 Past aren't capable of being used with a dexterity modifier. In order for firearms to be reloaded in 1 round, I ended up having them as breach-loaded percussion caps which might be closer to actual reload times.
HellHound
ENnies winner and NOT Scrappy Doo
Heck, in some settings I'm tempted to make single-shot firearms Simple Weapons and autofire weapons into Martial Weapons. But it depends on the setting more than anything, and in these settings, obviously firearms supplant other ranged weapons rapidly.
Elephant
First Post
Actually, they should be simple weapons. Historically, the real advantage of firearms was that you could put a gun in the hands of an untrained peasant (Commoner 1), send 500 of them at the enemy, and they could actually do some damage. This was quite a change from the previous model where peasant levies were little more than human shields.
skullsmurfer
First Post
Fire arms+grenades= a noisy good time
I am thinking of using simple single-shot firearms for an Eberron adventure. My idea is that a wizard or a fighter could keep a pre-loaded weapon that can only be used once. So they fire the weapon as opportunity presents, but the rest of melee is with standard swords, clubs, and spells. The idea is to introduce a cool weapon, but to limit its use due to lack of expertise and the finickiness of black powder<ie the tendency to soak up water and not fire, or the dangers of static electricity>. I was thinking of 2 to 3 rounds for reloading, if they want to take the time in the middle of battle. For the most part re-loading would take place after battle during rest times. I also want to introduce a Grenadier PRC to a standard Artificer build. He would deal with the cutting edge black powder technologies, construct pistols, and bombs while charging outrageous prices. Like in early American History, different weaponeers had different designs and calibres, so the players would have to maintain a relationship with a given Artificer. I am also thinking that Black Powder should be an alchemical mixture that requres experts to produce properly and safely. Maybe House Cannith or the Gnomes of House Whatitsname would have an interest in its production. I just like blowing things up and I think my players would too.
I am thinking of using simple single-shot firearms for an Eberron adventure. My idea is that a wizard or a fighter could keep a pre-loaded weapon that can only be used once. So they fire the weapon as opportunity presents, but the rest of melee is with standard swords, clubs, and spells. The idea is to introduce a cool weapon, but to limit its use due to lack of expertise and the finickiness of black powder<ie the tendency to soak up water and not fire, or the dangers of static electricity>. I was thinking of 2 to 3 rounds for reloading, if they want to take the time in the middle of battle. For the most part re-loading would take place after battle during rest times. I also want to introduce a Grenadier PRC to a standard Artificer build. He would deal with the cutting edge black powder technologies, construct pistols, and bombs while charging outrageous prices. Like in early American History, different weaponeers had different designs and calibres, so the players would have to maintain a relationship with a given Artificer. I am also thinking that Black Powder should be an alchemical mixture that requres experts to produce properly and safely. Maybe House Cannith or the Gnomes of House Whatitsname would have an interest in its production. I just like blowing things up and I think my players would too.
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Desdichado
Hero
Heck, I've done that with firearms that are more powerful than the DMG firearms, and I haven't had a problem.
Tzarevitch
First Post
Joshua Dyal said:
Nor did I. I ran a Planescape game for over a year with WWI-level firearms. They tended to render crossbows obsolete except for stealth assassination but with the high-strength set bows beat out firearms almost any day. I even allowed primative machine guns and grenade launchers and they didn't unbalance the game (the damage is on the order of a wand of lightning bolts on average and that is using a lot of bullets).
Tzarevitch
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