Deadlier Guns

[Achan hiArusa]

The d20 system is flexible enough to tinker with. I do have a problem with the wimpy guns in d20 Modern. They changed the rules to make d20 Modern deadlier than D&D (okay, one rule, the massive damage rule) and then they wimped out on weapon damage and criticals (the argument that there is no healing magic doesn't hold water when you consider how crunchy surgery is, and is totally abrogated when playing an Urban Arcana game with Acolytes).

Anyway, I use the CoC d20 damage and criticals, and then I use the critical ranges from the Shadow Chasers article in Polyhedron. Most pistols have a 20/x3 critical, but this goes up to 18-20/x4 for a shotgun and heavy artillery goes as far as 16-20/x4. This also makes it easier to bring these weapons into D&D with their usual deadliness (I ignore the silly guideline on high critical ranges and critical multipliers for guns, an arquebus in my D&D game does 19-20/x3 damage, otherwise we would still be using bows and arrows today).

BTW, if you wanted to make the game even deadlier, use the 10 point massive damage save.

 

[HellHound]

double post

 

[HellHound]

My critical rules are more aggressive than the core rules, and based on bullet ballistics and the length to width ratio of a round.

1:1 ratio rounds (shot, or musket rounds) have a 20/x3 crit range

2:1 ratio rounds (handgun rounds) have a 19-20/x3 crit range

3:1 ratio rounds (rifle rounds, 5.7 FN) have a 18-20/x3 crit range

5:1 ratio rounds (flechettes) have a 17-20/x2 crit range.

 

[Moonsword]

I would note that those 'wimpy' gun damages can wipe out a low-level party in a heartbeat. If you really need that much firepower, use a grenade. Guns don't do that much damage comparatively. Explosives do. But this is only my opinion. As I said in a different thread, it's up to the GM what to do. The enhanced critical ranges (not the damage multipliers, just the threat ranges) do look good, though. It's certainly a point to consider. Thank you for posting this, and good adaptation of the rules to your own tastes.

 

[Ranger REG]

That's way too aggressive, Hellhound. It definitely ensures low-level characters to go down quickly, if not die quickly. And this is from a single shot. Not a good way to introduce low-level PCs into d20 Modern.

If I want to play that kind of depressing "PCs are losers, not heroes" kind of game, I'd buy CoC d20.

 

[HellHound]

REG, I think that depends on what kind of game you play. We like deadly guns CyberPunk 2020 style. A lucky shot should be able to take ANYONE out, any time.

Now, mind you, I did these rules before Modern came out, and was working with a 50 hp Massive Damage Threshold as opposed to the CON or 10 pt threshold for my CyberPunk and deadEarth d20 games, which makes these rules less important.

 

[Ranger REG]

Ah. I understand now.

Still, I wonder if most (A)D&D gamers enforce the massive damage (50) rules? In my 15+ years of D&D I never did enforce that rules. That's because we never rolled damage anywhere near 50 points.