Aeric
Explorer
I've read many forum threads about firearms and their place (or lack thereof) in the Eberron campaign setting lately. The biggest argument against them is the proliferation of magic in that world. Why have guns when you can have magic? While it isn't necessarily an argument I agree with (gunpowder can be alchemical in nature), I will concede the point for the sake of this discussion.
Having done so, however, I must ask - what would the soldiers in the Last War be using to kill each other with? After 100+ years of a magical arms proliferation, including living constructs, animated siege engines, and airships, I find it very hard to believe that no one ever came up with a deadlier weapon for the common soldier to use than a pointy bit of metal.
Aside from crossbows, the closest analogy for the gun in D&D is the wand. A Magic Missile wand of the lowest level costs slightly more than a musket (as per DMG prices, at least), but it has a better range, plenty of shots, no reload time, and best of all, it never misses. Sure, it does crappy damage, but most first-level warriors don't have that many hit points to begin with, and besides, it never misses. So iwhat if t takes you two shots to down that enemy soldier instead of one? If the rest of your squad is similarly armed, it won't be an issue.
The biggest problem with wands, besides the price, is the training required to use them. Then again, it seems reasonable in a world like Eberron for Use Magic Device to be a class skill for pretty much everyone except for barbarians, or to create a feat which allows non-casters to use certain items (such as wands) as if they were spellcasters. Or simply to allow a feat which gives characters UMD as a class skill.
So let's assume that the rank-and-file soldiers in Eberron, through whatever means, have the ability to use Magic Missile wands. Great! Every warrior is issued a wand. Every soldier now has a gun that doesn't miss. If he sees you, he can kill you, or at least damage you greatly. How does this change the battlefields of Khorvaire?
I imagine that the Five Kingdoms would quickly realize that marching into battle in formation and setting up firing lines directly opposite one another is a bad idea, especially with weaons that don't miss. At least with the musket, there was a chance (a pretty high one, actually, especially once the "fog of war" rolls in) that the enemy will miss you. With Magic Missiles, it's simply a matter of who wins initiative and who has more hit points (or more wands to be fired at once, since it's likely to take two shots to take down a single man).
It's easy to imagine the Magic Missile wand being the motivation behind the hiring of humanoid mercenaries (who on average have more hit points than the typical human warrior), as well as the creation of the warforged. An ogre or a bugbear doesn't follow orders well, and complex maneuvers are typically beyond them, but they can withstand several hits from a wand before going down, and will probably be able to reach the enemy's firing line and take a few of them with him before he does. Plus an ogre with a greatclub would cost a lot less than a human with a Magic Missile wand. The downside to using big, dumb humanoids is intrinsic, however. It's a lot easier to command troops with intelligence and loyalty than it a monster who would most likely eat you as soon as look at you.
So on the one side you have big, dumb brutes who are cheap but unreliable, and on the other side you have intelligent and deadly weapons which are reliable but expensive. If the Last War was so important that it was waged for over a century, I'm thinking that the Five Nations would have invested the money in developing the intelligent and deadly weapons. So wand-wielding troopers it is.
Now comes the question of protecting our troops. Magic Missile never misses, and it is unaffected by anything except total cover. Ideally, every soldier would have a Brooch of Shielding, but those are twice as expensive as the wands, and let's face it, life is cheap. Officers would probably have them, as would anyone lucky enough to be able to buy one for himself (he'd better not let his squad-mates find out about it, though!), but for the most part, soldiers would have to find other ways to protect themselves.
Enter trench warfare. When you have to fight somewhere where there is no cover, you create cover. And you bring the cover with you. Trench warfare would be a great explanation as to why the Last War lasted for so long, and since the Last War is an analogy for WWI, it fits perfectly.
What do people think? Does anyone else have any good ideas for magical warfare in Eberron?
Having done so, however, I must ask - what would the soldiers in the Last War be using to kill each other with? After 100+ years of a magical arms proliferation, including living constructs, animated siege engines, and airships, I find it very hard to believe that no one ever came up with a deadlier weapon for the common soldier to use than a pointy bit of metal.
Aside from crossbows, the closest analogy for the gun in D&D is the wand. A Magic Missile wand of the lowest level costs slightly more than a musket (as per DMG prices, at least), but it has a better range, plenty of shots, no reload time, and best of all, it never misses. Sure, it does crappy damage, but most first-level warriors don't have that many hit points to begin with, and besides, it never misses. So iwhat if t takes you two shots to down that enemy soldier instead of one? If the rest of your squad is similarly armed, it won't be an issue.
The biggest problem with wands, besides the price, is the training required to use them. Then again, it seems reasonable in a world like Eberron for Use Magic Device to be a class skill for pretty much everyone except for barbarians, or to create a feat which allows non-casters to use certain items (such as wands) as if they were spellcasters. Or simply to allow a feat which gives characters UMD as a class skill.
So let's assume that the rank-and-file soldiers in Eberron, through whatever means, have the ability to use Magic Missile wands. Great! Every warrior is issued a wand. Every soldier now has a gun that doesn't miss. If he sees you, he can kill you, or at least damage you greatly. How does this change the battlefields of Khorvaire?
I imagine that the Five Kingdoms would quickly realize that marching into battle in formation and setting up firing lines directly opposite one another is a bad idea, especially with weaons that don't miss. At least with the musket, there was a chance (a pretty high one, actually, especially once the "fog of war" rolls in) that the enemy will miss you. With Magic Missiles, it's simply a matter of who wins initiative and who has more hit points (or more wands to be fired at once, since it's likely to take two shots to take down a single man).
It's easy to imagine the Magic Missile wand being the motivation behind the hiring of humanoid mercenaries (who on average have more hit points than the typical human warrior), as well as the creation of the warforged. An ogre or a bugbear doesn't follow orders well, and complex maneuvers are typically beyond them, but they can withstand several hits from a wand before going down, and will probably be able to reach the enemy's firing line and take a few of them with him before he does. Plus an ogre with a greatclub would cost a lot less than a human with a Magic Missile wand. The downside to using big, dumb humanoids is intrinsic, however. It's a lot easier to command troops with intelligence and loyalty than it a monster who would most likely eat you as soon as look at you.
So on the one side you have big, dumb brutes who are cheap but unreliable, and on the other side you have intelligent and deadly weapons which are reliable but expensive. If the Last War was so important that it was waged for over a century, I'm thinking that the Five Nations would have invested the money in developing the intelligent and deadly weapons. So wand-wielding troopers it is.
Now comes the question of protecting our troops. Magic Missile never misses, and it is unaffected by anything except total cover. Ideally, every soldier would have a Brooch of Shielding, but those are twice as expensive as the wands, and let's face it, life is cheap. Officers would probably have them, as would anyone lucky enough to be able to buy one for himself (he'd better not let his squad-mates find out about it, though!), but for the most part, soldiers would have to find other ways to protect themselves.
Enter trench warfare. When you have to fight somewhere where there is no cover, you create cover. And you bring the cover with you. Trench warfare would be a great explanation as to why the Last War lasted for so long, and since the Last War is an analogy for WWI, it fits perfectly.
What do people think? Does anyone else have any good ideas for magical warfare in Eberron?
IMC, House Cannith discovered gunpowder while researching a less-volatile equivalent of alchemist's fire.
