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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 1858656" data-attributes="member: 1645">If you want more realistic firearm stats, an arquebus (or hackbutt) is roughly 4 feet long and weighs about 15 lbs.&nbsp; Ten shots worth of powder and ball weigh a bit over 1 lb -- a dozen &quot;12 bore&quot; bullets (lead balls) weigh 1 lb and require another half pound of powder.A trained musketeer could hit a particular man at 30 to 50 yards, and one group of soldiers could hit another group at 100 yards.&nbsp; This implies a range increment of, say, 40 yards, or 120 feet, like the heavy crossbow -- for a six-foot musket.&nbsp; The smaller arquebus might have stats like the light crossbow, i.e. 80 feet.Early musketeers had a rate of fire of roughly one shot per two minutes.&nbsp; It takes almost 20 D&amp;D turns to load a matchlock musket: pour powder down the barrel, drop a ball in, ram it down, load powder in the pan, place the lit match (fuse) back in the hammer, etc.&nbsp; An arquebus, with its shorter barrel, loads a bit more quickly: one shot per minute and a half.&nbsp; In a D&amp;D-style skirmish, you get your one shot and reload between combats.&nbsp; (In later centuries, well-drilled troops loading paper cartridges into flintlock weapons achieved rates of fire up to three rounds per minute -- in D&amp;D terms, two rounds reloading, one round shooting.)Also, while it takes little skill to aim and shoot a firearm, it takes some skill to reload an early matchlock properly.&nbsp; Unskilled soldiers might misfire almost half the time.A few people have mentioned treating firearm attacks as ranged touch attacks.&nbsp; Although firearms could penetrate armor, they often didn't, especially at long range or against heavier armor &quot;of proof&quot; -- making them not so different from crossbows.&nbsp; And if a thick breastplate could stop an arquebus ball in the real world, shouldn't a +5 breastplate stop it easily in D&amp;D?My suggestion: treat a musket as a heavy crossbow and an arquebus (or hackbutt) as a light crossbow, but weighing three times as much, doing one die-size more damage, with a 20- or 15-round reload time, and prompting a morale/fear check in most troops.And don't forget that smoke obscures the battlefield very quickly.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 1858656, member: 1645"] If you want more realistic firearm stats, an arquebus (or hackbutt) is roughly 4 feet long and weighs about 15 lbs. Ten shots worth of powder and ball weigh a bit over 1 lb -- a dozen "12 bore" bullets (lead balls) weigh 1 lb and require another half pound of powder. A trained musketeer could hit a particular man at 30 to 50 yards, and one group of soldiers could hit another [i]group[/i] at 100 yards. This implies a range increment of, say, 40 yards, or 120 feet, like the heavy crossbow -- for a six-foot musket. The smaller arquebus might have stats like the light crossbow, i.e. 80 feet. Early musketeers had a rate of fire of roughly one shot per [i]two minutes[/i]. It takes almost 20 D&D turns to load a matchlock musket: pour powder down the barrel, drop a ball in, ram it down, load powder in the pan, place the lit match (fuse) back in the hammer, etc. An arquebus, with its shorter barrel, loads a bit more quickly: one shot per minute and a half. In a D&D-style skirmish, you get your one shot and reload between combats. (In later centuries, well-drilled troops loading paper cartridges into flintlock weapons achieved rates of fire up to three rounds per minute -- in D&D terms, two rounds reloading, one round shooting.) Also, while it takes little skill to aim and shoot a firearm, it takes some skill to reload an early matchlock properly. Unskilled soldiers might misfire almost half the time. A few people have mentioned treating firearm attacks as ranged touch attacks. Although firearms could penetrate armor, they often didn't, especially at long range or against heavier armor "of proof" -- making them not so different from crossbows. And if a thick breastplate could stop an arquebus ball in the real world, shouldn't a +5 breastplate stop it easily in D&D? My suggestion: treat a musket as a heavy crossbow and an arquebus (or hackbutt) as a light crossbow, but weighing three times as much, doing one die-size more damage, with a 20- or 15-round reload time, and prompting a morale/fear check in most troops. And don't forget that smoke obscures the battlefield very quickly. [/QUOTE]

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