[Grim Tales] Muskets

[Serps]

Hi. My next campaign will feature flintlock pistols and smoothbore longarms in a quasi-Warhammer style.

My variants will be:
* Armour = Fewer Dead Heroes
* MDT = Con
* Personal Firearms is an Exotic WP feat

What calibre/damage should they be? I'm trying to keep them worth spending a feat on, but not so much that they're the obvious choice. (Basically, I want them about as rare as 1-h bastard swordsmen) Has anyone any insights on the guns of this era?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I'm doing flintlocks and wheellocks myself.

The calibres on those weapons were very often quite huge. .60 pistols, etc.

I'm trying to work up what I want, as well. Going with improved linear. Firearms will be relatively more common in my setting, though, so probably just have PFP. I'm increasing load time to 2 rounds (gets close to top actual reload times) so I don't mind them being common and rather powerful as there won't be sustained fire. Perhaps 1d12+2 pistol, 2d8+2 muskets. That's rather high, but only a touch higher than a 9mm (2d6) and a rifle (2d8) and those balls were HUGE back then. Just not incredibly accurate and a bear to reload and keep clean. Fouled weapons will be rather common.

--fje

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

What calibre/damage should they be? I'm trying to keep them worth spending a feat on, but not so much that they're the obvious choice.

Well, let me stop you and inject a little verisimilitude: guns are the obvious choice.

You can't ignore (or rewrite) gun history.

They are the great equalizer.

The limiting factor with muzzle-loading weapons is reload time. They are single shot weapons, which means you won't ever get iterative attacks out of them.

If you are Granny Jones, that's fine. You only had one attack anyway.

If you're a pirate captain with a BAB of +11/+6/+1, then you're going to fire a shot with your pistol, then go to town with your cutlass.

As for a calibre, I would make pretty much all muzzle-loading ammunition about .50 calibre (that's a lot of punch!).


Wulf

 

[drnuncheon]

The limiting factor with muzzle-loading weapons is reload time. They are single shot weapons, which means you won't ever get iterative attacks out of them.

Blackbeard, so they say, used to carry six pistols. With that and quickdraw...

J

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Yup. One of my players has voiced his intent to go into battle strapped like Blackbeard and ready to rock and roll. Which, hey, it's cinematic and cool.

Another one wants to be a musketeer (not of the french variety) and have a couple of ship-boys to clean and load while he fires from afar.

From interesting inventions comes inventiveness.

--fje

 

[Yuan-Ti]

Large calibre, yes, but keep in mind the low velocity.

 

[Serps]

Yeah, I was going to make the range increment pretty small. Maybe something of the order of 20ft for pistols...

 

[Fenris]

For my Grim Tales game I found a set of rules that were perfect for what I wanted. They are from Joshua Dyal's adaptation of the Freeport firearms rules.
Slow reload times, a misfire table, high damage. It was what I wanted for my fantasy/renaissance game. I think he post the link in a thread entitled Firearms in D&D in the general thread.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Large calibre, yes, but keep in mind the low velocity.

Yes, but "low" here is "low" relative to other (more modern) firearms. You say that with a nod and a wink as if "low velocity" was somehow a limiting factor on the bone-shattering power of a musket ball.

I could throw a 1/2-inch ball bearing at you from across the room, and you would NOT be happy.


Wulf

 

[Yuan-Ti]

Yes, but "low" here is "low" relative to other (more modern) firearms. You say that with a nod and a wink as if "low velocity" was somehow a limiting factor on the bone-shattering power of a musket ball.

I could throw a 1/2-inch ball bearing at you from across the room, and you would NOT be happy.


Wulf

Yeah, as someone said the velocity has more an impact on the accuracy (and thus the range increment). I guess that's what I was trying to say. Of course, I think velocity has an impact (no pun intended) on the damage done. But I'm no firearms expert, just a history buff. After all, if I threw a 1/4" ball bearing at you with twice the velocity, you would not be happy either.