Gunpowder in your games

[mmadsen]

I figured either do it that way or be prepared to have firearms in a campaign that never get used because a bow will always be so much better.

Realistically, a bow is much better than an early gun -- if the archer's any good.

 

[Kesh]

The last time I DMed a Mystara campaign the characters spent some time in the Savage Coast. We had a swashbuckling ranger/fighter in the party that had two wheellocks and a rapier. He'd always use the guns first in battle, but only ever reloaded them if he was at a safe distance from his target.

I lurv the Red Steel / Savage Coast setting. I'm working up a conversion for the rules to 3.5 and smokepowder weapons will certainly be a part of it.

I just love the idea of a Lupin Ranger with the ranged combat feats and a musket.

 

[Carnifex]

My Acrozatarim campaign features firearms, and I've included some in Steam & Steel: A Guide to Fantasy Steamworks on the basis that they fit quite well into the 'feel' of many campaigns that have steam technology. Among other things, I've included a couple of variant rules for the effects of firearms, including the effects of the noise and thundercrack on green troops under fire (or primitive ones who just dont understand technology) and rules for the impact of bullets knocking people senseless.

 

[Arnwyn]

Gunpowder was discovered by Chinese alchemists looking for an elixer of immortality.

Wow... not like there's a little bit of irony there, hmmmm?

 

[Desdichado]

Still looking? If I can reach the Ezboard from my work, I might be interested.

Yeah, drop me a line or something and I'll set you up with all the links you need.

 

[the Jester]

Thanks for the sunpowder stuff.

The pistolier is kinda cool, but seven feats to qualify seems a bit steep. What's the thinking behind the sneak attack?

Yeah, it's got steep prereqs, but the bennies are pretty fantastic, so I wanted to make sure the entry requirements were tough. Also, Valonian orcs have favored class fighter, which helps a lot.

The sunpowder sneak attack is basically a way to simulate the extreme skill an orcish pistolier develops- at short ranges, he's likely to drop you if he gets the drop on you. Kinda goes along with the dueling thing, if you know what I mean.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Gunpowder (and also steam-powered warships) is limited to only one nation, the dwarven nation of the north. The dwarves aggressively defend their steam engines and gunpowder, as it gives them the edge in combat. They station all manner of golems around weapons storehouses to prevent against its theft.

That's in my homebrew, forgot to add that.