jgsugden
Legend
Guns, like swords, arrows, warhammers, etc... need to be generalized.
I had a player in the 80s that wanted to be Percy from Critical Role - the guy that invented guns and brought them into the fantasy world. I said, "Cool. Use Light X-bow stats." He grumbled as 2E light crossbows did d4 damage and he wanted it to be a massive gun, but I said he was introducing a first gun and he'd be able to improve it as he went. The PC died around level 6 having never shared his secrets, but I had BBEG (speak with dead / use divination / I forget exactly what I did it was 35 years ago) and the surviving PCs started to see guns appear in the campaign world. The HCs (hand cannons) are now a regular part of the fantasy world, and that PC is known to historians as the originator of the HC, but they're nothing special. My modern rules for them are an update from my older rules rather than using the firearm rules in the DMG.
Compared to a light crowwbow, the most common HCs have greater ranges, are much louder, and deal bludgeoning and piercing damage rather than just piercing. They're more expensive, but smaller, as well. However, you'd hardly notice the difference outside of long range combats where armies approach each other, or situations in which weapons are hidden.
There are a few other varities - a Shot Hand Cannon (Shick) that does more damage (d12 instead of d8) with much shorter range and a Staff Hand Cannon that has much greater range (and is impossible to conceal, generally). They are ridiculously expensive, but are great for their respective uses.
Nearly 40 years of experience - and it is non-disruptive and feeds the players the idea of guns.
I had a player in the 80s that wanted to be Percy from Critical Role - the guy that invented guns and brought them into the fantasy world. I said, "Cool. Use Light X-bow stats." He grumbled as 2E light crossbows did d4 damage and he wanted it to be a massive gun, but I said he was introducing a first gun and he'd be able to improve it as he went. The PC died around level 6 having never shared his secrets, but I had BBEG (speak with dead / use divination / I forget exactly what I did it was 35 years ago) and the surviving PCs started to see guns appear in the campaign world. The HCs (hand cannons) are now a regular part of the fantasy world, and that PC is known to historians as the originator of the HC, but they're nothing special. My modern rules for them are an update from my older rules rather than using the firearm rules in the DMG.
Compared to a light crowwbow, the most common HCs have greater ranges, are much louder, and deal bludgeoning and piercing damage rather than just piercing. They're more expensive, but smaller, as well. However, you'd hardly notice the difference outside of long range combats where armies approach each other, or situations in which weapons are hidden.
There are a few other varities - a Shot Hand Cannon (Shick) that does more damage (d12 instead of d8) with much shorter range and a Staff Hand Cannon that has much greater range (and is impossible to conceal, generally). They are ridiculously expensive, but are great for their respective uses.
Nearly 40 years of experience - and it is non-disruptive and feeds the players the idea of guns.
