D&D 5E Guns in your world, and in mine!

[TheCosmicKid]

How much damage should a standard cannon do?

I was thinking 1d20. Do you believe that is too little?

[MENTION=6801286]Imaculata[/MENTION]'s 4d6-10d6 numbers seem more realistic (as realistic as the hit point system is capable of, anyway). Cannons are Bad News. You saw that breastplate from Waterloo earlier.

 

[Imaculata]

@Imaculata's 4d6-10d6 numbers seem more realistic (as realistic as the hit point system is capable of, anyway). Cannons are Bad News. You saw that breastplate from Waterloo earlier.

I based it on the average hitpoints of ship sections in 3.5's Stormwrack. If you want to breach tough structures, a cannon needs to do a lot of damage. This is balanced by the fact that cannons take a lot of rounds to reload. Some feats in Stormwrack, along with certain homebrew ship upgrades, allow you to reduce the reload time a little.

There's a little more to the different kinds of ammo, but that is described in the document. Some types of ammo deal double damage to ship rigging, for example.

How much damage should a standard cannon do?

There's not really a standard for cannons. But in terms of size, the small cannon in my campaign does 4d6 damage. These are the sorts of cannons that fit on relatively small vessels, such as a Pinnace. In Stormwrack each ship type has small and/or large weapon-mounts, which determine how many siege weapons fit on the vessel. Ships of a larger size category can also carry a medium cannon (6d6), or a heavy cannon (10d6). The heavy cannon is huge, and needs to be reloaded by 4 men to reduce the reloading time to 6 rounds.

In the document that I provided, I also have a table that shows the amount of gunpowder required for the various weapons.

And it also has pretty pictures!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

There's no sharp distinction. In a universe where you can mix some substances to create a black powder that explodes and mix some different substances to create a red liquid that heals wounds, who's to say that one is "magic" and the other isn't?

The difference being that historical alchemists actually did produce gunpowder.

When you say this it really just raises the question of why they're speaking English to begin with.

Having very different properties is one thing, but normally when I see "alchemical" firearms, they don't. They're just reskinned gunpowder weapons. Especially in the context of a details-light game like 5E D&D, there are only so many ways you can do "shoots small metal projectile out of tube very fast".

Dangit, dude.

Im gonna have to put this in my sig or something.

I do not now, nor will I *ever* care, even a tiny little bit, about any argument that is entirely or even just primarily about some not pick of word choice or trivia or whatever. I don't care about internet argument win points.

So, to address the bits that aren't just nitpicking:

Other races speak English for the same reasons my white neighbors speak Spanish. Like...people speak multiple languages, man.

Further, many languages are related. The language of the forest dwarves is essentially a Germanic language, closely related to Old High German. Many words in many languages come from ancient non human languages, and many non human groups speak the same languages as groups of humans. Many Djinn, Alfar, and various Fey of the Andala Desert speak Arabic, while others speak a language related to Old Persians. because the setting doesn't imagine a world in which the hidden world has always been hidden, nor does hidden mean disconnected or uneffected.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I do not now, nor will I *ever* care, even a tiny little bit, about any argument that is entirely or even just primarily about some not pick of word choice or trivia or whatever. I don't care about internet argument win points.

Dude. Read how you've been writing. For starters, you just recently lectured me on the definition of the word "alchemy". So this comes across way too much like, "I want to dish it out, but I don't want to have to take it."

Other races speak English for the same reasons my white neighbors speak Spanish. Like...people speak multiple languages, man.

Further, many languages are related. The language of the forest dwarves is essentially a Germanic language, closely related to Old High German. Many words in many languages come from ancient non human languages, and many non human groups speak the same languages as groups of humans. Many Djinn, Alfar, and various Fey of the Andala Desert speak Arabic, while others speak a language related to Old Persians. because the setting doesn't imagine a world in which the hidden world has always been hidden, nor does hidden mean disconnected or uneffected.

So your setting is actually Earth? But then what's the Andala Desert?

 

[Derren]

There's not really a standard for cannons. But in terms of size, the small cannon in my campaign does 4d6 damage. These are the sorts of cannons that fit on relatively small vessels, such as a Pinnace. In Stormwrack each ship type has small and/or large weapon-mounts, which determine how many siege weapons fit on the vessel. Ships of a larger size category can also carry a medium cannon (6d6), or a heavy cannon (10d6). The heavy cannon is huge, and needs to be reloaded by 4 men to reduce the reloading time to 6 rounds.

I suggest:
Light Cannon: Up to 6lb (also the most common ones used on land)
Medium Cannon: 7lb - 12lb
Heavy Cannon: 13lb or more

And 4 men for reloading is actually quite low.

If you are at it, you might need some rules for carronades (short range but powerful) and mortars if you want a complete list.

 

[Imaculata]

I suggest:
Light Cannon: Up to 6lb (also the most common ones used on land)
Medium Cannon: 7lb - 12lb
Heavy Cannon: 13lb or more

And 4 men for reloading is actually quite low.

If you are at it, you might need some rules for carronades (short range but powerful) and mortars if you want a complete list.

Carronades are already included in the list on page 36 (the word document attached to the post). They are called Kooghan Carronades, because in my campaign setting only a specific pirate faction called the Kooghans have invented them.

As for 4 men reloading the cannon, that is the bare minimum number of people required for that cannon type. You can command more crew to assist in loading the cannon, to shorten the reload time.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Dude. Read how you've been writing. For starters, you just recently lectured me on the definition of the word "alchemy". So this comes across way too much like, "I want to dish it out, but I don't want to have to take it."

So your setting is actually Earth? But then what's the Andala Desert?

I didn't lecture you about a definition, I pointed out that alchemy is science, because many ppl forgot or never knew that it was more than just a bunch of hocum about living forever and transmuting things into gold. I was pointing out an actual distinction that I wasn't sure was clear. I got no issue with pointing out legit distinctions.

Anyway, why does it matter how my setting is set up? We've now gone miles away from the topic on a tangent that was meant to just be a quick example of how the word alchemy is/can be treated in a setting, which itself was a bit of a tangent.

Since you seem genuinely curious, the setting is Earth, and also a number of other worlds that are connected to earth, including a "Fey" world with many name, generally called The Otherworld (because realistically, some names of things are inventinve, and some just aren't) from whence come the Alfar, Djinn and many other races. The worlds are connected through places called crossroads, and it used to be much easier to pass from one world to another. In ancient times, the worlds weren't signifigently separate, and humans and the other races evolved side by side.
Otherworld is unique among the worlds in that it's geography isn't really logical or static, like distances aren't always the exact same between to distant places, and it is the world that is closest to Midgard (the "real" universe), and has many areas that analagous to Earth, because the Fey have long memories, and have an easier time crossing into our world to hang out with us in disguise than most.
The Andala Region is a region covering about twice as much land as the RL Sahara, with geography ranging from Sahara type desert to rugged badlands, with a few verdant river valleys and a LOT of coastline. The Alfar there have cultures that developed alongside ancient human cultures, and some that didn't, but all are effected by humans, and vise versa.

 

[Chaosmancer]

To the point on "exotic propellants", in my current game we are using guns using steampunk magic handwaving, but the actual material that makes bullets go boom is essentially "magic crystal dust"

A few reasons for this.

1) Everyone leaves in massive tower cities, except dwarves cause reasons, so mining for materials is near impossible, and I've done a lot of bending over backward to get wood and food to make sense for the sake of the aesthetic.

2) It makes it much easier to explain magical exploding bullets which I know my players will want down the road.

3) I get to set the rules on what is possible and what is not. You can't say your character is an expert in bullet manufactering, so you can build TnT charges and carry around high-yield explosives. I get to decide if that is possible (more generally based on whether I want TnT and guns in my game or just guns)

So, it is a little more than being different for the sake of being different. It gives a different Aesthetic and allows the GM a little more control on what historically accurate weapons of mass destruction he wants his players being able to come up with.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

To the point on "exotic propellants", in my current game we are using guns using steampunk magic handwaving, but the actual material that makes bullets go boom is essentially "magic crystal dust"

A few reasons for this.

1) Everyone leaves in massive tower cities, except dwarves cause reasons, so mining for materials is near impossible, and I've done a lot of bending over backward to get wood and food to make sense for the sake of the aesthetic.

2) It makes it much easier to explain magical exploding bullets which I know my players will want down the road.

3) I get to set the rules on what is possible and what is not. You can't say your character is an expert in bullet manufactering, so you can build TnT charges and carry around high-yield explosives. I get to decide if that is possible (more generally based on whether I want TnT and guns in my game or just guns)

So, it is a little more than being different for the sake of being different. It gives a different Aesthetic and allows the GM a little more control on what historically accurate weapons of mass destruction he wants his players being able to come up with.

Exactly. I've rarely seen it be "different for the sake of different". Even if all that changes is the general feel of the setting, that is an actual difference. It doesn't need to change the mechanics of the game to be significant.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I was pointing out an actual distinction that I wasn't sure was clear. I got no issue with pointing out legit distinctions.

Everything is a "legit distinction" to the person posting it. And anything can be "nitpicking and trivia" to a person hostile to it. Nobody is as charitable regarding other people's words and intentions as they are to their own, but we can at least try to do better, can't we?