eriktheguy
First Post
This makes them good first round weapons - shoot once and then draw your blade. It also makes carrying several firearms a good tactic. Both these things happened historically and might make sense, but they might also unbalance your game. Done this way, firearms is the ranged weapon for characters who have Dex but don't use ranged weapons all the time - that is rogues. Rangers are better off with weapons with faster reload.
I ended up going this route. Rifles were bows (increase damage die and reload minor) and pistols were crossbows (increase damage die, reload move). The pistols are pretty much the 'fire and drop' weapon of choice, excellent for rogues.
The rifles are far more appropriate for rangers.
I made a feat that allows you to reload pistols and move 2 squares in one action, so that they weren't useless.
If you want options to make firearms the weapon of choice, I added a 'clockwork' upgrade that makes them load as fast as their template bows and crossbows. Obviously this imbalances the weapons an makes them strictly better than PHB weapons.