Magic Guns!

[rootbeergnome]

Hey again everyone. I am going to be starting a new DnD campaign with my group, and it will be an increasingly magi-tech setting. I want there to be technology, but i dont really want the technology to be science-based, I want it all to be magic based. Golems instead of robots, animated structures instead of cars/trains, enchanted flying behemoths instead of jets, etc etc. It will start out somewhat light, but the setting will become increasingly more magi-tech oriented. I was trying to come up with an alternative to gunpowder weapons (science based) and use a more magic oriented gun approach. So far I have kinda thought about OutLaw Star type guns, or maybe guns that are fed by the user's life-force, but i dont really like the flavor of either so much. Anyone used magic guns/cannons in their games before? I have been trying to come up with ideas, but am sorta dry here, so any help would be awesome.

 

[Creamsteak]

I once ran a game where I allowed guns to use "wands" for fuel. Difference being that the craft wands feat was the pre-requisite for the craft magical firearms feat that was required to create these specialized wands to fire spells. Also, 3rd level spells maximum. Lastly, the wands cost is doubled, because any character can use them, with a tool.

Also, each wand gun had to be specialized for a particular type of wand.

So, let's just say you want your basic magic gun (magic missile wands), the costs and requirements are as such:

Magic Missile Spell
Craft Wands
Craft Magical Firearms
Market value of a 50 shot wand at 1st caster level = 1500
Market value of a magic-firearm of magic missile = 3000

 

[the Jester]

Hmm... I'll search for my description of sunpowder weapons for you. Hang on...

Here's a cut and paste from a past thread:

Well, back in 2e when orcs were lawful evil, I had detailed a warlordship of orcs on one of the major continents of my campaign world, Valonia. Now that 3e is out I've made Valonian orcs a subrace; the two major differences from savage orcs are the tendency to law and favored class fighter. Likewise, Valonian half-orcs tend to law and favor the fighter class.

Around Valonia are several human islands that have, for several centuries, formed the Free Trade Alliance (FTA) that wields the most economic clout of any group or nation in the campaign world (or at least the explored part of it). The major (monotheistic) religion of the campaign is a very Lawful one, which has spread throughout the Valonian orcs through the actions of dwarven missionaries. This is worship of Galador, also called the Light, who ignited the sun a million years ago. So now the Galador-fearing orcs really want to be accepted as a "civilized" race and really want in the FTA. But of course, human predjudice has so far prevented this.

The final twist on this is that the orcs of Valonia have learned certain religious rites that allow them to take distilled sunlight (kind of like super holy water) and turn it into a powder that's extremely volatile. This substance (sunpowder) has in turn been developed into a number of sunpowder weapons, such as arquebuses and cannons. So the Valonian orcs have a secret "ultimate weapon" to use, both as leverage and in war... and being orcs, they remain extremely warlike.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I have no experience with firearms other thn a handful of one-shots, but Iron Kingdoms has good magickal firearms and a Gunmage core class to go with 'em, all free at www.ironkingdoms.com! Creating gunpowder in IK requires Craft Blasting Powder, which requires being an arcane caster of at least 5th level. The whole process hasn't been detailed yet, though. IK gunpowder can be suppressed by dispel magic.

 

[doghead]

Having just come across Iron Kingdoms (Full Metal Fantasy - rather tag cool that), I was thinking of adding a technomagii element into my game as well.

Some thoughts so far.

My first idea was the Humbolt - a 6 barreled crossbow bolt thrower. New bolts can be slipped into an empty barrel from behind (as in the old six shooter). It was basically mechanical except for the propulsion system.

The wand using guns seems like a fairly simple solution. It would seem to involve a minimum of additional rules.

I am tempted to keep the actual weapons as close to the "bullet and bang" concept of guns as possible. Only the propulsion relies on magic. I was thinking of including in the setting some wastes, in which magic does not really function at all. The tribes that lived there developed "blackpower" weapons ("Carbide" I was thinking of calling it. I don't really know what carbide is, but I like the sound of it.) The idea was taken and adapted by the nations in areas where magic does work. This would explain the existance of such weapons. In these areas, as almost all innovation would be magical (who would bother inventing the gaslamp when you have Light and Permenant Light spells), they use magic rather than powder.

The simplest solution would be to use mini-fireballs or some such as charge. Its likely that enchanted ammunition is available as well.

Humm. OK. Not really much here at all really. Time to get to work on this if I want to use it. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know.

 

[NeuroZombie]

Pick up Arsenel and Factory from Perpetrated Press and you will have all the Magi-Tech that you will ever need....

 

[Creamsteak]

In revision, I think that perhaps the way to handle magic "shooting" guns in a normal setting should require craft magical arms and armor as well. This is for a more normal DnD game where you want to have magical firearms, but you also want to increase the mechanics for why they are much more rare than a +1 longsword. So, in order to craft the gun that fires a fireball you need the following:

Craft Magical Arms and Armor (Prerequisite for craft Magical Firearms)
Craft Wands (Prerequisite for craft Magical Firearms)
Craft Magical Firearms

The creation price for a given "clip" wand is: (Spell Level*Caster Level*375) + xp cost
The creation price for a given "gun" is: (Spell Level*Caster Level*500) + xp cost

"Clips" cost as much as a normal wand. Gun's cost half as much as a use-activated/continous item (that would fundamentally do the same thing an infinite number of times without a clip). That makes sense to me.

To create a pre-filled magic gun, the cost is (Spell Level*Caster Level*875) + xp cost.

The advantage of a Caster Gun over a Wand is that any character can use it.
The advantage of a Caster Gun over a Use-activated item is initial investment, but the continuous item never stops working. Use-activated items would only be 125 gp higher than the 875 multiplier for a starting set.

 

[Stalker0]

With had a submarine with magic missile gatling guns... it was all good.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

For me magic guns usually come in two types...

The first type is something like +3 Holy Revolver or a +2 Flaming, Quick Reloading Militairy Percussion-cap Rifle.

The second type is just something like a Wand of Lightning Bolt or Dorje of Concussion, that is designed a lot like a gun, but is mechanically a wand or dorje. It can only be used by the those with special talents and knowledge (such as Use Magic Device skill).

 

[FoxWander]

For mechanical-type 'guns' that are powered by magic, look at a variation on the Permanent version of Shrink Item, something that allows the item to shrink and expand when hit by a certain kind of material.

Imagine a steel rod the length and width of your gun's barrel. Cast your variant Permanent Shrink Item on it. Fit your shrunken steel rod inside a barrel and then put a bullet in front of it. Expand the steel rod by hitting it with 'material X' on the gun's hammer and you have a "gun".

For a more D&D feel, instead of lead bullets, use crossbow quarrels or darts. I personally like the aesthetic of an arrow shooting "gun".