Magical firearms

[Eldragon]

What I don't like with some of the spellarms listed here is that they are not much different than wands with ammo instead of charges (All style and roleplaying reasons set aside). I would probably never create a character that used such an item there is very little benefit, and it can be easily covered with existing wand rules.

What if these spellarms shot potions at people instead? e.g. Load the potion into the gun, and shoot it. Range Increment of 40 feet, ranged touch attack to hit target. Normal spell rules apply.

This would be quite useful for the non-fighter types who need magic in a pinch. The Main character in Outlaw Star was really a fighter who used these Casters to supplant his lack for magic abilities.

 

[Taryn]

What if these spellarms shot potions at people instead? e.g. Load the potion into the gun, and shoot it. Range Increment of 40 feet, ranged touch attack to hit target. Normal spell rules apply.

A few problems with that... most of this response is supposed to be humorous, so, I'll point out that the assumption of this is that you simply place a potion into the barrel of the gun... (in all reality, were such an item created, it would likely consume the potion, then shoot out a burst of magic based off the potion's magic-ness).

(Remember: Humor, I'm not trying to insult here...)
[HUMOR]
Anyways: First, if the standard glass beaker of potion is loaded into the gun, what prevents it from shattering when the primary propulsion force of the gun is applied to the back of the potion in order to shoot it out? So... we have liquid and glass shards being shot at the fighter... it's nice that the cleric just shot a potion of cure light wounds at him... that cures 1d8+3 points of damage... and causes 3d8 from the shrapnel...

To fix this, we could make the potions of a thicker glass that withstands being shattered when it's fired... using our example above, the potion, on impact, causes 2d8 points of bludgeoning damage because we just shot a thick glass bottle at the fighter. He does not gain the benefits of the potion, because it is now rolling around at his feet, still intact.

To fix this new problem we could make the back of the potion out of a thick glass, but make it so that the front is still thin enough to break, allowing the fighter to receive the effects of the potion when it hits him... as it gets injected into his bloodstream when the front of the potion shatters upon impact with the back of his head. Cure 1d8+3, and take 1d6 points of damage from glass being shattered on your skin.
[/HUMOR]

Probably, the two best ways of actually making a gun that shot potions would either be to have somebody screw the potion into a 'loading chamber' on the back of the gun, and then shoot it (ala Super Soaker / other water guns), or have the potion already in a dart form (like a tranq gun or something) - of course, I think the dart would still do a d4 damage, like the normal dart.

Still, I think it's a good idea, Eldragon.

 

[Eldragon]

A few problems with that... most of this response is supposed to be humorous, so, I'll point out that the assumption of this is that you simply place a potion into the barrel of the gun... (in all reality, were such an item created, it would likely consume the potion, then shoot out a burst of magic based off the potion's magic-ness).

(Remember: Humor, I'm not trying to insult here...)
[HUMOR]
Anyways: First, if the standard glass beaker of potion is loaded into the gun, what prevents it from shattering when the primary propulsion force of the gun is applied to the back of the potion in order to shoot it out? So... we have liquid and glass shards being shot at the fighter... it's nice that the cleric just shot a potion of cure light wounds at him... that cures 1d8+3 points of damage... and causes 3d8 from the shrapnel...

To fix this, we could make the potions of a thicker glass that withstands being shattered when it's fired... using our example above, the potion, on impact, causes 2d8 points of bludgeoning damage because we just shot a thick glass bottle at the fighter. He does not gain the benefits of the potion, because it is now rolling around at his feet, still intact.

To fix this new problem we could make the back of the potion out of a thick glass, but make it so that the front is still thin enough to break, allowing the fighter to receive the effects of the potion when it hits him... as it gets injected into his bloodstream when the front of the potion shatters upon impact with the back of his head. Cure 1d8+3, and take 1d6 points of damage from glass being shattered on your skin.
[/HUMOR]

Probably, the two best ways of actually making a gun that shot potions would either be to have somebody screw the potion into a 'loading chamber' on the back of the gun, and then shoot it (ala Super Soaker / other water guns), or have the potion already in a dart form (like a tranq gun or something) - of course, I think the dart would still do a d4 damage, like the normal dart.

Still, I think it's a good idea, Eldragon.

Ha ha, yes the glass beakers might hurt a bit.

I dont see the potions as needles so much as splashing the person on impact. Maybe if the potions are painstakingly loaded into eggshells. This could lead to some hilarious situations where a character carrying a bandoleer loaded with these fragile potions falls and breaks a few all over himself at once.

Continuing the idea (At the risk of hijacking the thread, and if you feel that way im sorry JohnQ)... Alchemist's Fire, choking powder, Acid flasks, tanglefoot bags, and holywater could all be used in the spellarm. Would the spellarm be magical or mundane? I could really see this gizmo as something a gnome would come up with.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

The spellarms in my head are not mechanical at all, except for the hinge. They expulsory force is magic, and the "projectile" is a bolt/ball/jolt or whatever of magical force. A Psionic spellarm focuses the mental energy of the user through the crystal channels, expelling a crystal at high speeds that deals 1d8 points of damage from the crystal, +1d8 bludgeoning from the psionic power contained within. It could shoot normal crystals as well, I suppose.

These aren't really supposed to be too different from other magical delivery systems, except that thet're primarily for combat characters. They're very similar mechanically to IK's guns, but I wanted this flavour for Eberron.

I know that the Chinese used crossbows that shot clay balls, so something like that could be used for potions.

EDIT: These things' barrels would only be about 7/10ths of an inch wide max.