D&D (2024) Pirates - more detailed firearms rules

[toucanbuzz]

Just like it sounds, our next campaign is going to be pirates and likely some variation of the Pathfinder Skulls and Shackles. I'm aiming to introduce Elizabethan-era firearms (usually used once in a skirmish), to make them attractive enough to spend the hundreds of gold upon but not game-breaking enough that you'd use them abusively or have a "gunslinger" class. That's too advanced. I'm looking to make them unique. As they are written, they're basically just a higher damage crossbow.

This supplements firearms in the PHB p215, Martial Ranged Weapons. Credit to AD&D Mighty Fortress supplement for ideas.

Pistols & Muskets are single-shot “snaplocks” that use flint and steel sparks to ignite the main charge of gunpowder, superior to “matchlocks” (where you had to light the weapon first, then aim). After firing, two hands are required to reload the weapon, making it an unwieldy proposition in the middle of a melee. Firearms cannot be used in a watery environment.

Pistols and muskets are generally accoutrements of the wealthy, not affordable nor reliable enough for the average pirate to use.

• No Ability Bonus to Damage. Bullets do damage as-is, but they are deadlier at short ranges.
• Ammunition. You cannot recover bullets nor apply poison. You must have black powder applied during each reload.
• Black powder. Required for each reload. Costs 1gp.
• Deadly at Short Range. Any shot within short range ignores worn armor and shield bonuses to Armor Class. The DM has discretion to rule that certain types of Cover may not deter a firearm shot.
• Exploding Dice. Damage rolls of 8, 10, or 12 add a bonus roll of the weapon damage die again. This can repeat and does not apply to the critical hit roll.
• Misfires. A natural 1 on a d20 attack results in a clogged weapon that fails to fire. One (1) minute must be spent clearing the weapon to use it again. If in a moist environment such as a jungle or the ocean, the misfire increases by +1 (e.g. 1-2 on d20). Each attack leaves residue in the weapon, adding +1 to the misfire until cleared. If not cleaned daily, the misfire increases by +1 per day.
• Reload. It takes 2 consecutive reload Actions to reload a firearm and two free hands to perform this Action. The one reloading must have a bullet and black powder at hand.

 

[Sorinth]

One option to make them unique is to have them use Dex saves instead of attack rolls. This already kind of helps deal with armour/shield though since they don't help at all. You do have to imagine Dex saves less as a creature dodging and more as a general quickness/shiftiness that makes high dex creatures harder to target and hit. Give advantage on the save when used at long range, with the DC is 8+Dex+Prof.

If your going to use Exploding Dice it's better to use multiple smaller dice, ie 2d6 instead of 1d12, even 3d4 would be kind of interesting and unique as d4s aren't something that D&D overall uses as much as the other dice. Though since they are essentially limited to once per combat I'd be tempted to go quite high, three or four d6 would make them worthwhile. Balance wise you also have to consider multiple loaded pistols, having say 6 pistols can mean that every attack for the combat is done with a pistol for instance.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Balance wise you also have to consider multiple loaded pistols, having say 6 pistols can mean that every attack for the combat is done with a pistol for instance.

I could see someone asking their pirate crew to "hand me my cannon" and keep a fire brigade of firearms flowing, lol.

 

[mellored]

Gunpowder should be vulnerable to fire damage.

But I kind of feel like making them wands of magic missile would also work.

4d4+4 damage, no roll.

 

[Sorinth]

I could see someone asking their pirate crew to "hand me my cannon" and keep a fire brigade of firearms flowing, lol.

Which isn't too bad depending on what they will be facing. Several hirelings standing around loading guns for a PC sounds great until a single fireball wipes them all out, or a flock? of harpies target them. You'll need to talk to your players about how you want to handle crew, in many ways the ideal is that they aren't too involved in any fights, or at least not to be deciding factors in a fight.

 

[Lazybones]

I like all of these rules, except for the one that ignores armor. While guns of that era could theoretically pierce plate armor, it seems unrealistic that an unarmored human and one in heavy armor and shield would be affected exactly the same way by a gunshot, especially from a flintlock pistol or a musket without a rifled barrel. That rule also boosts natural armor; why would a creature with a thick hide or scales that function essentially the same way as armor be able to shrug off bullets where an armored person couldn't? I would normally turn to the advantage/disadvantage system in a situation like this, but I think giving all guns advantage at short range would be too powerful. Maybe a feat that unlocks that?

 

[CandyLaser]

A suggestion: rather than make firearms more complex, just make them better if you want them to be a significant feature of the campaign. I tried to go down the route you're exploring when I did a 5e pirates campaign, and the result was that no one ended up using firearms; they simply weren't reliably better than bows or crossbows, and they had less feat or class feature support.

What I'd do now is take a page from 4e and make guns into encounter powers. I'd have them do about twice as much damage as a normal attack with their weapon of choice, but then I'd have them take a full minute to reload. If someone wanted to make guns into their primary thing, I'd homebrew a feat or a fighting style that would let them reduce it. Finally, I'd also give everyone proficiency, regardless of class (or at least all martial classes). I think this would make using a gun feel like a little spike in the action, something you might do to finish off a wounded foe or open a fight in a dramatic fashion. It would also support some classic pirate behavior, like pistol-and-cutlass fighting or wearing a brace (or more) of firearms.

 

[DEFCON 1]

When I ran Curse of Strahd and one of the players found the "musket" in one of the cellar tombs, I knew I wanted to make it more special than your standard weapon on the Weapons chart. So I basically took all the rules for a Wand of Lightning Bolt and used those for the "musket", just changing the damage from lightning to piercing. But same range, same width of AoE, same damage amount, same DEX-save to save for half, same number of charges, same chance of it breaking once it ran out of charges. And you had to "clean it" every night in order for it to be ready to use the next morning (IE the "charges refreshed" after a long rest.)

At the end of the day, 8d6 piercing damage to one or more people in a straight line felt a lot more impressive than any kind of slight upgrade to the heavy crossbow as a "firearm". The way I figured it... if we DMs were willing to giving out a Wand of Lightning Bolt as a possible magic item there was zero reason a firearm couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't be just as accessible and as powerful.

 

[aco175]

I'm thinking of a rogue with cunning action being able to reload each round and stacking sneak attack damage on the firearm damage.

 

[AlViking]

I would consider making guns short range and a full round action to reload and there's no way to shorten the time. While you are reloading all attacks against you have advantage and you have disadvantage on saves, or maybe just dex saves. In addition you can't use firearms while it's raining.

To compensate I'd do a fair amount of damage and give them a decent additional bonus to hit. Armor was regularly tested versus handguns to prove that they were well made and if you could afford high quality plate mail you had a good chance of avoiding damage even at relatively close range from a pistol. There were many reasons armor became obsolete for a while but in many ways it was just the changing nature of war, troops were relatively cheap and easy to train and armor was expensive. But for wealthy countries like the US soldiers frequently wear armor in the modern era. It's just not shiny and made of metal so I wouldn't have bullets ignore it.