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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 8064482" data-attributes="member: 63">In designing the 5e mechanics for ZEITGEIST (a fantasy industrial revolution setting, published by EN Publishing), I ran into the concern of a player carrying six pistols. If the guns do more damage than a bow in exchange for taking longer to reload, well, for a bit of money you can deal a lot of extra damage, and then just have to pick up your guns after you win. And since our tech level was high enough that some craftsmen can make revolvers, the opportunity cost went down even more.We ended up with a design where guns are a teensy bit better than a bow, but eat up your bonus action to reload. Also, if you roll a natural 1 the gun misfires, which fouls the barrel. You can fix this by spending an action to clean the barrel. If you roll another 1 while the barrel is fouled, the gun explodes and damages you.The intent is that guns are great to use as a combat opener for people who want to then close to melee. Guns are still a great option for characters who want a backup ranged weapon, and if you build your character to be a gunner (e.g., being a gunsmith so you can make your own revolvers), you can be slightly better than an archer at the expense of making a LOT of noise and occasionally having your gun jam. It felt setting appropriate.---Then of course, there's the full-on fantasy gear: arcane fusils. They look sorta like guns, but are filled with crystals from elemental planes. You spend a bonus action to charge them, and then on the next turn you spend an action to fire a bolt of lightning or a tiny fireball. If you don't fire the weapon, it overloads and damages you. They're very expensive, though, and high level folks will sometimes carry them as sidearms, but there's no way to fire more than one shot per round.</blockquote>

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