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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 7760228" data-attributes="member: 5142">The basic ideas of this article had already come up previously in the discussion of the article on the American influence on D&D, so there are not really any big surprises here. Most weapons in D&D (e.g., daggers, slings, shields, spears, bows, etc.) fail to represent their actual effectiveness in historical use. Longbows were not exactly something you used when fighting an ogre in a dungeon. That probably has more to do with the rise of professional armies and artillery. Knights were expensive to equip and train. But nations could eventually churn out a larger, if not more effective, army with less time, money, and effort. Mobile Swiss pike formations were able to neutralize a lot of knights and heavy cavalry, and likewise Swiss pikemen became increasingly vulnerable to the ascendancy of firearms. Cannons were able to neutralize a lot of knights and fortifications. Eberron presents a world where gunpowder and firearms never developed because it was largely redundant with the setting's wide magic and the subsequent industrialization of magic. The industrialization of magic, dedicated arcane crafters, and the Dragonmarked houses made a lot of magic items relatively cheaper and more readily available. The Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron suggests that Cantrips and 1st level spells are common, and that items based around these spells are roughly 50-100 gp. 3rd level spell items, such as wands of fireball, are more uncommon, but would still only be ~200 gp. But keep in mind, that you are not buying a "gun" with a wand of fireball, you are essentially buying "grenades" or "light cannon." Though here staves would likely be more common as artillery than wands. And not only are you buying a cannon, you are buying pocket-sized ones that do not require the same amount of resources (e.g., cannoneer teams, wagons, gunpowder kegs, supply lines, horses/mules, etc.) to utilize in battle or mobilize to new battlefields. This cannot be understated how revolutionary this would be. Even at 1st level, a typical wandslinger in army just casting their cantrips can potentially provide as much damage, if not moreso, than the equivalent firearms. Low level magewrights, wandslingers, and the like are incredibly common in Eberron. The biggest downside is that you would need someone with magic to use it, but we were told that House Cannith was supposedly developing wands that could be utilized by non-mages! So what makes gunslingers anywhere near as cost effective?</blockquote>

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