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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 3371899" data-attributes="member: 13966">There's nothing arbitrary or unfair, and nothing that a player can really argue about, with the DM asking for a Knowledge (Technology), Knowledge (Firearms), or Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) roll and, based on the result, telling the player "Sorry, but your character doesn't have the deep knowledge and understanding of physics and alchemy to make this technological leap.  He tries to theorize a method of making guns work that way, but finds it beyond his current expertise in mechanical and alchemical matters."Unless you stupidly set the DC at something like 20 or 30, in which case you deserve to acquiesce and submit to the player's demands when he manages to succeed at such a roll.  For a low-tech society, lacking modern know-how, info-sharing, and context, devising more modern kinds of firearm technology is going to be an Epic skill check DC.  Also, y'know, a few hundred years worth of intermittent arms races, gun improvements, and scientific discoveries.  On top of the centuries (IIRC) that the Chinese had been developing gunpowder into effective firearms beforehand.  Joe Adventurer the kinda-sorta proto-chemist-engineer doesn't have a snowball's chance in all the Nine Hells of covering that much technological and scientific ground in his mortal lifetime.  Not as long as someone even half-competent and half-independently-thinking person is wearing the DM hat.If a player gets uppity at their character not being able to make advanced firearms, remind them that they are not their PC, and that is why their PC has the fighting skills to slay a tyrannosaurus rex single-handedly with nothing more than a pointy stick, whereas the player most certainly could not.  If their PC is a spellcaster instead, then point out that their PC knows tons of arcane formulas and eldritch secrets that bend reality visibly to his or her will, even though the player knows nothing of the sort.On the subject of firearms = touch attacks?  Hells no.  Bad, bad, bad idea.  Doesn't make sense anyway.  (The dragon has four times the natural armor of what a suit of full plate would grant, but it's still as easily wounded by bullets as a human?  The psion has twice full plate's armor bonus from a force effect, but the bullet still penetrates it just as easily?  Pfffft)No, that would just be asinine.  Teleport or Plane Shift doesn't require line of sight, for example.  And just because there might not yet be a printed spell that does something vaguely similar, does not mean it should be impossible pre-Epic level.  This has more to do with wasting people's time and behaving spitefully, than it does with anyone having fun at the game table, which is the entire point of games (to have fun).Oh?  Physics is a house rule.  Lots of stuff in D&D doesn't follow physics.  As long as you aren't saying there's no gravity (or something similarly omipresent in daily lives), or that water isn't wet, or air isn't breathable to humans  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":confused:" title="Confused    :confused:"  data-smilie="5"data-shortname=":confused:" /> , there shouldn't be a problem.  You can say that gravity has to do with the interaction of elemental Earth and elemental Air, and nothing to do with mass or physics, and it won't break the game or make problems with verisimilitude.  People aren't falling left instead of down when they fall off a cliff......unless you're in Limbo or something, maybe.Guns don't work in the setting?  Easy.  "Sorry, but sulfur has different properties in the game world.  It doesn't help with exploding stuff."  Or "Unfortunately, in the game world, sulfur (or whatever substance the PC is trying to use) doesn't burn explosively, but slowly and weakly.  It's a strange form of elemental Earth.  You're not going to be launching any projectiles with it."  Chemistry is as much a houserule and physics, in D&D.  Scientific elements aren't necessarily the same as the D&D elements.  If they want to argue, have them explain how Fire Elementals burn all the time without any fuel, and being formed of pure elemental Fire, and have minds, and are solid enough to hit people with physical, bludgeoning, impact.  If they can't, since it's impossible from a real-world point of view, say "Well, gunpowder has the same problems in this setting as fire elementals would have in our world."Or whatever.</blockquote>

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