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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3373524" data-attributes="member: 4937">The first firearms really didn't have anything on a heavy crossbow, and were probably inferior to a longbow.  When the first firearms were invented, it certainly wasn't clear to anyone that they'd eventually revolutionize warefare.  What was revolutionary about a firearm was that you could become an expert in using one in just a few weeks of training.  That was huge.  Compared to archery, which required months of training, and to the longbow - which basically required you to be trained from birth to be any good at it - the ability to train up a large force of skilled musketeers in just a few weeks was huge.But the longbow held its own against muskets for hundreds of years.  It's penetrating power was nearly as good as early musketry and its rate of fire was 10 or 20 times higher, and it was more reliable in bad weather.  In fact, there were longbowmen participating in battle as late as Waterloo in the 19th century.  And consider that the aboriginal Americans were by no means overmatched by 16th or even 18th century firearms when using only stone age weapons.So, if your impression is that warriors trained since birth can do as well with a bow as they could with muskets, then that impression is probably correct.  And warriors trained since birth continued to fight successfully alongside or against musketeers in roles that would have seemed rather familiar to 11th century knights - archers, pikemen, lancers, swordsman, etc. - right up until the 18th century.  The problem is that warriors trained sense birth soon became radically outnumbered by nationalized militias wielding standardized firearms wearing standardized uniforms and firing mass volleys.  And by the time we get to a late 18th century musket or rifle, we are dealing with something that just really outclasses melee weapons and traditional missile weapons.  That said, you are quite right to say that even a primitive musket should ignore the first couple points of armor protection - say 3.  It should also have an inherent +2 to hit compared to traditional missile weapons, reflecting its fast and flat trajectory.  That and the range increments in D&D are about twice as long as they should be and longbows should be an exotic rather than martial weapon.</blockquote>

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