D&D 5E Why do guns do so much damage?

[Stalker0]

So another way we could look at this, in a more dnd context.

Again, dnd heavily simplifies mechanics. We have a 6 second round, and in that round numerous attacks are occurred, which is then simplified due to a single attack with a single damage number.

So we keep comparing what a single bullet wound vs a single sword wound would do, but maybe the better question is:

How much damage would a musket do in 6 seconds vs a longsword in 6 seconds. Aka if we accept that a musket does more damage per shot, but the longsword can get in several swings....would the longsword overtake the gun in damage over the course of several swings?

 

[Cadence]

To stray of topic just a little, I do really like the idea of fantasy firearms that operate using something besides gunpowder, like the steam-powered muskets from Last Exile.

To DnDify it, I imagine a particularly mad artificer binding a steam mephit into a gun and hoping for the best.

Brilliant!

Here's the start of a short story with an elemental doing the job... An Excerpt from “The Effigy Engine” | Lynch Industries

 

[wellis]

There are also air guns one could look at if you want an alternative to blackpowder or smokepowder.

 

[jasper]

Probably.

From drawings of how a dragonlance works, it appears to attach to a pintle mount. The shield which is traditionally attached to protect the rider would stay and become the blast shield. Most of the tech to attach the M2 is already there; just swap out the lance with the M2.

Further, if you have someone who knows a little bit about the inner workings of the M2, you could mount two of them side-by-side by reconfiguring each M2 to feed from different sides and expel the brass out the bottom. If you plan to do a lot of firing, I would probably figure out a way to make a bigger saddle for a second rider, so as to allow for a barrel change during combat.

Barrel changes are a bother on the M2. I was always happy we never had to use it while I was in. My mom had better looking oven mitts.

 

[jasper]

My point was more about making them cool, but different.

Blue flames and pin strips. And $1 fan so they are air cooled.

 

[wellis]

From drawings of how a dragonlance works, it appears to attach to a pintle mount.

Speaking of dragonlances, I can't quite remember if they truly were magical, as if you required some sort of mystical something to kill dragons in Dragonlance, or whether they just did more damage (meaning other powerful mundane weapons could do the same).

 

[Flamestrike]

Speaking of dragonlances, I can't quite remember if they truly were magical, as if you required some sort of mystical something to kill dragons in Dragonlance, or whether they just did more damage (meaning other powerful mundane weapons could do the same).

They were.

They added the Dragon you were ridings HP to the damage to your attack with them or something insanely OP from memory.

 

[Flamestrike]

Here is a detailed report on the effects of a Brown Bess musket (smoothbore musket).

At 150 yards:

The first experiment was designed to simulate the effect of the musket shot hitting a man in the torso at 150 yds—the likely distance of engagement. A blanket was placed around the gelatine block to replicate clothing. An entry wound 38 mm across was inflicted, and an exit wound of 65 mm. The maximum permanent cavitation was around 40 mm. It is assessed that this level of damage to the ballistic gelatine block represents a catastrophic effect on a human torso at the likely maximum distance of engagement, assuming a strike to the torso.

At 75 yards:

Next, the effects of the musket shot hitting the chest of a man at 75 yds were measured. The high-speed camera captured evidence of some extremely large temporary cavitation, stretching the gelatine block to twice its original height and volume. The entry wound was 48 mm across, and exit was around 55 mm. The maximum permanent cavitation was 80 mm across, and the wound track had forced off a chunk of ballistic jelly. The temporary cavitation is much greater at 75 yds compared to 150 yds, meaning that considerably more damage would have occurred, that would almost definitely have been fatal.

Summary:

The effects demonstrated using ballistic gelatine at realistic engagement ranges have shown that if struck by a lead shot, the human body will at the very least be incapacitated, and most probably fatally injured. In this respect, the ballistic performance of this weapon system can be said to be excellent, with its effect on modern CBA showing it to be comparable to modern weapons (except enhanced penetrating ammunition).

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/44838/1/44838.pdf

 

[Stalker0]

Here is a detailed report on the effects of a Brown Bess musket (smoothbore musket).

At 150 yards:



At 75 yards:

Summary:



http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/44838/1/44838.pdf

Do we have an equivalent for swords?

I looked up some youtube videos as far as swords used on ballistics gel. I only found one of note, and the sword did far far less than what the notes above describe, though the person was using the blade 1 handed for the most part. But the video is not exactly scientific.

 

[Flamestrike]

Do we have an equivalent for swords?

There are some pretty gruesome ones with guys who wind up and smack ballistic heads with swords dealing considerable damage.

Not that I have ever argued that getting hit flush with a sword on the side of the head by someone who has wound up would be anything less than fatal.

The above videos do clearly show that in a sword fight, you're going to get hacked up really badly before such a killing blow can be landed though.

With muskets, its 'blam' and you've likely already suffered a killing blow, or at the least, are no longer in the fight due to the bullets stopping power.

Your body has just absorbed the better part of 2000 joules of energy braking a lead ball with your tissue and organs, causing severe damage to surrounding organs plus whatever you hit.

The ease of use of a firearm (point and shoot) makes them far more lethal than swords, where (barring an incapacitated victim) blows to the vital organs are much harder to come by.