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Guns in a Fantasy Settings: Tips and Tricks for a GM


Manic Typist

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(Tried to post this last night but it seems to have disappeared).

 

I'm going to run a campaign that mixes high fantasy with early firearms (roughly American Civil War era weapons).

 

I'm looking for anyone else's experiences mixing these elements. I want the presence of firearms to not completely dominate the setting, but for it to be a major element whose presence is felt even in scenes where it isn't featured - such as more light armor or no armor fighters, and a premium on magical protection from firearms when possible.

 

My initial thoughts:

1) I'll need to think about how fighting styles will reflect the nature of guns. There will be a set of basic maneuvers meant for use after you've spent your shot - using the gun as a club, spear, quarterstaff, etc.  Probably most will also have decent skills with sabres/small swords that can be wielded one handed.

 

2) I'm thinking that all firearms will be built (with some exception) with one level of AP, to reduce the efficacy of armor, magical and mundane.

 

 

Anyone else have thoughts on this, tips and tricks?

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I've only mixed guns in with fantasy twice, both for one-shots.

 

One was for a Seventh Sea-esque pirate game: I used single-shot wheel lock pistols that took 1 Turn to reload, so they were basically fire-and-drop, then go for your sword.

 

The other was for a post-apoc fantasy game where the PCs managed to get their hands on some 19th Century Winchester rifles and Colt Peacemakers. Totally unbalancing, and was intended to be that way to give the PCs a big advantage.

 

In either case, AP is definitely the way to go.

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​Fantasy Hero Complete​ has stats for Matchlock and Wheellock firearms, but they aren't very appealing weapons as written. They cause similar amounts of damage to Bows and Crossbows (albeit with a higher STUN Multiplier), but have many more limitations. You could replace the +1 STUN Multiplier with Armor Piercing and otherwise use their statistics as is (the Active/Real costs should be the same if I recall correctly).

 

One thing I did while planning for a heroic campaign that never happened was replacing the concept of using Clips of Charges to represent ammunition with using END Reserves (with no Recovery) to represent Ammunition. This way ammunition always had a point value (albeit it was usually 1 CP). Special ammunition would have bonuses to OCV or Damage linked to the END Reserve which represented that piece of ammunition.

I really liked the idea... because on paper I could do all kinds of neat things with the system mechanically. Such as have a spell that "summoned ammo" (written as an independent Zero END modifier for the weapon), or have special ammunition without the construct being any cludgier than it already was. Since it was for a Heroic campaign, the players didn't have to pay for or see the constructs themselves... so raw efficiency was less important. The system might also work in games using Resource Points... However it was more work for me as the GM since I had to write all those extra stat blocks, and I never got to test it in play so I can't actually be sure if it was worth the effort.

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I ran a game which had black powder weapons. The setting was sort of Napoleonic era but with the pace of technological advancement sped up a bit.

 

So the army that the PCs worked for was just in the final stages of retiring pike-and-shot regiments in favour of musketeers. But there were riflemen as well and strange multi-barrelled guns as well.

 

Had a great time finding evidence of weird historical guns like the boarding gun and the pistol cutlass.

 

I had guns as standard so no one bothered with bows, (or at least it was rare). Guns were AP as I recall but did not usually do so much damage as to make melee weapons useless.

 

I also had long loading times. But I had a loading skill that was basically bought as skill levels which reduced the amount of time it took to load a weapon.

 

So an incredibly skilled soldier could reload in a single action while a new recruit might take a Turn or so.

 

Regardless most people at least had pistols that they could use once before getting into melee.

 

I did make the guns fairly inaccurate but again characters could buy PSLs to offset this.

 

Pistols as I recall were fairly accurate at close range but had very low range increments so became rapidly less accurate at longer ranges.

 

All in all it worked fairly well. Characters could focus on being good at melee or at getting the most out of guns, (or use magic of course). Any monsters or villains had to be able to survive the initial hail of bullets the party could unleash but I don't remember the fights being a cakewalk. (Though I did set a Predator on them at one point).

 

Might be able to dig up my old design documents given time.

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Pistols as I recall were fairly accurate at close range but had very low range increments so became rapidly less accurate at longer ranges.

That's a pretty fair point. Early firearms were meant to be fired in the general direction of that formation of soldiers, not actually at individuals. So increasing their range penalty beyond a certain distance might work. But I'm not sure how much difference it would make for most RPG combats.

 

The other advantage gun had over bows historically was they were easier to learn: it takes years to become a decent archer, whereas most anyone can be taught to shoot passably in a few hours. It's harder to model that in Hero without totally reinventing the Weapon Familiarity rules, but you could just handle it narratively.

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In a setting with a lot of magic (high fantasy) this may not work, but in a low magic or no magic setting where guns are rare, one could give them a linked Presence Attack against anything not specifically trained to face them.   The flash, bang, and smoke tend to upset the horses, and sometimes the peasants.  They tend to shy away from and resist orders to approach the source, and possibly make a ride or leadership check necessary.   PCs should have enough PRE that the attack largely bounces off them.

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Do not forget that black powder is useless when wet ... and undependable in matchlocks when damp/moist.   I would argue that unless a firearm of this era has been freshly loaded from a powder horn of dry powder within the last minute or so (and assuming not in a rainy environment), it should have an activation roll of 15-.  The more damp or rainy the environment, the more the GM should adjust that roll downward.  Failures to ignite and/or failures to fully burn were common.

 

It should also be noted that the earliest rifling dates to the late 1400's at a time when you had to have kingly sums of money to afford it.  Rifling wasn't really practical until the mid-1500's (and was still ludicrously expensive in custom-built firearms) ... and didn't become commonplace until the mid-1800's with the rifled musket (aka 'rifle').  Thus, if your game is early-setting and your characters aren't filthy rich, you're likely dealing with smoothbore firearms ... which are either firing slugs (likely armor piercing) that become inaccurate after short distances (compared to slugs fired from rifled barrels) ... or you're dealing with shotguns that release a pattern of shot (probably an added stun multiplier) that is relatively predictable/accurate, but is also only relatively short range.

 

Shotguns were, by the way, the most common firearm brought to the 'new world' by settlers, because they could provide sustenance and defense ... and were reasonably inexpensive compared to the (few and far between) rifles of their day.

 

Post-1800's saw the invention of percussion caps, revolvers, and, eventually, mass-production principles.  This is where firearm advancement really took off.

 

A useful timeline: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/

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It's not just dampness. The fine priming powder that goes in the pan is very easily dislodged by movement and would generally not be applied until just before the intended firing of the weapon. It's also a complicated process that, in the heat of battle, is likely to be improperly executed. Hence the emphasis on the first volley of muskets (which will have been loaded carefully before the battle begins, leaving only the priming to be done in the face of the enemy); after the first volley, an increasing proportion of shots will lack essential elements (like a ball, or half the propellant charge, or proper tamping of the powder). Possibly not so important for the few-on-few tactical engagements common to RPGs, but certainly a "reloading" skill that needs to be rolled for an effective shot wouldn't be misplaced for muzzle-loading black powder weapons, and penalties to the activation roll for jostled/mishandled weapons.

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In response to your question about fighting techniques with spent fire-arms Typist.

 

I see three options.

 

You stick a bayonet on the gun and use it as a spear; advanced fighters could use martial manoeuvres stolen from spear-based martial arts.

 

You use the gun as a club. You could use quarterstaff fighting for this but a gun will be unbalanced so the wielder should get a small penalty. The butt of the gun could be reinforced with metal to make it a more effective club.

 

You combine the gun with another weapon. Wikipedia has some examples of historical weapons which did this. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol_sword

 

You could also have a 'gun-tricks' skill or new combat manoeuvres for doing things like firing a half-loaded gun into an enemy's face.

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Shadowsoul-

 

I would be incredibly grateful for any of those materials.

 

Lots of great comments all around, definitely things for me to use.

 

General feedback:

-Since I'm pegging the level of gun tech as American Civil War, I anticipate a mixture of smoothbore/rifled, powder, and at the high end percussion caps. Pepperboxes are common for their utility, as well as volley guns in the hands of stronger individuals. Actual repeating weapons are just coming into the market (revolvers and field pieces mostly), which represents a major shift in the balance of military capability between states.

 

-I love the boarding gun and other gun/blade visuals I saw through that link/these suggestions. The look of the boarding gun, combining an axe with a shotgun... going to have to find a way to use it.

 

-I hadn't considered PRE, but now it makes perfect sense. Even in a high fantasy setting, charging across a field with a sword at a group of people shooting at you is demoralizing. 

 

-I should also plan a table for the build up of smoke in a battle, as I expect most large fights will descend into close range smoky chaos due to repeated weapons discharges.

 

-I really like the idea of giving skilled gunners levels to accelerate their loading time; hadn't thought of that. Definitely will help set the difference between common and experienced soldiers for the PCs to recognize the increased threat.

 

-Definitely going to have someone fire a partially loaded gun to distract/blind an opponent in close combat, and I think elite soldiers will use it like a spear/quarterstaff with penalty skill levels and martial arts.

 

So I'll probably create a simple table for weapon types based on pistol/shotgun/rifle, projectile type, and smooth/rifled. So that's a 3x4 table of options right there - gives PCs options but doesn't become overwhelming with details either. ID the gun, run it through the table, there are  you range modifiers.

 

I was planning on stacking rifles as equivalent to longbows in damage, so 2d6 perhaps with x2 STUN. Pistols perhaps 1d6+1 but with shorter range and no penalties at close range to make them easier to hit with. A shotgun could be with shot, so it has a spread, 2d6 perhaps in the optimum range with an increased  x2 STUN or a solid slug for 3d6 X3 STUN.

 

I'm just making those numbers up above. I know that I want most mooks to be out of the fight if they take a center mass hit with anything pistol or larger (excluding smaller calibers like most pepperboxes). At the same time, I have on PC with approximately 12rDEF - so this feels about right in terms of being able to hurt him but taking a hit or two isn't a death sentence. Standing out in the open daring people to shoot at you, however, would be.

 

Anyone think my numbers are way off?

 

(Also, I'm now learning what the term flintlock actually means).

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Generally, you'll get more rapiers and sabers than other types of weapons.  Axes, warhammers, and other heavy weapons are useful for smashing through armor.  With the gun, you've got the ultimate anti-armor weapon.  A group of peasants with muskets can blow a dozen holes in an armored knight before he even gets close.  The expense of the suit of armor is no longer worth it.  So people quit buying them or wearing them, and as a result, you no longer need the heavy melee weapons that people carried back in the medieval days to deal with armor.  Now you need something fast with a good reach that can hurt unarmored opponents.

 

Hence, rapiers and sabers.

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Personally, my favorite type of firearms for fantasy games are early breech-loading pinlock firearms.

 

Regarding Reload Speed:

There are already extant rules for increasing reload speed. If you use Clips of Charges, than you can use Fast Draw to reduce the reload time by one step. I might allow players to take penalties for rushing (-3 per step) to reduce the reload time further, but one step is about all you can realistically expect to shave off when weapons are already built under the assumption the user is fairly competent with them.

 

Regarding the damage of firearms versus earlier projectile weapons and Armor:

For Heroic Fantasy, a Suit of Full Plate only provides 8 rPD (FHC 248).

 

Longbow* does 1 1/2d6 K (+1 RMod, Str Min 12), and a Crossbow* does 1 1/2d6 K (+1 RMod, Str Min 14, 1 Full Phase to Reload).

Meanwhile a Wheellock Musket* does 1 1/2d6 K (-2 RMod, +1 STUNx, Str Min 12, 1 minute to reload, Does Not Work In Rain), Matchlocks are the same as Wheellocks, except for having a Str Min of 13, and Does Not Work In Wind Or Rain.

*​(FHC 249)

Therefore these weapons will do an average of 4.5 to 5 BODY more Added Damage, and cap out at 10 DCs (2d6+1 K, 8 BODY on average).

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Feels like going with 19th Century firearms would be a couple centuries too far. There's a reason why people stopped wearing armor long before then, and why melee combat was mostly on the way out. The only way fantasy weapons & armor are still going to be able to compete with guns is if they're still short-range, slow to reload, and unreliable.

 

The damage seems about right, tho personally I'd still go with Armor Piercing.

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I agree with massey and bigdamnhero -- which is to say that if you're into the gun technology of the American Civil War ... then you're well beyond the use of armor and heavy melee weapons.

 

The Henry and Spencer rifles were both around in the American Civil War; so was the Gatling gun.  Knights in armour can't compete with the rifles, much less the 6-barreled Gatling gun laying out a whopping (for its day) 350 rounds per minute.

 

I think you need to stick to the mid-1500's or early 1600's firearm technologies if you want bows to be competitive in terms of damage output and rates of fire ... and armor to remain viable.

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Magic armor that can stop bullets would likely render a bow obsolete.  A magic bow that can penetrate magic armor when a gun can't ... would  likely render a gun obsolete.

 

I think you get the point: there's a rock, paper, scissors thing going on with the projectile technologies as they relate to the armor technologies -- one that magic likely can't resolve.  (In fact, it would likely only change what is a rock, what is paper, and what are scissors ... without actually solving the dilemma?)

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You can still have all of it, but it depends how common things are.

 

Perhaps you have a standard D&D-ish world, where heavy armor is common and still in use.  Then perhaps firearms can be made by highly skilled craftsmen, or are imported from distant lands overseas.  They're common enough that it isn't unusual for an adventurer to have them, but they aren't common enough to make their way into large armies.  Effectively treat them as magic items for purposes of rarity.  They aren't around enough to really affect mass battles, and the generals and kings of the day haven't put two and two together yet.

 

Magic, like a spell of protection from normal missiles, or some creature that required magic weapons to hit, would still be immune to the damage of firearms.  Your musket is really cool, but it isn't doing crap to that golem.  Given a choice, most people would take that +1 sword over a gun.  Make firearms somewhat more common than magic, but much less common than a good crossbow, and maybe you'll get to have your cake and eat it too.

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The idea of bullets being unsuitable for doing magic damage was one of the ways Shadowrun kept muscle-powered weapons relevant: your high Force elemental will take a lot more bursts of autofire to kill than it will Weapon-Focus-Katana hits. It worked to some extent.

 

Restricting the availability of firearms depends on whether the components of firearms (metal strong enough, mostly; the rest of the bits needed to create operational "real" black powder weapons are pretty widespread, apart from sulphur maybe) are rare. If decent steel swords are relatively common, the materials for barrels aren't far off, and take less finesse to cobble together into a working "hand-gonne".

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Restricting the availability of firearms depends on whether the components of firearms (metal strong enough, mostly; the rest of the bits needed to create operational "real" black powder weapons are pretty widespread, apart from sulphur maybe) are rare. If decent steel swords are relatively common, the materials for barrels aren't far off, and take less finesse to cobble together into a working "hand-gonne".

 

Restricting availability just requires saying "most people don't know how to make this" and that's it.  The ability to create it in real life is unimportant.

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