Calemyr
2010-02-19, 10:50 AM
Last week I started a new campaign, and one of the mechanics I set up for it I'm still not entirely sure of: the inclusion of firearms in the campaign.
Part of the premise of the story the campaign is built on is that all magic has been sealed up for a bit over a millenia, causing a dark age as the old traditions and religions crumbled in their sudden absence. Then the world got on with life and found out that there were more ways to skin a cat than simply casting Melf's Clumsy Razor, and the world gradually became more "earth-like", including the recent adoption of steam-powered trains for transportation. The players will eventually be involved in a multifactional struggle over a potential rebirth of magic.
I realized early on that removing magic from much of the game would cause troubles with game balance. Magic was, for instance, a critical counter to heavy armor. Heavy armor limits dexterity, reducing reflex saves and touch AC in the process and thus making the wearer particularly susceptible to various magical attacks. So, when I decided on the setting, I tried to use firearms to recover at least some of that balance.
Here are the basic rules I devised:
* Firearms are based on the rulesets of various crossbows for damage, reload time, and such. Pistols are represented by light crossbows, for instance, while rifles use heavy crossbow rules. Multi-chambered firearms use repeating crossbow rules.
* Firearms are touch attacks, penetrating armor more effectively than other weapons.
* Firearms and their ammunition cost 100x more than their respective crossbows. This does not carry over to enchantments (+X is regarded a function of quality rather than magic).
* Firearms are common military weapons in this setting, so they are treated as martial weapons unless their crossbow counterpart is exotic.
The hope is that this will accomplish a few things:
* Counter heavy armor again, as Full Plate is once again no longer the ultimate and only valid protection.
* Drive home that this isn't a usual might & magic style setting.
* Force the players to display a little bit of caution with villagers. A firearm may not do much damage (1d4-1d10 with no real damage mods beyond +X enchantments), but a militia of low level guards could still chew up a fair portion of an adventuring party if necessary.
I write this post because I'm a bit of a greenhorn as a DM, this being only the second campaign I've ever run and the first one was mostly an experiment to test out 4e (which really didn't take). I know encounter size is something I'll need to be careful with, but since the gaming group is currently very small that was a given to begin with.
I'd appreciate any advice you veterans could offer on how to modify or use this mechanic to its best effect in pursuit of an interesting and satisfying campaign.
Part of the premise of the story the campaign is built on is that all magic has been sealed up for a bit over a millenia, causing a dark age as the old traditions and religions crumbled in their sudden absence. Then the world got on with life and found out that there were more ways to skin a cat than simply casting Melf's Clumsy Razor, and the world gradually became more "earth-like", including the recent adoption of steam-powered trains for transportation. The players will eventually be involved in a multifactional struggle over a potential rebirth of magic.
I realized early on that removing magic from much of the game would cause troubles with game balance. Magic was, for instance, a critical counter to heavy armor. Heavy armor limits dexterity, reducing reflex saves and touch AC in the process and thus making the wearer particularly susceptible to various magical attacks. So, when I decided on the setting, I tried to use firearms to recover at least some of that balance.
Here are the basic rules I devised:
* Firearms are based on the rulesets of various crossbows for damage, reload time, and such. Pistols are represented by light crossbows, for instance, while rifles use heavy crossbow rules. Multi-chambered firearms use repeating crossbow rules.
* Firearms are touch attacks, penetrating armor more effectively than other weapons.
* Firearms and their ammunition cost 100x more than their respective crossbows. This does not carry over to enchantments (+X is regarded a function of quality rather than magic).
* Firearms are common military weapons in this setting, so they are treated as martial weapons unless their crossbow counterpart is exotic.
The hope is that this will accomplish a few things:
* Counter heavy armor again, as Full Plate is once again no longer the ultimate and only valid protection.
* Drive home that this isn't a usual might & magic style setting.
* Force the players to display a little bit of caution with villagers. A firearm may not do much damage (1d4-1d10 with no real damage mods beyond +X enchantments), but a militia of low level guards could still chew up a fair portion of an adventuring party if necessary.
I write this post because I'm a bit of a greenhorn as a DM, this being only the second campaign I've ever run and the first one was mostly an experiment to test out 4e (which really didn't take). I know encounter size is something I'll need to be careful with, but since the gaming group is currently very small that was a given to begin with.
I'd appreciate any advice you veterans could offer on how to modify or use this mechanic to its best effect in pursuit of an interesting and satisfying campaign.