Houserules and Weapons for a Weird West Campaign

[Potato_Priest]

Here's some homebrew I cooked up for a wierd west campaign that I started recently. The guns were inspired in part by MFOV's excellent Firearm Rules, but it's more broad in scope and tuned to the tropes and cinematic combat of the old west genre. For example, my new "reloading" weapon property is designed to try to encourage heavy use of cover for reloading one's guns in a shootout, rather than just standing in the open jamming cartridges in your rifle. Similarly, requiring an action to reload a revolver ought to encourage the players to count their enemy's shots before breaking cover to gun them down.

Here's the link to the homebrewery page.

[nickl_2000]

Here's my biggest struggle with these optional rule sets.

Where is the place for the strength based character? They can't get heavy armor since it doesn't exist, and there is no weapon that requires a certain strength to wield.


On a more minor aspect, I feel that there needs to be more gun options if that is the focus of the campaign. Having more choices will give the players more agency overall and give them a better feel.

Other possible choices

• A derringer - Small damage, but can easily be concealed
• Bowie knife if just a dagger
• Double Barreled Shotgun - Does more damage, but has a 15 foot max range
• Dynamite as a replacement for alchemists fire
• Repeating Rifle, a more expensive hunting rifle that has a clip

[Potato_Priest]

Here's my biggest struggle with these optional rule sets.

Where is the place for the strength based character? They can't get heavy armor since it doesn't exist, and there is no weapon that requires a certain strength to wield.


Other possible choices

• A derringer - Small damage, but can easily be concealed
• Bowie knife if just a dagger
• Double Barreled Shotgun - Does more damage, but has a 15 foot max range
• Dynamite as a replacement for alchemists fire
• Repeating Rifle, a more expensive hunting rifle that has a clip

The value of the strength score has admittedly been corroded. This is generally because, in adherence to the tropes and themes of the old west films, it's not actually the strong people who do the best. It's the (usually high-dex) gun users who tend to dominate.

That said, I do have a strength character in the game I'm running currently. He's a variant human dual wielding pickaxes (war picks) with the dual wielder feat. At the party's current level (2) he doesn't seem very far behind the rest of them, dealing the same amount of consistent damage as the ranger dual wielding pistols. He rolled pretty decent stats, so his armor class is slightly worse than most of the group, but not terribly far behind (15 normally, 16 with both pickaxes). Tactically, his ability to impose disadvantage on the enemy's guns when in melee range has also been quite useful, often forcing them to switch to a knife (dagger) or hatchet (handaxe), dealing much less damage than they would with their firearms.

So generally, melee remains useful to some extent because it counters ranged weaponry, and strength is and always has been the more devastating melee option.

Now to your second concern-
I have been allowing a great many different varieties of melee and normal weapons from the PHB, though they might be reskinned slightly. Things like the aforementioned pickaxe=war pick, sledgehammer=maul, bowie knife=dagger, tomohawk=handaxe are all pretty common. I assumed that including things like that in this supplement wouldn't be necessary, since they're all in the PHB.

As for the guns- do you think a Derringer would be simple or martial?

[nickl_2000]

The value of the strength score has admittedly been corroded. This is generally because, in adherence to the tropes and themes of the old west films, it's not actually the strong people who do the best. It's the (usually high-dex) gun users who tend to dominate.

That's fair, I just wanted to point it out since there is that ability lacking.

As for the guns- do you think a Derringer would be simple or martial?

I would say simple. These were designed to be 1 to 2 shots and used at close range by people as a secondary weapon or a weapon hidden in a handbag/sock. Thus it would behoove the manufacturer to make it as simple as possible and least likely to go bad. Besides, you are likely going to be doing 1d4 damage with it, like a sling. So, like it sling it would make sense to be simple.

[leogobsin]

I might say that Gun Expert should include the ability to reload a Clip weapon as a bonus action or an action?

[Potato_Priest]

I might say that Gun Expert should include the ability to reload a Clip weapon as a bonus action or an action?

It was my intention that the clip action require an action to reload either with or without the feat. Is the language on that unclear? I could probably reshuffle my words if that’s hard to figure out from the text.

Also, I’d rather not allow bonus action reloads since that would make running out of shots a minor nuisance (as opposed to the big deal it is in film and literature).

[Fire Tarrasque]

A little bit of gun expert is messed up. Your going for the idea that you go stabby stabby bangy bangy, but the issue is, you need a free hand to reload the gun, which you do not have if you have a melee weapon. Was this intentional?
I'd like to add a few ideas:
Dynamite. If your going to do the Weird West, you need dynamite.
Maybe add something like a gatling gun? A set up gun that does rapid fire powerful shots, kind of like a turret. A nice little setpiece weapon, or something to make storming a position harder.
You need a classic, not long range, just rifle.
Hand cannon. Add a hand cannon.
Maybe you should have some quick draw or one shot rules, to better envision those high noon 1v1s.
Maybe add some kind of gunny spells?
Make a golem, and give it gun arms. Genius, I want my Nobel prize.

[leogobsin]

It was my intention that the clip action require an action to reload either with or without the feat. Is the language on that unclear? I could probably reshuffle my words if that’s hard to figure out from the text.

No, that was totally clear, no problem there.

Also, I’d rather not allow bonus action reloads since that would make running out of shots a minor nuisance (as opposed to the big deal it is in film and literature).

If you specifically don't want to allow bonus action reloading that's totally valid, just felt like the kind of benefit that feat could give.