I mean D&D already has magical melee and ranged weapons, as there is going to be firearms in small role in Pathfinder will there be magical ones?
If no, why not?
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Yeah, firearms themselves are going to be pretty rare, so magical firearms will be doubly so. My thinking, and remember that this is very preliminary thinking, is that if you do see a magic gun it will be the centerpiece of a module or other story. Magic bullets might be more common, though.
Creative Director
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Yeah... if we ever do an adventure with a magic gun or magic bullets, they'll be a key part of the adventure that they figure in. Perhaps the MOST key part. As another way of putting it, you can probably expect to see a psioncis or an epic or an underwater adventure (likely all three) before we do anything with magic guns.
Ha! You punny guy you!
The grassy gnoll cartoon by Kovalic was one of my favorites. "I hate training drills."
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In compleely unrelated news, there will be a new template in our world. The grassy creature. The sample creature will be a gnoll assassin.
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Too soon?
No, that was perfect. I literally laughed out loud. My four year old son and his friend now think I'm crazy.
Now that you have won this thread, I feel compelled to post something on-topic.
I think that if firearms appear in a module or AP in an area where they are not rare, magic versions should be fairly rare.
OTOH, I would not find it inappropriate for an adventure that contains a single character who who has a gun that it would be magic. Especially in an area where magic weapons in general were more common than firearms. It just seems more likely to me that if someone went to the trouble of getting one, they may as well get it enchanted (and probably can afford to as well).
In my opinion, magic guns already exist under the guise of wands of fireball and their blasting ilk! In my own campaign, I make offensive wands appear the shape and size of muskets, pistols et cetera. Heavy hilted, curved and covered with runes - I've even had wands from giants the size and feel of rifles. Maybe the way to go is to open up, a little, the use of wands to other classes? Or make magic wands slightly more plentiful? I love the idea of a Western-themed spellslinger with two heavy wands tucked into his belt...
In my opinion, magic guns already exist under the guise of wands of fireball and their blasting ilk!
I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six charges or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a 10th caster level, the most powerful wand in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
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I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six charges or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a 10th caster level, the most powerful wand in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
*groans then laughs* Okay it was funny.
I actually like the concept of "wand guns". And have used something similar with my Eberron character.
Another concept I came up with (may not be original) was a dagger that also acted like a wand. So the wielder had melee and range all in one. Was designed as the main side arm for a secret police in a campaign setting I goofed around with years ago.
Oh and let us not forget how...evil and kewl it would be to see someone fire a bullet from a flint lock pistol. When that bullet was enchanted with a delayed fireball spell.
Bullet enters the body of it's target. Then the spell denonates within them. KABOOM!
I'm thinking that just might qualify as "handled roughly" and would more than likely have dire (and oh so amusing) consequences for the firer. ;)
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Just so long as we don't have Smithy and Weston and Duke John of the Wain.
Gods I hated that, ruined the entire mood of Red Steel for me
If I have any say in the matter (and hey, look, I do!) we won't be doing anything like that. Any homage I make to gun makers will be far more subtle. :)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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If I have any say in the matter (and hey, look, I do!) we won't be doing anything like that. Any homage I make to gun makers will be far more subtle. :)
I have a Question...
What is the possibility of PCs having their Guns Enchanted?If a PC finds a gun it will obviously be non-magical (as stated) but what if he wanted to pay someone to enchant it for him. What possibilities would there be for this? Would anything off the 7-15 Ranged Weapon Special Abilities table in the DMG (and subsequent entries from other sources) be acceptable?
Also, supplies of ammo would be very limited. What would a character need to create their own ammo? Is it sipmply a matter of little balls of metal (ala Muskets, Flintlocks, etc...) or something a bit more complex that would reqire a skill (more like modern day bullets)?
Cheers
If I was the DM and they're really keen on having an icy burst musket, I would allow it. Rare, to be sure, but I wouldn't have an issue with it.
Early Renaissance bullets weren't the compact little packages that we have today, but more along the lines of metal balls - this is something that most people learned how to make, it wasn't something commonly bought. You could create the appropriate Craft (gunsmith) and Profession (gunmaker) skills, and since Craft skills can be used untrained, it would apply pretty well. A gunkit, with all the oil, powder, cotton wadding, bullet mold, long-handled ladle (for metals with a low melting point), and metal clips for rounding out the bullets could be made as well. Again, rare, but once you have the kit, bullets are pretty easy to make - just have to have metal. Lead was popular (low melt point), but I think copper fits in that category as well. Copper has the benefit of being easily available, through coinage or in its raw form. Gold has a low melting point as well, and I think silver as well. (Silver bullets have their own uses o' course. :D ) Modern rifled bullets didn't really start showing up until the Civil War, so I would stick with the round bullets.
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I have a Question...
What is the possibility of PCs having their Guns Enchanted?
Assuming the gun is masterwork, I'd say the possibilities should be roughly equal to the possibilities of the PC getting any weapon enchanted. Making a masterwork weapon a +1 weapon requires the same magical ability regardless of the weapon's type. Any of the ranged weapon special abilities should be available to magical guns.
Butllets themselves are ridiculously easy to come by. It's the black powder (or gunpowder, depending on how we go) that is harder to find.
I once allowed a player in my Eberron game to use a gun; they were rare, expensive and didn't offer too much of a benefit to be economical. Cyre used them toward the end of the war. The gun my player had was a bolt-action rifle, more or less equivalent to a heavy crossbow but faster to reload.
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A gunkit, with all the oil, powder, cotton wadding, bullet mold, long-handled ladle (for metals with a low melting point), and metal clips for rounding out the bullets could be made as well.
Agreed. When I was fleshing out the firearms in the DMG, I created this little thing:
Firearm Kit: This kit contains all the tools necessary to maintain and clean your firearm, including bullet mold, tang clipper, patches, powder measure, powder flask, etc. Cost: 50 gp; Weight: 4 lb.
Reading Perdido Street Station which is a steam-punk setting with magic and guns...
Anyway -- looking forward to seeing Pathfinder's handling of magic and firearms.
I did once have the idea for a renaissance setting where light armour, rapiers and firearms were the thing of the day. Guns, of course, costing 50gp, were only available to the rich of the city - merchants guilds, their henchmen, and so on.
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Director of Sales
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I did once have the idea for a renaissance setting where light armour, rapiers and firearms were the thing of the day. Guns, of course, costing 50gp, were only available to the rich of the city - merchants guilds, their henchmen, and so on.
Dumas's Three Musketeers would make good background reading for such a setting. This would be a good resource to see the use of (basically one-shot) guns + swords in a historical context.
Also useful would be Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Specifically Volume one, Book two, where the character of Jack Shaftoe is introduced.
I'm sure there are a million other good resources as well, but those two leapt to mind.
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