The firearm itself is a physical thing that can be copied once the materials used can be obtained.
The biggest secret of course would be the gunpowder. The chemical or alchemical breakdown of the propellent... that is harder to figure out.
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The firearm itself is a physical thing that can be copied once the materials used can be obtained.
The biggest secret of course would be the gunpowder. The chemical or alchemical breakdown of the propellent... that is harder to figure out.
ahh but how many times have hapened that after tyou take soemthing appart youa re unable to put it toguether again?
could be the same with weapons... weapons in a so different paradigm that you can only hope to imitatethem...
maybe that is whythe weapons in the Campaign Setting are so simple.. they are but shadowsof Alkenstar armament
IMHO, the project should concentrate more on things Alkenstar fans -want- and less on how to make them plausible. I mean, gnomes have the steam engine, Numeria has the Autobots' ship stranded, and Absalom has a school that teaches robotics so well... isn't it a bit late to worry about small nuances like congruence? Trying too hard to explain things that have no logical reason to happen other than the author's fiat is only a recipe for frustration.
Golarion has already plenty of things that are over the top, it's just the way they're written which prevents rupture in suspension of disbelief.
P.D: Left a question at the Alkenstar invision forums.
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-touch attack
-halves DR
-Max Damage in the die means you get to rerroll it until you get something different than the highest number
-crit x3
Not a fan of having weapons that attack Touch AC, but I can see where you're coming from. What about a feat that allows the use of firearms as a touch.
Instead of touch attacks what about uping the damage or the crit of the weapons?
Not sure on the DR.
I use the optional Exploding Dice from the Campaign Setting. Nothing says "OUCH" like a elven gunbunny on a roll. My player rolled a Crit with her revolver and then rolled 4 6's. I was pretty sure the beasty was dead afterward.
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-touch attack
-halves DR
-Max Damage in the die means you get to rerroll it until you get something different than the highest number
-crit x3Not a fan of having weapons that attack Touch AC, but I can see where you're coming from. What about a feat that allows the use of firearms as a touch.
Instead of touch attacks what about uping the damage or the crit of the weapons?
Not sure on the DR.
I use the optional Exploding Dice from the Campaign Setting. Nothing says "OUCH" like a elven gunbunny on a roll. My player rolled a Crit with her revolver and then rolled 4 6's. I was pretty sure the beasty was dead afterward.
I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?
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I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?-touch attack
-halves DR
-Max Damage in the die means you get to rerroll it until you get something different than the highest number
-crit x3Not a fan of having weapons that attack Touch AC, but I can see where you're coming from. What about a feat that allows the use of firearms as a touch.
Instead of touch attacks what about uping the damage or the crit of the weapons?
Not sure on the DR.
I use the optional Exploding Dice from the Campaign Setting. Nothing says "OUCH" like a elven gunbunny on a roll. My player rolled a Crit with her revolver and then rolled 4 6's. I was pretty sure the beasty was dead afterward.
......Longbow/Musket.....
Price - 75 gp/1,800 gpAmmo - 1 gp (20 arrows)/1 gp (10 rounds)
Damage - 1d8/1d8
Crit - x3/x3
Range - 100'/90'
Weight - 3lb/9lb
Reload - Free/1 round
Capacity - --/1
Misfire - No/Yes, misfires on a natural 1 or 2.
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I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?
In the real world, musket balls were much able to be produced far cheaper and far faster than arrows, it was easier to keep gunpowder dry than bowstrings.
Also, although it didn't really come up until well into the musket's lifetime, the musket can be used while prone, thus making yourself a much smaller target vs enemy fire. A crossbow can be used while prone too, but it is harder to reload a crossbow on the ground than even a musket.
The firearm itself is a physical thing that can be copied once the materials used can be obtained.
The biggest secret of course would be the gunpowder. The chemical or alchemical breakdown of the propellent... that is harder to figure out.
ahh but how many times have hapened that after tyou take soemthing appart youa re unable to put it toguether again?
could be the same with weapons... weapons in a so different paradigm that you can only hope to imitatethem...
maybe that is whythe weapons in the Campaign Setting are so simple.. they are but shadowsof Alkenstar armament
I'm actually pretty methodical when it comes to taking apart and putting back together things... I've got a very high success rate. Helps that I enjoy puzzles to an extent and will keep fiddling until I make it work. :)
Since we are talking about blackpowder firearms though, with very simple moving parts, and being mostly "a tube" the copying of such things should not be too hard. Materials in such cases make all the difference between it blowing up in your hands or not. (The exception being perhaps a revolver because of it being more complex.)
The reason I mention the powder is that you require specialized knowledge to break it down and figure out what is in it. (You cannot usually tell just from observation.)
This in mind... as well as a "guild" idea... how far would sworn agents of said guild go to protect the secret?
I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?-touch attack
-halves DR
-Max Damage in the die means you get to rerroll it until you get something different than the highest number
-crit x3Not a fan of having weapons that attack Touch AC, but I can see where you're coming from. What about a feat that allows the use of firearms as a touch.
Instead of touch attacks what about uping the damage or the crit of the weapons?
Not sure on the DR.
I use the optional Exploding Dice from the Campaign Setting. Nothing says "OUCH" like a elven gunbunny on a roll. My player rolled a Crit with her revolver and then rolled 4 6's. I was pretty sure the beasty was dead afterward.
......Longbow/Musket.....
Price - 75 gp/1,800 gp
Ammo - 1 gp (20 arrows)/1 gp (10 rounds)
Damage - 1d8/1d8
Crit - x3/x3
Range - 100'/90'
Weight - 3lb/9lb
Reload - Free/1 round
Capacity - --/1
Misfire - No/Yes, misfires on a natural 1 or 2.
Nice breakdown.
At 9 pounds... a musket does have better use as a club than a longbow.
I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?
In the real world, musket balls were much able to be produced far cheaper and far faster than arrows, it was easier to keep gunpowder dry than bowstrings.
Also, although it didn't really come up until well into the musket's lifetime, the musket can be used while prone, thus making yourself a much smaller target vs enemy fire. A crossbow can be used while prone too, but it is harder to reload a crossbow on the ground than even a musket.
All very true. Seeing as how you only needed a fire and some lead to melt down to pour into mold (sp?). Nearly anyone could make lead shot given a short lesson.
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I'm not sure. What advantages does a musket actually have over a longbow?
In the real world, musket balls were much able to be produced far cheaper and far faster than arrows, it was easier to keep gunpowder dry than bowstrings.
Also, although it didn't really come up until well into the musket's lifetime, the musket can be used while prone, thus making yourself a much smaller target vs enemy fire. A crossbow can be used while prone too, but it is harder to reload a crossbow on the ground than even a musket.
Presumably we can have those advantages in-game as well.
Cheap ammunition.
No penalty whilst prone.
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One thing I don't really understand or need clarified for me....
The Campaign Setting states "Alkenstar engineers design intricate clockwork machines..." Clockworks are Constructs. Construct creation requires a ritual, a MAGIC ritual, right?
How does that work in the magic-dead Grand Duchy of Alkenstar?
Or am I showing a level of newbieness here?
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Yep. Thats it. One of the best posts in this thread. Fokus on players wishes and cool stuff and not on logic or plausiblity.IMHO, the project should concentrate more on things Alkenstar fans -want- and less on how to make them plausible. I mean, gnomes have the steam engine, Numeria has the Autobots' ship stranded, and Absalom has a school that teaches robotics so well... isn't it a bit late to worry about small nuances like congruence? Trying too hard to explain things that have no logical reason to happen other than the author's fiat is only a recipe for frustration.
Golarion has already plenty of things that are over the top, it's just the way they're written which prevents rupture in suspension of disbelief.
If you can make it sound logical, it does not threaten disbelief, so I agree with dogbert. If you don't like a place like alkenstar in your campaign, replace it with a different country. No other books so far have mentioned Alkenstar AT ALL besides the Campaign Setting. It is designed to be modular, so really Enpeze, they CAN do whatever they want with it.
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One thing I don't really understand or need clarified for me....
The Campaign Setting states "Alkenstar engineers design intricate clockwork machines..." Clockworks are Constructs. Construct creation requires a ritual, a MAGIC ritual, right?
How does that work in the magic-dead Grand Duchy of Alkenstar?
Or am I showing a level of newbieness here?
clockwork machines NO construct :P
je till now my watch is still a clockwork machine and it still works without magic...to my knowledge :P
jeje sorry couldn't help myself...
no the idea is that they do complex machiens, all science and tehnology, no magic
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That's kind of disappointing, to me. I was seeing Alkenstar as a source for clockwork creatures, which are constructs, correct?
clockwork machines NO construct :P
je till now my watch is still a clockwork machine and it still works without magic...to my knowledge :P
there could be clockwork creatures, yet not comming from magic, but just technology, actually i think the ones in Absalom are of this kind.
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Can anyone recommend a decent resource(s) for fantasy-heavy clockwork/constructs/steampunk ideas/adventures/monsters? I'm not interested in Victorian-flavored pulp stuff, more medieval/fantasy/sorcery oriented.
Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press. The RPG books are being re-released as pdfs. In fact, I can see everything in IK having a place in Alkenstar, just so long as you explain the magic material away with technology. It has steamjacks, guns, and other industrial material set in a primarily medieval fantasy setting.
I use a ton of IK stuff in Ptolus.
If you have any interest in miniature skirmish games, Warmachine (which takes place in the Iron Kingdoms) is one of the best.
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Can anyone recommend a decent resource(s) for fantasy-heavy clockwork/constructs/steampunk ideas/adventures/monsters? I'm not interested in Victorian-flavored pulp stuff, more medieval/fantasy/sorcery oriented.
The DragonMech books would be a good source for some rules and information but they do have some annoying flaws (their mechs have no formula for calculating their CR so if you want to use them you have to do some comparing and such to make sure they work correctly). Luckily there was only a handful of Dragonmech books released(three or four) so finding them isn't a hideous task.
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Can anyone recommend a decent resource(s) for fantasy-heavy clockwork/constructs/steampunk ideas/adventures/monsters? I'm not interested in Victorian-flavored pulp stuff, more medieval/fantasy/sorcery oriented.Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press. The RPG books are being re-released as pdfs. In fact, I can see everything in IK having a place in Alkenstar, just so long as you explain the magic material away with technology. It has steamjacks, guns, and other industrial material set in a primarily medieval fantasy setting.
I use a ton of IK stuff in Ptolus.
If you have any interest in miniature skirmish games, Warmachine (which takes place in the Iron Kingdoms) is one of the best.
In fact, it looks like Paizo is offering these pdfs. Even better.
Might I suggest picking up the Witchfire Trilogy collected edition. Very awesome set of adventures.
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Certainly, if a lot of people (and I don't mean a lot of people on this thread, but a lot of people ALL OVER THE PLACE) start asking for some more stuff set in Alkenstar, we'll consider doing something about it. But there's a lot more momentum with Linnorm Kings, Irrisen, psionics, the planets, Tian Xia, Varisia, Absalom, River Kingdoms, the Mwangi Expanse, Nex and Geb, Vudra, Numeria, Cheliax, Ustalav, and lots of other locations that folk want to know more about... in many cases, more numerous than Alkenstar.
Well, it might just be one more voice on this thread, but I'd love to see Alkenstar material printed eventually. However, I'd also love to see action on the planets and in Numeria more, so I can live with this being on the backburner. Still, I hope that we'll see some support material one of these days.
Yes please do something for Alkenstar!!
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Alkenstar certainly has a unique feel to it; but it's also one of the more polarizing and more "out of context" areas in the entire campaign setting. The preponderance of guns and technology and the strange characteristics of the Mana Wastes make it a somewhat difficult region to reconcile in many minds (including mine) with the nature of the surrounding regions of Golarion.
Guns in fantasy settings tend to have this polarizing effect. In my opinion, when you put guns into a fantasy setting, you should go all-out with them, and they should be common and well-known. Final Fantasy does this very well, as does the Iron Kingdoms (created by Privateer Press).
Golarion is, for the most part, not a "guns in fantasy" world. Yet it IS supposed to be a world where everyone can find at least one corner of the world that they really enjoy. Thus, we have a gun/tech region with Alkenstar (along with vikings, science fiction/fantasy, pirates, and other specific "D&D" traditions elsewhere).
But still, Alkenstar is a particularly strange fit for the rest of Golarion, and as a result we're very unlikely to do much more with it in the future. If there's an upsurge of interest, of course, that might change, but for now, Alkenstar is perhaps the most likely place in the Inner Sea region that we'll never do much more with and thus leave it safe for GMs to develop as they wish without much fear of us coming along later to create "official canon" for the place that might disrupt or conflict with homebrew development.
well, that's a bit disappointing, even if the post was written 5 years ago.
any change in intent in the intervening years? particularly now that Iron Gods and Reign of Winter have had their share of the weird?
Yeah, it seems now that they've had RoW and IG, the resistance to an alkenstar AP or other items may be diminishing. I mean, they had the technology guide for heavens sake!
Just a bit of thread resurrection here: I, for one, would love to see Alkenstar get some love. I built a clockwork-armed cowboy for an arc of Carrion Crown a while back who we styled as an Alkenstar marshall, and it would be awesome to get some play in a setting where he'd fit in again. Plus, the dead-magic zone makes for some supremely interesting character generation and entertaining storybuilding.