currently in my home campaign the players are fighting pirates in the Principalities. At some they are going to get themselves into serious trouble (I don't have to railroad them, they can usually come up with a catastrophic idea on their own), and I can introduce the Crimson Ship.
His bargain in order to save them is for them to raid a temple in another land and bring back the artifact. (the temple will be aztec with the shapeshifting PrCs from an old dragon) The High Priest will be wielding a pistol.
Now, assuming the PCs take the pistol back to Eberron and the technolgy is introduced into Khorvaire, how do you think it would evolve given the unique types of magic in Eberron. And the social structure?
For example, what will adding a khyber shard with and earth elemental to a pistol do? Will the Trust or another secretive agency move to stop it?
What do you think?
I am not sure of your basics here, but I don't see gunpoweder catching on. Its to dangerous and inaccurate . In a setting where magic can be gotten easy I don't see primitive firearms ever catching on but that's just me.
Now massproduced magic crossbows with more power yeah I see. It's too easy in eberron to improve the crossbow then to start from 0
An earth elemental might be able to make ammo, so you don't have to reload. Might also need a fire elemental bonded to it for the powder/explosion.
My current campaign has pistols, and the PCs have pretty much acquired a monopoly on crystal-pistols, an alchemical device that is essentially a warlock's eldritch blast in a rod. Nasty, and relatively cheap, which makes them extra dangerous. They're privateers, so they're SUPPOSED to turn them over the authorities....
Maybe different crystals can have different carrier effects to the main damage of the pistol? Like faerie fire, grease, entangle, dazed, sickened, blinded, confused, stunned, etc.
I am not sure of your basics here, but I don't see gunpoweder catching on. Its to dangerous and inaccurate . In a setting where magic can be gotten easy I don't see primitive firearms ever catching on but that's just me.
Now massproduced magic crossbows with more power yeah I see. It's too easy in eberron to improve the crossbow then to start from 0
I think you just unitentionally answered something for me, see why use balck powder? Well two small khyber shards one with an earth elemental, the other with a fire elemental could reproduce that effect (air elemental too for a silencer but less damage). Of course the weapons wouldn't replace the standard army kit, but may become the purview of nobility.
An earth elemental might be able to make ammo, so you don't have to reload. Might also need a fire elemental bonded to it for the powder/explosion.
GAH! ninjad in my own thread. I knew i shouldn't read webcomics while posting
One of the advantages of pistols is that they're loud and scary. Shooting into the ceiling can make a whole bunch of baddies calm down and play nice. It might not work as well with a crossbow bolt.
I heard a story about a shotgun manufacturer that developed a shotgun that you could pump silently....and the police hated the idea. Hearing a shotgun pump a round into the chamber makes a whole lot of badguys more cooperative....without loss of life. A big plus.
Yeah but i'm imagining an agent of the Trust (whispher gnome probably) using a silent pistol to quietly solve problems in the depths of Sharn.
Yeah but i'm imagining an agent of the Trust (whispher gnome probably) using a silent pistol to quietly solve problems in the depths of Sharn.
Maybe it's easier to enchant pistols or their ammo for some reason?
I can imagine an assassin using a silenced pistol that fires ammo that goes around corners and seeks out its victim.
Maybe they have a natural increase on sneak attack range? More than 30 feet? Maybe they get a bonus against armor and natural armor? Don't want to make it too complicated or "real-worldy."
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I can imagine an assassin using a silenced pistol that fires ammo that goes around corners and seeks out its victim.
I just got a recreation of the opening and closing scenes in the movie Wanted, (when the guy uses a sniper rifle to shoot another guy in the head from miles away) only in Sharn, and with a scrying spell, and bound air elemental bullet. Expensive, yes, but terrifying! ^_^
Consider reading through Joel Rosenberg's _Guardians of the Flame_ series to see a showdown between gunpowder and magic firearms.
The big reason for gunpowder over magic firearms is that it's cheaper, and only requires alchemy as opposed to a wizard, dedicated to the task. You don't need any type of UMD to activate the item, it's effectively a simple weapon that is very deadly. Don't discount the roar of the powder and the blast of smoke when it's fired up close-- at least until cartridges and smokeless powder is invented. As they paraphrase in the books,
"God(s) made all men, Sam Colt made them equal."
-Ben.
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In my Guns of Eberron, A gnome of House Sivis, created them, using an alchemical powder lit by a Syberis dragonshard. He had to flee to the Principalities when House Cannith decided they didn't like his invention. So he's slowly been crating firearms in the Principalities...putting them in the hands of good ole pirates!
Will they become excessively used? Not in the current timeline, since House Cannith doesn't like them. Since the Principalities aren;t under heavy control of House C after the Mourning, they are starting to spread, but not in great numbers. (Especially since I made reloading take 1 minute). Making them magical would go by normal rules. Magical ammunition would be fun, and adamantine balls should tear through armor (but would need an adamantium barrel or it would damage the barrel.)