So, what bonus do I give the npc's and wandering monsters to hear the guns go off.
I'd say +20
This is my boom stick, there are many like it, but this one is mine...
I thought of that earlier today, how much louder is the gun than typical combat?
Lightening bolt? Fireball? CALL lightening?
hmmm, im not sure it's worth spending time on rules and mechanics for.
plus the actual ignition of gun powder is not that loud, what most people think of when they hear a 'gunshot' is NOT the gun shot, it is actually the bullet breaking the sound barrier (CRACK) the black powder weapons did not have the fps (feet per second) to travel fast enough to break the sound barrier (so no crack).
So its more like Pfffft pop, than CRACK BOOM.
so techincally, comparatively not that loud, spell caster effects should be as loud and/or visually noticeable.
::snip::
so techincally, comparatively not that loud, spell caster effects should be as loud and/or visually noticeable.
I beg to disagree. I have friends who are into revolutionary war reenactments and their muskets were definately louder than the modern rifle.
However, I will agree that it's no louder than a lightning bolt or fireball.
the amount of powder used at close range is more, there is more boom right in your face.
Modern rifle can bear heard much farther away than a musket.Plus reeenactors are not using any ammo, just blank powder charge, which tends to be louder with out being muffled/consumed by the effort to actually expel the ball.
I'm a combat vet and a avid gun freak, ive shot more rounds than most people ever will.
Modern weapons carry a louder sound over a farther distance.
an actual musket is a bit hard to hear if on the other side of a small hill some 2-300 yards away.
Fireballs on the other hand probably dont make much noise as it's just a superheated fire at maximum expansion in the whiff. So it would make lots of light and be uber noticeable, but probably not very loud.
Lightening bolt, technically doesnt have thunder with it, so technically doesn't have alot of noise but still very noticeable (just like a flash of lightening catches your attention even if you arent looking for it.)
So for purposes of being able to "notice" a gunslinger over the doings of other characters....its not much.
Fighters and rogues are arguably a lot less noticeable the swing of a sword and the muffled cry of death, probably not very noticeable.
But prolonged sword play/pitched battle with clashing of steel is roughly as loud as a modern sporting event (baseball football, whatever)
which is to say, you can hear it from quite a bit of a distance off.
In a dungeon, echoing and carrying down hallways and such, the fireballs is probably the least noticeable of all of them.
actually the whooshing sound would be from air being consumed (fire consumes oxygen) and there would be a pocket void of air from the fireball so the whoosh is the air coming into replace the depleted oxygen.
depending on the AoE of said fireball, i doubt the whoosh would be especially loud or summon curious monsters to find out what that sound was.
Lightening doesnt make noise. its light, light doesnt move at the speed of sound or break the sound barrier, it move at the speed of light, because it's light. The noise one hears from a "lightening" storm is the accompanying thunder, however there can be lightening without thunder.
Since light has no measurable mass it doesn't disperse anything or make any shock waves (which is the sound you hear from the sound barrier being broken by an object with mass in motion), if it did, turning out the night light would kill anyone near it, as the shock wave would be hideous in power and ferocity, also light would move slower than it does and go less distance because it's energy would be somewhat depleted by parting the air, like sound does.
Now if you are trying to discuss man made electricity and the zapping noises that can be heard, like when you touch your jumper cables to a batter terminal etc etc. That is not the light making the noise, but the expenditure of heated molecules of air rapidly expanding, which is technically mini thunder.(sounds like 'zap')
The air must have a certain moisture content for this to work, which is why sometimes you can see lightening without thunder (the air is too dry for thunder), often referred to as heat lightening.
but no, lightening/light in and of it's self makes zero noise.
since the spell lightening bolt mentions no noise, it must be magically perfect lightening and as a result doesn't actually make noise.
It may be fun to, however suggest in a particularly humid setting, it causes its own thunder but couldnt be loud enough to cause any deafening as that would be an additional effect, the spell doesnt have.
actually the whooshing sound would be from air being consumed (fire consumes oxygen) and there would be a pocket void of air from the fireball so the whoosh is the air coming into replace the depleted oxygen.OK, so maybe a Silent Spell or pre-cast spontaneous Fireball won't call much attention. But what exactly is your point?
Lightening doesnt make noise. its light, light doesnt move at the speed of sound or break the sound barrierNo. Lightning is ELECTRICITY, which DOES have mass. Both light and electricity travel faster than the speed of sound; when an electric zap happens, regardless of the size (two live wires near each other or an atmospheric discharge) a sonic boom is created.
also light would move slower than it does and go less distance because it's energy would be somewhat depleted by parting the air, like sound does.Sound does not PART air; sound is a vibration OF air. And sorry to burst your bubble, but air DOES slow down light, just as water does, just as all materials do.
Now if you are trying to discuss man made electricity and the zapping noises that can be heard, like when you touch your jumper cables to a batter terminal etc etc. That is not the light making the noise, but the expenditure of heated molecules of air rapidly expanding, which is technically mini thunder.(sounds like 'zap')/quote]
OK, so let's assume you're right for a second. Lightning is light and nothing more; then how exactly does it heat the air molecules?
since the spell lightening bolt mentions no noiseFireball doesn't mention noise either; nor does Magic Missle; nor does Scorching Ray; nor do most spells. What's your point?gosh Im done trying to educate you.
The moisture in the air refracts light, it does not act as a barrier to impede it.
I never said lightning isnt electricity, I said it doesn't create noise, the air becoming superheated does, and it needs moisture to do so. You are saying you have never witnessed noiseless lightning EVER?
Lightning, and light, travel at the speed of light totally bypassing the speed of sound, does turning your bedroom light cause a sonic boom? Wait where is all this mass thats traveling at the speed of light thats making the sonic boom when you turn your light on? All that measurable mass of photons? Heck it would kill you just to turn on the light to see!
my goodness
try google it might help you.
either than or graduating high school may also help.
Just for the fun of it I googled "What makes Thunder", of the few sites I read, thunder is created as lightning super heats air, causing it to expand very quickly.
Is a gunshot louder than normal combat? I would say no, for simplicity's sake. IMO!
yes lightning superheats the air, but there needs to be enough moisture to make it happen. seriously, youve never witnessed lightening without the sound?
and no, if you had a full pitched battle, (like revolutionary war type) the guns wouldnt be specifically louder than the battle (not enough to worry about)
modern combat the whole battle is guns. different story.
But with all the flashy spell effects going off, some barbarian screamin his head off etc etc, a couple of bangs from a gun isnt going to be any additional noise or flash of note.
Thats the point.
Edit: now killing a goblin at night with a bow, or shooting him? yea big difference in that case as the gun will make decidedly more noise than the bow and has a flash to go with the bang.
But casting lightning bolt would get just as much attention (perception is all senses now, so hearing and sight arent separate)
a rogue sneak attacking would probably be even quieter than the bow, but not enough to bother with (unless the single bow shot didnt kill the goblin and he started wailing)