That and, you know, if it's loaded the gunpowder probably ignites, causing an automatic shot and potential misfire.Ephrain: Wooden stock. No contact with the metal. And that spell doesn't damage the metal itself in any way, so the gun isn't ruined.Even so, the trigger, trigger guard, and barrel are made of metal so regardless a druid casting heat metal on a gun will cause the character holding the gun to drop it pretty quickly, from shock because of the sudden temperature change in the metal if nothing else.
Powder doesn't go off if it gets hot, only if its exposed to open flame or spark. This was discussed in another thread.
Powder doesn't go off if it gets hot, only if its exposed to open flame or spark. This was discussed in another thread.
Heat metal causes metal objects to become red-hot.
Unattended, nonmagical metal gets no saving throw. Magical
metal is allowed a saving throw against the spell. An item in a
creature’s possession uses the creature’s saving throw bonus
unless its own is higher.
A creature takes fire damage if its equipment is heated. It takes
full damage if its armor, shield, or weapon is affected. The creature
takes minimum damage (1 point or 2 points; see the table) if it’s not
wearing or wielding such an item.
On the first round of the spell, the metal becomes warm and
uncomfortable to touch but deals no damage. The same effect also
occurs on the last round of the spell’s duration. During the second
(and also the next-to-last) round, intense heat causes pain and
damage. In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, the metal is searing
hot, and causes more damage, as shown on the table presented on
the following page.
As the one who inadvertently started that arguement, the discussion was never actually settled. I still believe that metal that is heated to be "red-hot", which to me means glowing red, would be enough to cause it to combust, especially if a paper cartridge is used.
Ultimately a lot of this arguement doesn't boil down to real world physics but personal preference. RAW, there is nothing that says a weapon must be entirely metal to do damage to the holder (many swords had wooden handles) and this damage is "fire damage". At it's hieght you can take more damage then you could from alchemist fire. RAW, you could easily say that the powder is exposed to fire as the spell does fire damage. You could easily say that the weilder takes damage from the spell as there are no rules that say the presence of non-metal handles limits damage.
I personally would say that any powder in the gun ignites and can't be reloaded until it cools but the holder takes no damage. I think this is a fair trade, myself. For those who want more "realism" though, think about the potential warping Heat Metal could inflict on the barrel.
@soullos: Why not include laser guns and lightsabers and spaceships while we're at it?! To be short, the fantasy RPG may be a poor model for history, at BEST, it still models our own history to SOME extent. The firearms as they are in the playtest are accurate to the firearms that were popular in the early 1700s.
Laser guns? You mean bows or crossbows with the Brilliant Energy enchantment?
Lightsabers? You mean a wand of Flame Blade?
Spaceships? You mean Astral Projection?
'Cause it looks like we do have all those things.
This is what you're missing. No, the fantasy RPG does not model our own history, like, at all. We have magic robots and evil devil worshipping nazis and a halfling underground railroad.
There's some kind of strange mental illness that makes gamers incapable of accepting that guns don't have to be realistic, because god knows nothing else is.