I've never had firearms in any of my games to date but will give them a go for S&S as I feel they fit the campaign well.
I was wondering how many of you GM's are going to be running S&S with Firearms/Cannons?
i'm nearing the end of Kingmaker and my players have decided that they *really* want to have their centaur cavalry armed with muskets (in addition to sabers as is the usual). so they're spending a LOT of funding to bring in experts to manufacture guns, build an infrastructure, equip and train their people in the use of guns and eventually learn how to make their own.
Depending on how many kingdom turns they spend pushing this developement it might get done before the end of Kingmaker #5. should be interesting.
I haven't decided yet if I'm adding them in when I run this, but I'm leaning that way. I'm more than likely going to import firearm rules from some other setting or rules system though, rather than using Pathfinder's firearm rules, which I'm not enamored with after a little time playing with them.
I am more in the mood to do as Mr. Quick do with Kingmaker. The opportunity will come later. I want to keep the firearms precious and rare, si maybe the captain has one but no one else..
I'm planning on using commonplace guns, as it stands, granting proficiency in pistols and cutlasses to rogues on the side. One player is fighting me tooth and nail and insisting I should treat guns as bows, but I'm hoping to mollycoddle him by dropping a brace of pistols into his lap. At first I was giving him his way, but with a few new players joining us I'd rather fiddly firearm rules that don't contradict the SRD than houserules I'll never entirely be satisfied with.
In the hands of an NPC, a musket is more or less a slightly less reliable heavy crossbow anyway. I'm planning on outfitting the Rahadoumi guards with them, but I'm uncertain what I want to do with the Wormwood Pirates. Pistols, perhaps.
I think the main problem with firearms is giving non-gunslingers reason to use them, as I've planned to run a fairly close to core game. I'm also worried about flooding the market with them, but at the same time I want to make them a viable option.
Has anyone got any new ideas on this front now that they've read the AP?
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I will be using the early firearms stats from Ultimate Combat in my S&S campaign. I agree that pirates without cannons and firearms doesn't have the same pirate vibe. However they will still be hard to come by and the Hurricane King and his ship will still be the ship that have the most advanced guns/cannons on his ship.
Well I am planning on introducing firearms in this AP. Now not wanting to use the UC rules make firearms commonplace or having guns everywhere.
So what I plan is simply add a single level of Gunslinger to Npc's, with full BaB classes.
For instance Mr. Plugg will be fighter 4/gunslinger 1. Starting firearms used this way will be of considerable less value. As well as allow player gunslingers access to ammo. I am also thinking of just pistols for the first AP.
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I intend to include firearms, but I want them to add drama to the game without taking over. So I intend to house rule them something like this:
Only pistols and muskets available early on (and only when found, not purchased).
Pistols do 2d8 damage
Muskets do 2d12 damage
All firearms misfire on a natural roll of 1-5.
Rolls of 2-5 the gun simply doesn't go off. Checking the powder and cocking the hammer again is a standard action.
On a roll of 1 the gun is "broken" it takes 3 full round actions to clear the jammed shot and get it ready to fire again.
Any misfire with an already "broken" gun results in an exploding barrel and a destroyed weapon.
A normal reload of a pistol takes a full round action.
A normal reload of a musket takes 2 full round actions.
With these rules firearms pack a serious punch, but are very unreliable and not realistically going to be reloaded and used multiple times in a single combat very often. It will hopefully be worth it to carry a loaded pistol in your belt and pull it and fire it that one time you want to make a good impression, but then immediately go back to your cutlass - as it should be in a good pirate battle.
sabedoriaclark - interesting, what do you have as range increments, weapon price, & ammo price, and I assume these are exotic weapons?
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sabedoriaclark - interesting, what do you have as range increments, weapon price, & ammo price, and I assume these are exotic weapons?
Range increments and other rules I intend to basically keep as written.
For the first book at least, maybe more, the only guns available will be ones they find (on the Rahadoumi ship for example). So "buying" won't come into it, but I'll probably use the commonplace prices when it comes time because I want people to feel free to carry a pistol as a sidearm and not have to consider it their main investment.
I will treat them as an exotic weapon yes and encourage folks to take proficiency in them.
It's all about trying to find a balance between having guns available for flavor and drama, but not encouraging them as a viable focus or as something that takes over the entire game. I like the excitement of pulling your pistol at a tense moment in the fight and pulling the trigger hoping to Besmara that it goes off and kills that charging Buccaneer, but then you're right back to swords and daggers and swinging in the rigging.
sabedoriaclark - interesting, what do you have as range increments, weapon price, & ammo price, and I assume these are exotic weapons?Range increments and other rules I intend to basically keep as written.
For the first book at least, maybe more, the only guns available will be ones they find (on the Rahadoumi ship for example). So "buying" won't come into it, but I'll probably use the commonplace prices when it comes time because I want people to feel free to carry a pistol as a sidearm and not have to consider it their main investment.
I will treat them as an exotic weapon yes and encourage folks to take proficiency in them.
It's all about trying to find a balance between having guns available for flavor and drama, but not encouraging them as a viable focus or as something that takes over the entire game. I like the excitement of pulling your pistol at a tense moment in the fight and pulling the trigger hoping to Besmara that it goes off and kills that charging Buccaneer, but then you're right back to swords and daggers and swinging in the rigging.
I've gone for a similar feel, but I haven't decided what guns I want to have in the hands of the rahadoumi sailors and the wormwood pirates. What have you gone with, here? A Musket, in the hands of the non proficient, is essentially the same as a heavy crossbow anyway (which the crew of the Man's Promise were packing) but I don't know if giving every one of them a musket creates the atmosphere I want.
Any thoughts?