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Hey there, I'm looking to move Pathfinder into the 1800 - 1830 era. I'm taking an equipment list from an old GURPS supplement and using late-era musket and muzzle-loading rifle gun stats from the D20 Modern: Past supplement.
What I'm having trouble with is cavalry charges and cannons. I think both should be nasty.
A cavalry charge is a devastating attack. Being trampled by a heavy horse is very often a death sentence. The sight of a line of charging cavalry causes ranks of hardened infantry to break and run. And in general, in historical combat, a warrior on his feet was rarely a match for a warrior on horseback.
My thought is to allow a combat trained mount to make all of their hoof attacks on a trample attack instead of just the one. Jumping out of the way of the overrun is now not automatic, you have to make a reflex save (open to suggestion as to what the DC should be) to jump out of the way. And lastly a combat-trained mount may as a free action as part of a charge activate frightful presence against all creatures at least 1 category smaller than itself that it would attempt to overrun (so possibly more than one if the rider has Barreling Overrun (which I'm going to allow)).
A couple of other thoughts: the size modifier chart is ridiculous. I'm thinking of replacing it with: Small: -4, Large +4 etc. It should not be possible for a less than mightily heroic halfling to wrestle and pin a horse.
But I'm really lost on cannons. The siege engine rules seem to assume you're targeting an object or fortification and have nothing to say about a cannonball fired into a dense crowd.
Cannons would depend on what kind of shot, too. If you're firing grapeshot or explosive, just treat it as a burst effect with reflex for either half or no damage (probably none for grape, half for exploding). For solid shot, I'd treat it as a line effect with reflex negates.