Does any one use or in the past have included black powder firearms in their D&D campaign? Has it worked out? Did it create a new dimension to the game? Did it take from the game? Was it a non factor making no real difference?

Although I used C&C, my homebrew setting Malbatil is a fantsy version of the Thirty Years War.

Gunpowder weapons at the time were ponderous and slow.  Artillery was not yet king of the battlefield, and the sword and knife was the personal weapon of choice, in addition to a pistol.  Arquebusses and matchlock muskets were common on battlefields.

Quote from: RoninDoes any one use or in the past have included black powder firearms in their D&D campaign? Has it worked out? Did it create a new dimension to the game? Did it take from the game? Was it a non factor making no real difference?

Yes.  Friends and I used them quite a bit in one of our last campaigns.  Most weapons had roughly a 45% chance of either a misfire or round cooking off in the chamber, and usually blowing up in your face.

As you can imagine, no one dared used them exclusively, which essentially took care of them being abused in any way.  I considered them set-dressing more than anything...kinda like airships.

Yes, in a 3.0 "Musketeers" game.  Since I imposed a 10 round reload time on the weapons the game would sometimes involve initial shots from black powder weapons before the swordplay began.  The one nifty thing was having 6 Cardinal's Guards with pistols drawn was enough to force diplomacy in some situations...

But otherwise the reload times and costs for the weapons resulted in pretty standard melee and magical combat.  I think with a shorter reload time (1-2 rounds) and high damage (I think I was using 2d10) it might be different, but that's a crazy fast reload time.  Then again, crossbows are reloaded unbelievably quickly in the game as well.

Yes indeed!
 
From my "Intro to Irrin" (my upcoming homebrew):
 
 

They're actually reasonably common in my expansion on Shadows of the Spider Moon; most of the major powers manufacture snaplock muskets and primitive shell-loaded cannons for their marines & warships, while both the Royal Protectorate of the Elvish Regent and the freshly reborn Drow Impergium produce exquisite magically-fired blackpowder pistols for their officers. The duskwood-and-iron muskets smuggled out from the (thankfully) remote Pax Illithica are essentially the AK-47s of the setting; cheap, ubiquitous in conflict-riddled areas, and in some ways the symbol of armed insurrection - though nowhere near as durable (because the illithids don't care if it blows up in your face, and who else are you going to buy 10,000 rifles from?).

They take 6 rounds to reload, lose damage every range increment, and run the risk of catastrophic weapons failure (% varies by manufacturer) but are rather likely to kill a character up to about 4th level with a single shot within the first couple ranges (0 - 100 feet, as I recall). They're most commonly used in volleys as two spelljammers close the distance for boarding operations. It's a bit like Napoleonic elf-on-elf naval warfare in space, with a splash of Traveller thrown in so the PCs have something to do.

Yes, I have, with a few changes (I DMed, so they're my rules). Guns are martial weapons, and reload like crossbows instead of taking a full round action. They do piercing _and_ bludgeoning damage. One of the characters was a fighter-cleric with a brace of pistols, and he was doing comparable damage to the rest of the party, so I felt comfortable with those rules.

I'll use them from time to time in my games if it is warrented by the setting. Neither of my current AD&D 2e campaigns use them; both campaigns are set in Greyhawk and are following the T1-4/A1-4/GDQ1-7 series of modules. However, one D&D 3.0 campaign that I am working on will indeed include them; the same module series (it's my favorite) will serve as the backbone for the campaign, but will be set in my own campaign world and is intended to have more of a swashbuckler feel to it.

I think that as long as you give them certain drawbacks - namely, as in WFRP, high costs for ammo and maintenance, long reload time - then they shouldn't unbalance things at all.

Also, you will be able to use the phrase "a brace of pistols", which is just cool.

Considering that a low level wizard can cast attack spells that match or outdo black powder weapons, I'd say that their lack of ability to compete with even low level magic may explain why BP weapons never got too far in a D&D world.

To make BPWs workable, you likely have to eliminate most offensive magic from D&D, which would make it...not D&D anymore.

The other option might be to make truly huge BP cannon that can launch explosive cannon balls that would take a high level wizard to match in destructive force, and are more reliable and common that high level wizards.

Quote from: Dominus NoxConsidering that a low level wizard can cast attack spells that match or outdo black powder weapons, I'd say that their lack of ability to compete with even low level magic may explain why BP weapons never got too far in a D&D world.

That's really cool reasoning for medieval societies lasting longer than in real history.  Makes Banestorm make much more sense, actually.

Thanks!

Quote from: Dominus NoxConsidering that a low level wizard can cast attack spells that match or outdo black powder weapons, I'd say that their lack of ability to compete with even low level magic may explain why BP weapons never got too far in a D&D world.

Yes, that must be why bows and arrows are so unpopular in D&D settings too.

Quote from: CaudexYes, that mu



Bows and arrows are mjuch easier to make than guns are, requiring no smelting, forging, etc, unless you use metal arrowheads.

They are also easier to make ammo for and their ammo isn't as vulnerable to moisture.

Also there are magical arrows available in D&D, how about magic bullets?

Lots of character classes can make bows and arrows easily, how many could make guns?


Swing and a miss.

Quote from: joewolzThat's really cool reasoning for medieval societies lasting longer than in real history.  Makes Banestorm make much more sense, actually.

Thanks!

I always figured that functional magic might impede technological development as it could do some things better, cheaper and easier. So in a world where magic works tech might not develop as fast.

Sometimes social factors can have a detrimental effect on technology, like in old rome. Hero invented the steam engine long, long ago, but it was never developed into anything useful because the romans had massive amounts of slave labor which was cheaper and easier to use.

Quote from: Dominus NoxLots of character classes can make bows and arrows easily, how many could make guns?

Rather more than can cast spells, typically. That would vary from setting to setting of course. But if you've got crossbows (not a given), guns are the next step. Arquebuses or something, they're fun.

Magic bullets would be cool.

QuoteSwing and a miss.

Don't be a dick.