Steerpike wrote:
Putting this here because it doesn't pertain to C&C rules per se, but to some options I want to include.
I am working on a couple of new adventures, and one of them has a kind of steam-punk feel to it, though I am writing it for C&C rules. I'd like to include some firearms - muzzle loading, flint lock, that sort of thing. Nothing fancy.
Anyone have such rules?
I am considering porting over some of the damage, range, and other rules from Iron Kingdoms, but I thought I'd see if anyone has done anything along these lines already.
A couple of things to keep in mind.
Firearms are incredibly expensive early on.
When talking muskets, think in a few ways... Matchlock vs. Snaplock/Snaphance vs. Wheellock vs. Flintlock vs. percussion caps, and perhaps more importantly, smooth bore, and rifled. Practical rifled muskets for general infantry use came into play around the Civil War, and were an incredible leap forward over the smooth bore. Rifles already existed, but took 2-3 times longer to load due to the much larger shot that was used. The Rifled muskets of the Civil War became practical because of the Minie Ball. The Minie ball was conical in shape to make it easier to fit in the barrel of the rifle, and had a slightly hollowed base that allowed it expand when shot, thus tightly fitting into the rifled grooves of the barrel.
The first issue is the firing mechanism.
Matchlock - Unreliable, misfires 15% of the time (1-3 on d20), gets worse the damper the environment, the match cord must remain burning
Snaplock/Snaphance, Wheellock - Unreliable, misfires frequently (20% 1-4 on d20)
Flintlock - Unreliable, misfires about 15% 1-3 on d20) of the time
Percussion cap - Reliable, misfires about 1% (1 on d20) of the time
A note on these misfires, use the to hit roll to determine if it misfires. Even if the character would normally hit the result is a misfire. Also, this is not necessarily a catastrophic misfire, it could simply be that it did not fire, pull the firing mechanism back again (replace the percussion cap if using one) and try again. On a second misfire I would say the weapon is jammed.
Feel free to make a call on how you would rule catastrophic misfires, though they should be fairly rare. (I would probably require that a second roll is made after a misfire, and if a second misfire is rolled, it has a catastrophic effect. Further if the weapon has been determined to be jammed, apply a +5 to the misfire chance when determining if a catastrophic event happens. However, if using a matchlock, always use the standard misfire chance as the base, do not include the penalties for dampness)
The second issue is the accuracy.
Smooth bore - Accurate to 30-50 yards, after that if firing into a mass of beings 100 yard range with no penalties (unless over 50 yards trying to pick out an individual), penalties should mount quickly, perhaps -1 every 10 yards beyond 50 when firing at an individual, and -1 every 10 after 100 when firing at massed troops?
Rifled bore w/minie ball - Accurate to about 200 yards, start piling on penalties after that at a rate of -1 for each 10 yards?
Rifled bore with proper sized musket balls - I don't have any real stats on these, perhaps give the same range as a minie ball, with -1 for every 15 yards?
Damage
I would probably look at a either a d8 or d10 damage, though leaning towards d8. You can stage up damage based on the size of the musket ball, and to give it extra punch, on any successful hit, add together the to-hit and damage rolls, and on a 20+ the bullet can do any number of things. Knock the target down, maybe hit a bone, causing an additional d6 damage as bone fragment enlarge the exit wound. You could use a graduating scale and include vital organs being hit, bleeding damage, even the possiblity of requiring a save vs. death. Be creative, but be fair.
I would probably also permit a penetration value for musket balls, perhaps a value of 10 out to 50 yards, declining by 1 for each 10 yards beyond that. This penetration value negates the ac adjustment of armor only (not dex or magical adjustments). This is representative of musket balls penetrating breastplates on the battle fields at 100 yards, and at 50 yards going through both the front and rear plates of unfortunate pikemen!
And then there was the reloading issue...
Muskets are slow to reload. Very slow in fact. A good soldier, after much drilling could get 3 shots per minute. With a C&C combat round being 6 seconds, that equates to one shot every three rounds. And remember this was shooting for effect, not necessarily effective shooting. Meaning, that while 3 shots per minute for a highly trained soldier will allow at least some time for aiming, the average soldier would mostly have time to reload, point with minimal aiming adjustments, and shoot, while an average un-trained person could possibly get loaded and thrust the weapon in the general direction, so they would definitely fall into the 2 shots/minute, unless you want to start targeting the people behind them Also don't forget, the most accurate rifles use larger shot than normal, and while they have a higher accuracy, they will take 2-3x longer to load.
OK, these thoughts are a bit disjointed, but hopefully clear enough to see what I was thinking.
[edit] One thing I forgot, you should look at allowing for bayonets, turning the rifle into a short spear, and also allow the rifle to be used as a staff. Though if using it in melee, give it some sort of chance to be damaged. Damage can be such as increasing chances of misfire, while imposing penalties to hit, or even rendering the weapon unable to fire.
Also funny to note that the system put two asterisks in the word commonly used to describe the pulling back the firing mechanism! so I changed the wording above...