So I have a slight problem involving firearms rules in DnD
Basically right now I use the firearms from the gunslinger however a couple of my players have expressed a dislike to the misfire rules cause they make firearms weaker then bows and crossbows.
Compounding the issue is I really do not like the artificer infusion repeating shot cause it breaks firearms (which is the only time I have seen it used) to the point I have nerfed the infusion to require 6 levels in artificer
So my question is basically how can I fix the problem with making firearms balanced. Any rule ideas.
Also Banning Firearms or repeating shot is not an option on the table
Use the dmg Firearms, they have no misfire, and its slightly less powerful when abused by repeating shot (also, repeating shot is used with crossbows all the time)
In my previous campaign, I houseruled that Misfire only jammed the gun for another turn rather than breaking it entirely. The player will still lose their action that turn, but it's still less punishing.
Regarding Repeating Shot: technically, it doesn't work with CR firearms, since they have the Reload property rather than the Loading property. That said, I personally would be fine with Repeating Shot working on them. May I ask what the particular problem you had with Repeating Shot on firearms was?
It won’t be satisfying, but just reskin the guns as bows. Longbow is a rifle, short bow is a pistol. If they want something better (longer range/more damage) well misfire rules are the price they pay. It’s a trade off.
In my previous campaign, I houseruled that Misfire only jammed the gun for another turn rather than breaking it entirely. The player will still lose their action that turn, but it's still less punishing.
Regarding Repeating Shot: technically, it doesn't work with CR firearms, since they have the Reload property rather than the Loading property. That said, I personally would be fine with Repeating Shot working on them. May I ask what the particular problem you had with Repeating Shot on firearms was?
The reason I dislike repeating shot is cause of the second feature.
"If you load no ammunition in the weapon, it produces its own, automatically creating one piece of magic ammunition when you make a ranged attack with it. The ammunition created by the weapon vanishes the instant after it hits or misses a target."
the RAW interpretation is that this renders Reload useless since they never have to reload hence I my dislike
I am fully on team “just call a crossbow a musket.” If you need firearms to have a differently-feeling mechanic, that mechanic is misfire. But 5e’s weapon system isn’t really granular enough to support that kind of differentiation.
If they don’t like misfire, give them crossbow stats and say it’s a musket. If they want more damage but without the drawback of misfire, tell them they can’t have their cake and eat it too and to suck it up.
Misfire sucks for anyone not playing as the Gunslinger homebrew class because those guns are designed with the assumption that you'll be gaining subclass abilities to mitigate or manage the misfires. If you're not a gunslinger, then guns become an instant gamble with more downsides than upsides.
Tell them to thank the Gods you aren’t using firearms in 1E or 2E. Brutal back then.
I am curious how firearms where worse in 1E or 2E
For example from the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition, the arquebus (pre-musket) If the attack roll for the arquebus is a 1 or 2, the weapon backfires, causing 1d6 points of damage to the firer. It is also fouled and cannot be used again until it has been cleaned, which takes about 30 minutes. When an arquebus scores a hit, it normally does 1 to 9 points of damage on 1d10. When a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and this amount is added to 10. Each time a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and added to the previous total.
Sounds good so far huh, except for the back fire? Well here's the kicker its rate of fire is once every three rounds. Also in that edition a round was a minute not six seconds. This can be found on pages 94 and 95 in the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition.
Tell them to thank the Gods you aren’t using firearms in 1E or 2E. Brutal back then.
I am curious how firearms where worse in 1E or 2E
For example from the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition, the arquebus (pre-musket) If the attack roll for the arquebus is a 1 or 2, the weapon backfires, causing 1d6 points of damage to the firer. It is also fouled and cannot be used again until it has been cleaned, which takes about 30 minutes. When an arquebus scores a hit, it normally does 1 to 9 points of damage on 1d10. When a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and this amount is added to 10. Each time a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and added to the previous total.
Sounds good so far huh, except for the back fire? Well here's the kicker its rate of fire is once every three rounds. Also in that edition a round was a minute not six seconds. This can be found on pages 94 and 95 in the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition.
I am showing this to my players because this makes misfire look tame by comparison
Tell them to thank the Gods you aren’t using firearms in 1E or 2E. Brutal back then.
I am curious how firearms where worse in 1E or 2E
For example from the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition, the arquebus (pre-musket) If the attack roll for the arquebus is a 1 or 2, the weapon backfires, causing 1d6 points of damage to the firer. It is also fouled and cannot be used again until it has been cleaned, which takes about 30 minutes. When an arquebus scores a hit, it normally does 1 to 9 points of damage on 1d10. When a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and this amount is added to 10. Each time a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and added to the previous total.
Sounds good so far huh, except for the back fire? Well here's the kicker its rate of fire is once every three rounds. Also in that edition a round was a minute not six seconds. This can be found on pages 94 and 95 in the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition.
I am showing this to my players because this makes misfire look tame by comparison
I would love to hear their reactions.
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So I have a slight problem involving firearms rules in DnD
Basically right now I use the firearms from the gunslinger however a couple of my players have expressed a dislike to the misfire rules cause they make firearms weaker then bows and crossbows.
Compounding the issue is I really do not like the artificer infusion repeating shot cause it breaks firearms (which is the only time I have seen it used) to the point I have nerfed the infusion to require 6 levels in artificer
So my question is basically how can I fix the problem with making firearms balanced. Any rule ideas.
Also Banning Firearms or repeating shot is not an option on the table
Use the dmg Firearms, they have no misfire, and its slightly less powerful when abused by repeating shot (also, repeating shot is used with crossbows all the time)
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In my previous campaign, I houseruled that Misfire only jammed the gun for another turn rather than breaking it entirely. The player will still lose their action that turn, but it's still less punishing.
Regarding Repeating Shot: technically, it doesn't work with CR firearms, since they have the Reload property rather than the Loading property. That said, I personally would be fine with Repeating Shot working on them. May I ask what the particular problem you had with Repeating Shot on firearms was?
It won’t be satisfying, but just reskin the guns as bows. Longbow is a rifle, short bow is a pistol.
If they want something better (longer range/more damage) well misfire rules are the price they pay. It’s a trade off.
Tell them to thank the Gods you aren’t using firearms in 1E or 2E. Brutal back then.
The reason I dislike repeating shot is cause of the second feature.
the RAW interpretation is that this renders Reload useless since they never have to reload hence I my dislike
I am curious how firearms where worse in 1E or 2E
I am fully on team “just call a crossbow a musket.” If you need firearms to have a differently-feeling mechanic, that mechanic is misfire. But 5e’s weapon system isn’t really granular enough to support that kind of differentiation.
If they don’t like misfire, give them crossbow stats and say it’s a musket. If they want more damage but without the drawback of misfire, tell them they can’t have their cake and eat it too and to suck it up.
Misfire sucks for anyone not playing as the Gunslinger homebrew class because those guns are designed with the assumption that you'll be gaining subclass abilities to mitigate or manage the misfires. If you're not a gunslinger, then guns become an instant gamble with more downsides than upsides.
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For example from the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition, the arquebus (pre-musket) If the attack roll for the arquebus is a 1 or 2, the weapon backfires, causing 1d6 points of damage to the firer. It is also fouled and cannot be used again until it has been cleaned, which takes about 30 minutes. When an arquebus scores a hit, it normally does 1 to 9 points of damage on 1d10. When a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and this amount is added to 10. Each time a 10 is rolled, the die is rolled again and added to the previous total.
Sounds good so far huh, except for the back fire? Well here's the kicker its rate of fire is once every three rounds. Also in that edition a round was a minute not six seconds. This can be found on pages 94 and 95 in the PHB of AD&D 2nd Edition.
I am showing this to my players because this makes misfire look tame by comparison
I would love to hear their reactions.