ive been doing a lot of worldbuilding as a hobby. the entire idea is that if guns never got past the matchlock stage how would that effect the advancement of civilization and warfare. along with what weapons we would develop in place of guns. ive now realized the weapons ive been creating could add some really interesting gameplay elements heres a list of examples.( also for a lot of these ive actually done the math to see there irl performance. am i crazy? yes, but for me doing the math is a lot easier than just making stuff up.)
whistler rifle(specifically the first version called the blazer): with this specific varient it fires either a 50 cal musket ball or a 5 pound lead slug, with the slug the speed and range is terrible, only 170ish fps and 180 feet of range. however because of that 5 pound projectile it hits with about the same energy as 50 bmg. with that ammount of force it wouldnt matter what armor the target has because they are in for a bad time. in game the weapon could have a mechanic where it ignores any ac derived from armor. lets say a bandits natural ac is 10, with his armor its now 15, basically if the users attack roll is inbetween 10( natural ac) and 15(ac from armor) then it still deals damage, maybe half damage.
asimov system: the first of these weapons i came up with. it works on the same concept as a crossbow or a slingshot, but it fires a special projectile made of a metal tube sealed at one end and a glass dome on the other. the whole thing is basically a grenade luancher but you can fill the rounds with anything you want, so long as it dosent react with metal or glass. you could fill it with alchemist fire, ball bearings, nails, anything you could think of, you could make an entire class around this
m42: its an air powered "syringe launcher" but you could fill the rounds with any liquid, just think of the possibilities, clerics or healers could fill them with potions of healing to heal at range, or you could fill them withoil of taggit if you need to knock out a guard or someone the party needs to capture. the possibilities are endless
theres a lot more where that came from but i think you get the point. granted dnd beyond dosent allow me to build entirely custom items but i just wanted to share this here. so what do you guys think?
I love the m42, like the asimov, and I have a few questions for the whistler/blazer. What, specifically, is the range for the whistler with the musket ball? Is it a similar system to the lead slug? Also, how much damage does the whistler/blazer do?
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Shoutout to the 2 Crew! - the cast of Not Another D&D Podcast
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. He/Him.
Ravenclaw, bookworm, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling.
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and the theatre. Also, the aforementioned podcast as well as Floor is Lava.
i havent done the calculations for the lead balls range, but it would impact with about the same energy as 243 winchester which is somewhere in between a coyote and a deer round. so probably similar to the musket. as for the lead slug i really dont know how to translate 12000 foot pounds of energy into a dice roll. maybe 2d8?
They have a page in guns in the DMG if you want a reference. I think that It would do 2d10 or so (like a hunting rifle) for the musket ball since it’s larger, and maybe, yes, 2d8 for the lead slug. The musket ball I imagine would have larger range since it’s a bit more streamlined and it has more firepower. You are using this for 5e, correct?
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Shoutout to the 2 Crew! - the cast of Not Another D&D Podcast
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. He/Him.
Ravenclaw, bookworm, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling.
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and the theatre. Also, the aforementioned podcast as well as Floor is Lava.
(sorry for not replying sooner ive been busy) I wouldnt say there straight upgrades. First of all these weapons would be very rare. In my worldbuilding these weapons are pretty much only seen within a war between 2 factions. The committee(unhinged scientists with no morals) and the first renegade division. Because of this you would essentially have to scavange through a warzone to find these weapons. also these weapons are very complex to make. for example the whistler rifle needs parts that can create a decent seal in order to build up pressure. they also need to be strong enough to withstand the high air pressure without rupturing. your average blacksmith wouldnt be able to make parts that percise. or look at the apg, basically a centrifugal luancher. in order for that to work not only do you need a power source, but the centrifuge(the chamber that contains the spinning arm) has to be almost perfectly circular, if even a couple of millimeters of the walls are off by even a few degrees then the part is useless. you get the idea. these would be incredibly rare items. and even then the existing weapons(bows, crossbows, and the musket) still have one huge advantage, consistancy. all of these weapons have serious drawbacks and limitations. the whistler rifles with the 5 pound slug while having that ability to ignore armor would also have horrible range(100 feet or less) require an action to load, and you could only carry a few rounds because of how heavy they are. the apg while having an insanly high firerate not only chews through your ball bearing supply like crazy but also can overheat and if you dont let it cool down not only will your attack rolls get negative modifiers but youll also get a higher and higher chance to jam requiring an action to clear. eventually youll have a catastrophic failure where the weapon explodes. even the asimov system and the m42 have limitations, the asimov system requires that you actually have stuff to load the rounds with otherwise theyll do basically no damage which could get pretty pricy depending on what you use as a payload. also you have to spend an action to load it. and the m42 also requires a payload otherwise the rounds will have no effect, and i mean NO EFFECT. not even 1 point of damage. again this can get pretty pricy. the R.A.M.S being a weapon that shoots rocket propelled projectiles has all the benifets and drawbacks of a weapon that shoots rocket propelled projectiles. the range is insane and the damage can be crazy but the rounds cant be bought through usual means, weight a lot, and only do there max damage after about 100 feet when the rocket reaches its max speed. also depending on the model it needs an action to load and there often single shot. the zues which is basically the arc thrower from helldivers 2 is great for clearing out hoards of enemies as the electricity will arc between targets, but its incredibly unpredictable, and it requires a battery that runs out very fast. also it has abismal range, only about 30 feet. you get the idea. basically these weapons while strong in certain scenarios also have serious drawbacks. meanwhile the existing weapons dont have that problem, there well rounded, no gimmicks to worry about. think of it this way, the existing weapons are the jack of all trades defualt. not great at anything but also not bad at anything either. these new weapons are more specialized to be good at a certain thing. whistler rifle for dealing with armored opponents, apg for suppression as well as reliable crowd control. asimov system for splash damage and utility, m42 for well its more of a tool than a weapon. rams for very long range fighting, and the zues for a short range crowd control and horde killer. there each meant for a specific job, and in that job they are straight upgrades to the existing weapons, but thats only in a specific situation. in a different situation they really struggle. so no, there not direct upgrades to the existing weapons, there just specialized,.
(sorry for the rant, i just like writing about this stuff.
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ive been doing a lot of worldbuilding as a hobby. the entire idea is that if guns never got past the matchlock stage how would that effect the advancement of civilization and warfare. along with what weapons we would develop in place of guns. ive now realized the weapons ive been creating could add some really interesting gameplay elements heres a list of examples.( also for a lot of these ive actually done the math to see there irl performance. am i crazy? yes, but for me doing the math is a lot easier than just making stuff up.)
whistler rifle(specifically the first version called the blazer): with this specific varient it fires either a 50 cal musket ball or a 5 pound lead slug, with the slug the speed and range is terrible, only 170ish fps and 180 feet of range. however because of that 5 pound projectile it hits with about the same energy as 50 bmg. with that ammount of force it wouldnt matter what armor the target has because they are in for a bad time. in game the weapon could have a mechanic where it ignores any ac derived from armor. lets say a bandits natural ac is 10, with his armor its now 15, basically if the users attack roll is inbetween 10( natural ac) and 15(ac from armor) then it still deals damage, maybe half damage.
asimov system: the first of these weapons i came up with. it works on the same concept as a crossbow or a slingshot, but it fires a special projectile made of a metal tube sealed at one end and a glass dome on the other. the whole thing is basically a grenade luancher but you can fill the rounds with anything you want, so long as it dosent react with metal or glass. you could fill it with alchemist fire, ball bearings, nails, anything you could think of, you could make an entire class around this
m42: its an air powered "syringe launcher" but you could fill the rounds with any liquid, just think of the possibilities, clerics or healers could fill them with potions of healing to heal at range, or you could fill them withoil of taggit if you need to knock out a guard or someone the party needs to capture. the possibilities are endless
theres a lot more where that came from but i think you get the point. granted dnd beyond dosent allow me to build entirely custom items but i just wanted to share this here. so what do you guys think?
I love the m42, like the asimov, and I have a few questions for the whistler/blazer. What, specifically, is the range for the whistler with the musket ball? Is it a similar system to the lead slug? Also, how much damage does the whistler/blazer do?
Shoutout to the 2 Crew! - the cast of Not Another D&D Podcast
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. He/Him.
Ravenclaw, bookworm, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling.
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and the theatre. Also, the aforementioned podcast as well as Floor is Lava.
i havent done the calculations for the lead balls range, but it would impact with about the same energy as 243 winchester which is somewhere in between a coyote and a deer round. so probably similar to the musket. as for the lead slug i really dont know how to translate 12000 foot pounds of energy into a dice roll. maybe 2d8?
They have a page in guns in the DMG if you want a reference. I think that It would do 2d10 or so (like a hunting rifle) for the musket ball since it’s larger, and maybe, yes, 2d8 for the lead slug. The musket ball I imagine would have larger range since it’s a bit more streamlined and it has more firepower. You are using this for 5e, correct?
Shoutout to the 2 Crew! - the cast of Not Another D&D Podcast
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. He/Him.
Ravenclaw, bookworm, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling.
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and the theatre. Also, the aforementioned podcast as well as Floor is Lava.
yes, im planning on it being 5e, also thanks for the info.
When I saw this, I did not expect guns.
Alas I would be hesitant to make weaponry that are straight up better versions of existing weapons, like the Heavy Crossbow/Pistol/Musket.
(sorry for not replying sooner ive been busy) I wouldnt say there straight upgrades. First of all these weapons would be very rare. In my worldbuilding these weapons are pretty much only seen within a war between 2 factions. The committee(unhinged scientists with no morals) and the first renegade division. Because of this you would essentially have to scavange through a warzone to find these weapons. also these weapons are very complex to make. for example the whistler rifle needs parts that can create a decent seal in order to build up pressure. they also need to be strong enough to withstand the high air pressure without rupturing. your average blacksmith wouldnt be able to make parts that percise. or look at the apg, basically a centrifugal luancher. in order for that to work not only do you need a power source, but the centrifuge(the chamber that contains the spinning arm) has to be almost perfectly circular, if even a couple of millimeters of the walls are off by even a few degrees then the part is useless. you get the idea. these would be incredibly rare items. and even then the existing weapons(bows, crossbows, and the musket) still have one huge advantage, consistancy. all of these weapons have serious drawbacks and limitations. the whistler rifles with the 5 pound slug while having that ability to ignore armor would also have horrible range(100 feet or less) require an action to load, and you could only carry a few rounds because of how heavy they are. the apg while having an insanly high firerate not only chews through your ball bearing supply like crazy but also can overheat and if you dont let it cool down not only will your attack rolls get negative modifiers but youll also get a higher and higher chance to jam requiring an action to clear. eventually youll have a catastrophic failure where the weapon explodes. even the asimov system and the m42 have limitations, the asimov system requires that you actually have stuff to load the rounds with otherwise theyll do basically no damage which could get pretty pricy depending on what you use as a payload. also you have to spend an action to load it. and the m42 also requires a payload otherwise the rounds will have no effect, and i mean NO EFFECT. not even 1 point of damage. again this can get pretty pricy. the R.A.M.S being a weapon that shoots rocket propelled projectiles has all the benifets and drawbacks of a weapon that shoots rocket propelled projectiles. the range is insane and the damage can be crazy but the rounds cant be bought through usual means, weight a lot, and only do there max damage after about 100 feet when the rocket reaches its max speed. also depending on the model it needs an action to load and there often single shot. the zues which is basically the arc thrower from helldivers 2 is great for clearing out hoards of enemies as the electricity will arc between targets, but its incredibly unpredictable, and it requires a battery that runs out very fast. also it has abismal range, only about 30 feet. you get the idea. basically these weapons while strong in certain scenarios also have serious drawbacks. meanwhile the existing weapons dont have that problem, there well rounded, no gimmicks to worry about. think of it this way, the existing weapons are the jack of all trades defualt. not great at anything but also not bad at anything either. these new weapons are more specialized to be good at a certain thing. whistler rifle for dealing with armored opponents, apg for suppression as well as reliable crowd control. asimov system for splash damage and utility, m42 for well its more of a tool than a weapon. rams for very long range fighting, and the zues for a short range crowd control and horde killer. there each meant for a specific job, and in that job they are straight upgrades to the existing weapons, but thats only in a specific situation. in a different situation they really struggle. so no, there not direct upgrades to the existing weapons, there just specialized,.
(sorry for the rant, i just like writing about this stuff.