Some ideas I had that I wanted to share. Basically it's an attempt to recreate a buffalo rifle or elephant gun for use in D&D, inspired by the giff since I figure they'd enjoy a larger, more powerful gun than what's available in the DMG.
This weapon is extremely noisy when used. All creatures within 300 feet automatically hear it when fired unless they are deaf or they or the rifle is inside an area of magical silence, no perception check necessary. This is true even if the wielder has the Skulker feat, though the wielder may still remain hidden.
New weapon property, Recoil:
This weapon produces tremendous recoil when used. If the wielder attacks with this weapon and does not have a strength score of at least 15 or the Powerful Build or similar racial trait (including but not limited to Centaur Build and Hippo Build), they must make a DC 10 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
It's a fun idea, though are you intending a particular level for it to become available?
First thing to query is the damage; if your intention is slow rate of fire but high damage then the current problem in 5th-edition is that everyone and their mum can now ignore the loading property on firearms by either choosing Giff for their race, or picking up the Gunner feat before you get Extra Attack. This means a Fighter with one of these could put out an average of 58 damage in a round using Action Surge at 5th-level, assuming a 17 in Dexterity tipped to 18 at 4th-level for a +4, giving them 10.5 average base damage +4 per shot. When I was doing the special weapons for my Gunfighter sub-class what I opted for was having the weapons specify that they take your entire turn to fire (movement, action, bonus action etc.). For a (comparatively) lighter elephant gun I'd consider limiting it to one shot per round, but have the damage scale at higher levels maybe, more like a cantrip? Maybe even scaled a bit higher, but make it take a long time to reload (e.g- a minute) so it's a fire once weapon at the start of the round, before switching to something else?
Second is I'm not sure if you need the Loud feature or not; all renaissance firearms were noisy, but Wizards of the Coast decided not to mention noise at all. This is partly just down to the weakness of the 5th-edition rules with regards to noise, which is rarely mentioned and mostly just left up to the DM. It may be enough to just describe it as "noisy even compared to other firearms" and leave it to the DM to decide? As I would think even a basic musket would be audible at quite a large distance, though maybe it would be more easily mistaken for something else than an elephant gun would?
Lastly, it should probably have the ammunition property? Or maybe a custom property for limiting the rate of fire as noted above?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
It's a fun idea, though are you intending a particular level for it to become available?
First thing to query is the damage; if your intention is slow rate of fire but high damage then the current problem in 5th-edition is that everyone and their mum can now ignore the loading property on firearms by either choosing Giff for their race, or picking up the Gunner feat before you get Extra Attack. This means a Fighter with one of these could put out an average of 58 damage in a round using Action Surge at 5th-level, assuming a 17 in Dexterity tipped to 18 at 4th-level for a +4, giving them 10.5 average base damage +4 per shot. When I was doing the special weapons for my Gunfighter sub-class what I opted for was having the weapons specify that they take your entire turn to fire (movement, action, bonus action etc.). For a (comparatively) lighter elephant gun I'd consider limiting it to one shot per round, but have the damage scale at higher levels maybe, more like a cantrip? Maybe even scaled a bit higher, but make it take a long time to reload (e.g- a minute) so it's a fire once weapon at the start of the round, before switching to something else?
Second is I'm not sure if you need the Loud feature or not; all renaissance firearms were noisy, but Wizards of the Coast decided not to mention noise at all. This is partly just down to the weakness of the 5th-edition rules with regards to noise, which is rarely mentioned and mostly just left up to the DM. It may be enough to just describe it as "noisy even compared to other firearms" and leave it to the DM to decide? As I would think even a basic musket would be audible at quite a large distance, though maybe it would be more easily mistaken for something else than an elephant gun would?
Lastly, it should probably have the ammunition property? Or maybe a custom property for limiting the rate of fire as noted above?
It was supposed to have the Ammunition property and I forgot to add it, so thanks for reminding me. As far as the Loud property goes, I just decided to add that for fun, mostly. It doesn't need the property, but it just felt appropriate to have.
As far as when it becomes available, this ought to be a very rare and expensive weapon even in a campaign setting where guns are common. So a cost of somewhere in the 1500-2000 gold range.
Some ideas I had that I wanted to share. Basically it's an attempt to recreate a buffalo rifle or elephant gun for use in D&D, inspired by the giff since I figure they'd enjoy a larger, more powerful gun than what's available in the DMG.
New item: Manticore Rifle
Martial Ranged Weapon
Range: 200/600
Damage: 3d6 Piercing
Weight: 20 lbs
Properties: Ammunition, Heavy, Loading, Loud, Recoil
New weapon property, Loud:
This weapon is extremely noisy when used. All creatures within 300 feet automatically hear it when fired unless they are deaf or they or the rifle is inside an area of magical silence, no perception check necessary. This is true even if the wielder has the Skulker feat, though the wielder may still remain hidden.
New weapon property, Recoil:
This weapon produces tremendous recoil when used. If the wielder attacks with this weapon and does not have a strength score of at least 15 or the Powerful Build or similar racial trait (including but not limited to Centaur Build and Hippo Build), they must make a DC 10 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It's a fun idea, though are you intending a particular level for it to become available?
First thing to query is the damage; if your intention is slow rate of fire but high damage then the current problem in 5th-edition is that everyone and their mum can now ignore the loading property on firearms by either choosing Giff for their race, or picking up the Gunner feat before you get Extra Attack. This means a Fighter with one of these could put out an average of 58 damage in a round using Action Surge at 5th-level, assuming a 17 in Dexterity tipped to 18 at 4th-level for a +4, giving them 10.5 average base damage +4 per shot. When I was doing the special weapons for my Gunfighter sub-class what I opted for was having the weapons specify that they take your entire turn to fire (movement, action, bonus action etc.). For a (comparatively) lighter elephant gun I'd consider limiting it to one shot per round, but have the damage scale at higher levels maybe, more like a cantrip? Maybe even scaled a bit higher, but make it take a long time to reload (e.g- a minute) so it's a fire once weapon at the start of the round, before switching to something else?
Second is I'm not sure if you need the Loud feature or not; all renaissance firearms were noisy, but Wizards of the Coast decided not to mention noise at all. This is partly just down to the weakness of the 5th-edition rules with regards to noise, which is rarely mentioned and mostly just left up to the DM. It may be enough to just describe it as "noisy even compared to other firearms" and leave it to the DM to decide? As I would think even a basic musket would be audible at quite a large distance, though maybe it would be more easily mistaken for something else than an elephant gun would?
Lastly, it should probably have the ammunition property? Or maybe a custom property for limiting the rate of fire as noted above?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
It was supposed to have the Ammunition property and I forgot to add it, so thanks for reminding me. As far as the Loud property goes, I just decided to add that for fun, mostly. It doesn't need the property, but it just felt appropriate to have.
As far as when it becomes available, this ought to be a very rare and expensive weapon even in a campaign setting where guns are common. So a cost of somewhere in the 1500-2000 gold range.
By all means. If I didn't want other people using it, I wouldn't have posted it here.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.