Firearms

Overview

Expense

Firearms have only recently been introduced to the world of Crescent, courtesy of a top secret Ministry research project in Ferrodyne (where else?), with cooperation and additional design from Inspector Firehammer, in the City-State of Haven. They are expensive, rare, and very unusual.

A kit for the cleaning and care of a Firearm will cost 5 GP, and one must be purchased for each type of firearm owned.

Feat Requirement

The ability to use firearms (hand guns and long arms only) is dependent upon the character possessing the Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Small Arms Feat. This new feat covers the basics of cleaning, reloading, and using firearms.

Reloading

Reloading pistols and rifles provokes attacks of opportunity.

Composition

Crescent firearms are not based on black powder; they actually utilize an ingenious alchemical goo known as blasting jelly. Indeed, the commonly known recipe for black powder (sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter) produces nothing but an inert, dusty pile of smelly pellets. The laws of nature in Crescent don't exactly mirror ours.

All of the currently available firearms are breach-loading weapons that take a specially made cartridge. This cartridge consists of blasting jelly and a projectile wrapped together in a tight cylinder, usually made of waxed paper. Ammunition is very fragile; it is ruined if it takes even 1 point of damage.

Creating blasting jelly from scratch requires a Craft (Alchemy) skill check. See Skills for more information.

Sensitivities

Blasting jelly is sensitive to both heat and oxygen, and any exposure to flames or open air will quite probably destroy it with a quick flash and a small cloud of smoke (often with negative side-effects to bystanders!).

The alchemical process used to create blasting jelly is very delicate, involving both magic and chemistry. As such, it is not possible to enchant firearms.

However, this ammunition is not sensitive to moisture.

Advantages

The greatest advantage of firearms is simply their increased damage, when compared to other weapons.

Disadvantages

Due to limited advances in the technology, and their prototype nature, the range of these arms is substantially shorter than bows. The gnomes are working on this actively.

Due to the delicacy of the cartridges, and the complicated nature of the breach mechanism, the reload time on firearms is longer than crossbows. The dwarves are working on this actively.

Sample Firearms

Weapon	Cost	Cost/Round	Dam.	Critical	Range	Size	Wt.	Reload
Dueling Pistol	300 GP	7 GP	2d4	19-20 x3	20 ft	Small	3 lb	1 SA
Military Pistol	500 GP	10 GP	2d6	19-20 x3	40 ft	Medium	5 lb	1 SA
Rifle	1000 GP	15 GP	2d8	19-20 x3	60 ft	Large	15 lb	1 FR
Shotgun	1100 GP	15 GP	2d8	18-20 x2	40 ft	Large	15 lb	1 FR
1 SA = 1 standard (attack) action; 1 MA = 1 move-equivalent action; 1 FR = 1 full-round action

Firearm Descriptions

Dueling Pistol

This weapon's main virtue is that it is easy to conceal, being only 9" long and fairly lightweight. The tradeoff is short range and low damage. You can shoot, but not load, a dueling pistol with one hand at no penalty. You can shoot a dueling pistol with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two light weapons.

Heavy Pistol

This is a larger, more powerful pistol. It is 1' in length, with a fat barrel. It has much longer range and better damage than the dueling pistol. You can shoot, but not load, a dueling pistol with one hand at no penalty. You can shoot a dueling pistol with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two light weapons.

Rifle

A basic rifle, usually between 3' and 4' in length. It has much longer range and better damage than the heavy pistol, but takes longer to reload. Normally, operating a rifle requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a rifle with one hand at a -4 penalty on attack rolls. You can shoot a rifle with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two one-handed weapons. This penalty is cumulative with the penalty for one-handed firing.

Shotgun

A basic shotgun, usually between 3' and 4' in length. It has shorter range than the Military Rifle, but since it fires more projectiles, there's more chance of hitting something vital. Normally, operating a shotgun requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a shotgun with one hand at a -4 penalty on attack rolls. You can shoot a shotgun with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two one-handed weapons. This penalty is cumulative with the penalty for one-handed firing.

Related Feats

See Firearms Feats for more information.

Mishaps

Sometimes, things don't go quite right with firearms - they are, after all, a new and developing technology, and they are also made by gnomes.

d20 Roll	Mishap
1	Kaboom! - Weapon explodes, doing full ammo damage to wielder. Weapon is completely destroyed.
2	Crack! - the weapon fires, but the barrel cracks irreparably in doing so. All further attacks with the weapon are at a -4 penalty until repaired by a gunsmith (which takes 1d6 days).
3-4	Backfire - A misloaded charge shoots a burst of flame backwards, causing half the usual damage to the wielder and ruining the cartridge. Weapon must be emptied and reloaded, costing double the usual amount of time to reload.
5	Supercharged - the blasting jelly in the cartridge was perhaps a bit too potent - the round goes off with tremendous force, knocking the wielder on his ass (Balance check DC 15 to remain upright).
6-7	Smokin'! - the blasting jelly in the cartridge was apparently of the wrong blend - a huge amount of thick smoke pours out of the end of the barrel. See smoke bombs for exact effect. The round is wasted, and the weapon must be emptied and reloaded, costing double the usual amount of time.
8-11	Premature Firing - the weapon goes off spontaneously, before it is quite aimed. The round is wasted.
12-16	Dud - the cartridge is a dud, and fails to fire. Weapon must be emptied and reloaded, costing the usual amount of time to reload this weapon
17-19	Jam - the round fails to fire properly and the bullet jams in the muzzle. The weapon is unusable until the jammed slug is forcibly removed, requiring four times the usual loading time for this weapon. Attempting to reload and fire with a slug stuck in the barrel will cause a Kaboom! as listed above.
20	Misfire - Hammer falls, but weapon does not fire. Recock as a free action and fire again next opportunity.