Rules and Options

Rules and Options The author has attempted to draw as much as possible from the guidelines provided in the 5th edition Players Handbooks and Dungeon Master's Guide. Statistics for weapons listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide were used to develop the damage scales used in this book. Interestingly, these scales correspond fairly well with the values listed in the d20 Modern books. Game masters should feel free to modify any of the statistics or optional rules in this book as necessary. It is important to remember that Dungeons and Dragons abstracts combat to a degree, and does so more than many other game systems, in the name of playability. For this reason, the subtle differences that exist between many firearms will often drop below what might be called a "horizon of granularity." In D&D, for example, two pistols that real world shooters could spend hours discussing, debating how a few extra ounces of weight or different barrel lengths might affect accuracy, or how different kinds of ammunition (soft-nosed, armor-piercing, etc.) might affect damage, may be, in game terms, almost identical. This is neither good nor bad; it is just the way Dungeons and Dragons handles such things. Who can use firearms? Firearms are assumed to be martial ranged weapons. Characters from worlds where firearms are common and who can use martial ranged weapons will be proficient in them. Anyone else will have to train to gain proficiency— the specifics are left to individual game masters. Optionally, the game master may also allow characters with individual weapon proficiencies to trade one proficiency for an equivalent one at the time of character creation (e.g., monks can trade shortswords for one specific martial melee weapon like a war scythe, rogues can trade hand crossbows for one kind of firearm like a Glock 17 pistol, etc.). Damage is mainly based on muzzle energy, but other factors including bullet size were taken into account. Generally speaking, small caliber handguns (.32 ACP, etc.) do 2d4 piercing damage, most other handguns (9mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, etc.) do 2d6 piercing; many rifles and shotguns, and a few large caliber handguns (e.g., .44 Magnum) do 2d8 piercing. More powerful rifles will do 2d10 piercing, and the largest hunting rifles (and heavy machine guns) will do 2d12 piercing. 10 gauge shotguns do 2d10 piercing with slug or buckshot rounds and 1d10 piercing with birdshot. 12 gauge shotguns do 2d8 piercing with buckshot, 2d10 piercing with slug, and 1d8 piercing with birdshot. 16 gauge, 20 gauge, and 28 gauge shotguns all do 2d8 piercing with buckshot or slug and 1d8 piercing with birdshot. .410 bore shotguns do 2d6 piercing with slug or buckshot and 1d6 piercing with birdshot. After 1975, less lethal bean bag rounds are available for 12 gauge shotguns; these do 1d4 bludgeoning damage; when hit, a Medium or smaller creature will also be stunned for 2 (1d4) rounds. A sawed-off shotgun retains its listed statistics, except that its weight is reduced by 1 lb. It is, however, shorter and easier to conceal. Smoothbore muskets can fire lead buckshot or birdshot; damage is 2d8 piercing with buckshot and 1d8 piercing with birdshot; range is reduced to 30/90 ft. For the most part, the range for each weapon is based on what is listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide (pp. 267-268) unless the available data for a specific weapon and/or cartridge suggested the use of some other range. Some minor changes were made based on barrel length (i.e., most weapons with short barrels have reduced ranges) and other factors. Optionally, game masters may allow attacks beyond the listed range and out to a weapon's documented maximum range with an additional -5 penalty. Taking a turn to aim before firing at an unsuspecting or non-moving target gives the attacker advantage on the attack. (As advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out, this means taking time to aim eliminates Samplethe disadvantage for attacking at long range.) file 1 Weights assume loaded weapons and are rounded to the nearest pound. Ammunition is assumed to weigh 1 lb. and cost $10 for 10 rounds (double weight and cost for muzzle-loading firearms); larger weapons will often have heavier and more costly ammunition. This abstraction of ammunition weight sometimes results in listed loaded weights for weapons that are higher than actual real world values. This has little game effect, but is mentioned to avoid confusion. In some cases, different variants of the same weapon (caliber, barrel length, etc.) have different statistics (weight, range, number of shots, etc.). An attempt was made to identify the most representative variant of such weapons. Game masters should feel free to include other variants. To add greater realism without complicating things too much, one can use a variation on the rules for massive damage (DMG, p. 273) to model serious bleeding. Whenever a creature takes massive damage, rather than rolling the result on the table provided in the DMG, one may simply assume the creature is bleeding at a dangerous rate and will lose 1 additional HP per minute until it receives appropriate medical care. Details are determined on a case-by-case basis by the game master; care can include surgery, first aid, healing spells, etc. If a creature drops to 0 HP due to bleeding, it dies from blood loss. Another approach to bleeding (or other ongoing effects like certain poisons) would be to add one level of exhaustion after a particular interval of time (one minute, one hour, one day, etc.). The level of exhaustion will continue to increase until the creature receives appropriate medical care (see above.) Additional specifics are left to the game master. Yet another option for realism involving firearms is to rely on rules like Slow Natural Healing (DMG, pp. 266-267). Finally, the Lingering Injuries table (DMG, p. 272) may also prove helpful for adding realism. Along with the existing options, one may add slow bleeding (1 HP lost per hour until one receives magical or conventional medical treatment) as a form of lingering injury. Differences in weapon quality can be modeled by applying a modifier to appropriate attack and/or ability rolls (+1 for well-made or custom weapons or -1 for poorly made or badly maintained ones in most cases; +2 or -2 can be used in unusual cases). When in doubt, one may assume that a +1 weapon costs about five times the norm for that type of weapon and a +2 weapon costs about 20 times the norm; this guideline can also be used to determine the cost of custom-built weapons. Specific details are left to individual game masters. Some weapons have been copied by other countries or other companies (sometimes under license, sometimes not). It is not possible to include all of these "clones," although some of them have been listed. When in doubt, game masters may simply use the data provided for the weapons that were copied. The copies are, after all, for all practical purposes, the same weapon. (One may add a -1 modifier to attack roles to model a cheap or poorly made copy.) If an attacker is already proficient with a firearm, a laser sight ($250, 0.25 lbs.) allows the attacker to double his or her proficiency bonus; if the attacker is not proficient, a laser sight allows the attacker to add his or her proficiency bonus to the attack roll. Adding a silencer to a firearm ($1,000, 1 lb.) means that other creatures will be at disadvantage to make a Perception roll to hear the firearm being used. A bipod ($100, 2 lbs.) on a suitable weapon will increase ranges by 50% (if a weapon requires a bipod, tripod, or to be mounted, this is listed and included in the cost and weight). Normal rules for shooting at distant targets still apply. This stacks with telescopic scopes. Using a telescopic scope with a weapon ($500, 1 lb.) doubles its ranges (normal rules for shooting at Sampledistant targets still apply). This stacks with bipods, tripods, or mounts. file 2 In the unlikely event that adventurers are using and/or being attacked with heavy artillery, one can scale up the kind of damage created by grenades. The shell or warhead creates a spherical blast radius of piercing damage; each creature within the area of effect must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take full damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. To calculate damage from warheads larger than one pound (i.e., a grenade that does 5d6 piercing with a 20-foot blast radius), one may assume that damage increases by 2d and blast radius by 10 feet using the following progression: 1-2.9 lbs. = 5d6 piercing damage with a 20 ft. blast radius., 3-9.9 lbs. = 7d6 piercing damage with a 30-ft. blast radius, 10- 29 lbs. = 9d6 piercing damage with a 40-ft. blast radius, 30-99 lbs. = 11d6 piercing damage with a 50 ft.- blast radius., 100-299 lbs. = 13d6 piercing damage with a 60-ft. blast radius, and so on. For example, a 13-lb. shell fired by a QF 13-pounder gun (or the 21-lb. warhead on a AIM-9M Sidewinder missile) will do 9d6 piercing damage with a 40-ft. blast radius. A 70-lb. shell fired by a 5"/54 caliber Mark 45 naval gun will do 11d6 piercing damage with a 50-ft. blast radius. A 500-lb. Mark 82 bomb will do 15d6 piercing damage with a 70-ft.

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