Guns and their Use

question
#1

Stoopid question incoming…

Guns, what do I use it for in a fantasy setting that has no guns? I may have read it and forgotten, or not come upon that info, yet.

EDIT: Very cool! Given me some ideas.

Thanks all

#2

That’s a great question. If you don’t use guns in your setting, some folks just skip the D8 altogether as an effort category, or some folks treat it as a place for rare/exceptionally crafted/masterwork/ heavy weapons, or some folks default to second edition categories (basic d4, weapon d6, magic d8, and ultimate d12, leaving out the d10 or saving it for a higher category of magic/heavy weapon), or some folks treat it as a ranged category (bows and crossbows now do d8), or some folks leave it for the rare case where someone cobbles together a rudimentary “gun” or projectile launcher. Ultimately, the choice is up to you and your table in terms of what seems fun and cool.

#3

A while back I had posed the same question, here is a link to that thread. There were some great ideas here. I’ve bounced between a few different ones at different games, but ultimately I liked using the D8 for magic weapons and d10 for spells.

#4

As I have been making a Late Bronze Age setting I too don’t have a use for ‘Gun’ Effort and use the following renamed Effort Types

BASIC EFFORT (d4)
ADVANCED EFFORT (d6)

UNIQUE EFFORT (d8) EXCEPTIONAL EFFORT (d8)
ULTIMATE EFFORT (d12)

Were I to add the d10 to the above listing it would be
SUPERIOR EFFORT (d10)

In this way, I have purposely uncoupled the Tool, Weapon, Gun, and Magic tags. Weapons and tools are more Advanced than just hands but a tool or spell crafted for a specific Unique purpose will be better suited to completing a task. A Superior tool may just be that better quality, better materials. I may just be pedantic in this thought process. A Mythical Monster may do Superior Effort because they are simply superior to other lesser monsters.

Though now that I think about it I should rename Unique to Exceptional or Outstanding to Make each Effort Type have a unique letter. :thinking:

By not including the “Gun” effort type i can switch to a 10d10 stat generation method instead of 10d12 as described in the High Defense Thread.

#5

Hey, that’s a fun idea… though it does kinda reduce the simplicity of the effort system as it is, I could definitely see this being used for monsters/villains like your example.

#6

Thanks, it is mostly due to the magic system I created that I have done this. The world does not use magic like in Alfhiem but instead Words of Power, a derivative of Words of Creation. The caster learns and gains understanding in 2 words associated with their birth constellation. As they apply Milestone rewards toward increasing the Understanding or Depth (Tier) the words become more powerful. All words start at Tier 1 and do Basic Effort. the only way to increase the capability of the word is to gain the next Tier of understanding thus advancing the Die/Effort Type by one step. to a maximum of Tier 4 with only one to two Sages ever gaining an Ascension Tier of 5 in a single word after dedicating their life to the goal. It is for this reason I decoupled the Effort Types for my game world.

#7

That sounds really interesting, do you have a write up of your “words of power” or do you just work out what they do at the table? Do casters ever learn more than two words? Very cool

#8

I do have a write up, I will be sharing the full thing once I have the full setting done.

Its also in the Kiln Discord

bits and pieces are spread throughout the forums at the moment

Mana Sickness is here and the word pairs

#9

Similar question as I have been working on a Horizon Forbidden West themed setting.

D4 Basic
D6 Tools - Override and Traps
D8 Weapons - Bows, Spears, Slings, etc
D10 Sharpshot Bows (sniper), Boltcasters (auto crossbow)
D12 - Ultimate and Ballistas

Just another take. Obviously lots of ideas out there. I do think keeping things simple, straightforward, and easy to remember is important. Also this makes most attacks D8 which tends to make killing/being killed take less turns.

In traditional fantasy settings or even low fantasy like LOTR I’d probably do something more like this:

D4 Basic
D6 Weapon
D8 Magic/Special Weapons
D10 Magic abilities
D12 Ultimate

#10

For me the d8 category is sometimes for high quality weapons and tools or when the situation validates upgrading the standard weapon or tool due to good role playing or out of the box thinking.

I found this most rewarding for players who have an interest investing in the story. It results to a lot more engagement with the story and creates unpredictable results.