Pirate_King
2009-05-18, 10:47 AM
Even during the Great War, the Elven Empire maintained strict laws determining who was allowed to practice what sort of magic and even whether or not one was allowed to practice at all. This meant there were fewer mages on the battle field. As the resistance grew in magical power, so did the Empire's need for magical support. To supplant the low number of powerful casters, the Elves commissioned the gnomes to construct spell-trigger devices that could be used by someone with no magical training. thousands of spell guns were constructed and issued to elite units. The most common spell guns contained scorching ray or acid arrow, but others were created, including advanced spell rifles of disintegration. After the war, many guns remained but only a handful of Gnome communities protect the secrets of their construction. Manuals still exist for creating and recharging the weapons, but are very rare.
My spell guns are essentially wand variants that anyone can use. Are they broken? How can I fix them? They're not as versatile as wands because they have fewer charges and can only be made to fire spells that require a ranged touch attack, like rays. The advantage is that they can be used by non-casters, and be recharged. Once this gets tweaked, I'll work on AoE spell weapons.
SPELL GUNS
Spell guns are divided into spell pistols and spell rifles. A spell pistol can be crafted to fire one level 4 or lower spell that requires a ranged touch attack to hit (such as scorching ray). A new spell pistol has 30 charges that can be restored by a caster with the appropriate abilities. The cost of a spell pistol is equal to the level of the spell x the creators caster level x 750 gp. The maximum caster level of a spell pistol is 10. If a spell pistol has a material component cost, it is added to the base cost once for each charge (30 x material component cost) A spell pistol found as treasure has 1d20+10 charges.
A spell rifle can be crafted to fire one level 6 or lower spell that requires a ranged touch attack to hit (such as disintegrate). A new spell rifle has 50 charges that can be restored by a caster with the appropriate abilities. The cost of a spell rifle is equal to the level of the spell x the creators caster level x 1000 gp. The maximum caster level of a spell rifle is 15. If a spell rifle has a material component cost, it is added to the base cost once for each charge (50 x material component cost). A spell rifle found as treasure contains 3d10 + 20 charges.
In order to craft or restore charges to a spell gun, a Character must have the Craft magic arms and armor feat, possess a spell gun construction manual, and know the appropriate spell.
A spell gun with a zero-level spell always deals the maximum damage, and automatically regains 5 charges per day
Spell Guns in Combat
Using a spell pistol is a ranged touch attack, but only provokes an attack of opportunity if it targets a non-adjacent enemy. Two spell pistols may be fired in the same turn using normal Two-Weapon fighting rules, and count as light weapons.
Using a spell rifle requires two hands, and is a ranged touch attack that provokes an attack of opportunity. A spell rifle may be used as a melee weapon, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage. A bayonet may be added, in which case melee damage is piercing.
Possible Spellgun spells
0
Electric Jolt
ray of frost
acid splash
1
Ray of Enfeeblement
Ray of Flame
Ray of Clumsiness
Lesser Orbs
2
Acid Arrow
Scorching Ray
Ray of Stupidity
Blast of Force
Rainbow Beam
Ray of Ice
Ray of Sickness
Ray of Weakness
Sting Ray
3
Ray of Exhaustion
Ray of Dizzyness
Rust Ray
4
Ray of De-animation
Orbs
5
Prismatic Ray
6
Ray of Light
Ray of Entropy
Disintegrate
7
Antimagic Ray
Stun Ray
8
Polar Ray
My spell guns are essentially wand variants that anyone can use. Are they broken? How can I fix them? They're not as versatile as wands because they have fewer charges and can only be made to fire spells that require a ranged touch attack, like rays. The advantage is that they can be used by non-casters, and be recharged. Once this gets tweaked, I'll work on AoE spell weapons.
SPELL GUNS
Spell guns are divided into spell pistols and spell rifles. A spell pistol can be crafted to fire one level 4 or lower spell that requires a ranged touch attack to hit (such as scorching ray). A new spell pistol has 30 charges that can be restored by a caster with the appropriate abilities. The cost of a spell pistol is equal to the level of the spell x the creators caster level x 750 gp. The maximum caster level of a spell pistol is 10. If a spell pistol has a material component cost, it is added to the base cost once for each charge (30 x material component cost) A spell pistol found as treasure has 1d20+10 charges.
A spell rifle can be crafted to fire one level 6 or lower spell that requires a ranged touch attack to hit (such as disintegrate). A new spell rifle has 50 charges that can be restored by a caster with the appropriate abilities. The cost of a spell rifle is equal to the level of the spell x the creators caster level x 1000 gp. The maximum caster level of a spell rifle is 15. If a spell rifle has a material component cost, it is added to the base cost once for each charge (50 x material component cost). A spell rifle found as treasure contains 3d10 + 20 charges.
In order to craft or restore charges to a spell gun, a Character must have the Craft magic arms and armor feat, possess a spell gun construction manual, and know the appropriate spell.
A spell gun with a zero-level spell always deals the maximum damage, and automatically regains 5 charges per day
Spell Guns in Combat
Using a spell pistol is a ranged touch attack, but only provokes an attack of opportunity if it targets a non-adjacent enemy. Two spell pistols may be fired in the same turn using normal Two-Weapon fighting rules, and count as light weapons.
Using a spell rifle requires two hands, and is a ranged touch attack that provokes an attack of opportunity. A spell rifle may be used as a melee weapon, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage. A bayonet may be added, in which case melee damage is piercing.
Possible Spellgun spells
0
Electric Jolt
ray of frost
acid splash
1
Ray of Enfeeblement
Ray of Flame
Ray of Clumsiness
Lesser Orbs
2
Acid Arrow
Scorching Ray
Ray of Stupidity
Blast of Force
Rainbow Beam
Ray of Ice
Ray of Sickness
Ray of Weakness
Sting Ray
3
Ray of Exhaustion
Ray of Dizzyness
Rust Ray
4
Ray of De-animation
Orbs
5
Prismatic Ray
6
Ray of Light
Ray of Entropy
Disintegrate
7
Antimagic Ray
Stun Ray
8
Polar Ray