Epsilon Rose
2013-09-16, 12:50 AM
Hello all. First things first. This post concerns a campaign I am currently running. So, if you're playing in my current incarnation of Escaping Reality: Please exit this thread post haste.
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Everyone who should be gone? Good. Let's get on with it.
I'm currently running/starting a fairly heavily homebrewed PF campaign that takes place in the modern world, but also has access to a more fantastical, less modern, world. As the PCs, and no small number of NPCs, will be natives of our world, firearms of the modern variety will be playing a roll.
Right now, I'm trying to find a robust set of rules for said guns (because PFs flintlocks just aren't going to cut it). There are a number of rather difficult criteria I want to hit, which has me leaning towards wanting to find or adapt an already existing system, rather than simply trying to build my own. Still, I would appreciate any advice on either front or simply on interesting ways of integrating modern technology into the campaign.
The main things I want to accomplish are as follows:
Variety
I'd like there to be some variety in firearms. More than the token weak handgun/strong handgun/weak long-arm/strong long-arm divide. I'd also like the guns to feel different; i.e. not like swords in 3.5. This is probably one of the biggest things keeping me from simply jumping for the d20 modern firearms rules. As one of my players pointed out: there's really not all that much difference between using an anti-material rife and a hunting rifle in d20 modern. He was talking about the skill required to use them, but I'd extend the sentiment to their mechanics as well. With out special feats, semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons are pretty similar. At the very least, I'd like the different types of guns (pistol, revolver, shotgun, submachine gun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, you should really be bolting that down rifle) to have some positive distinguishing features. Basically, I'd like to have the choice be more involved than "this option always gives you the best numbers" or "they're all interchangeable".
On a slightly lesser note, it would also be nice if there were options for different types of ammo, both in terms of different calibers and specialty rounds. Eventually, I think I'd like to introduce smart guns and airburst rounds (either as shiny new toys or loathsome new enemies depending on who the PCs are working for at the time), but other near future or exotic variants would also be fun (Gyrojets any one?).
Options
I'd like there to be a variety of options for using different kinds of guns in different ways. For example, it would be nice if you could lay down suppressive fire with an automatic weapon. I imagine this sort of thing will either already be a part of most rule systems governing modern weapons or easily added, but I felt it was important to mention, especially because I don't know what types of tactics need explicit rules, nor what those rules should look like.
Logistics
It would be nice if the rules took certain logistics considerations into account. I'm mostly thinking about ammo (Is it being stored in magazines, are those magazines stored in your pack or in some more readily accessible manner [particularly relevant for spells that heat up metals]? How much of a given type of ammo can you reasonably carry in magazines at one time [beyond just weight considerations]?). Again, I doubt that sort of thing is difficult and I also doubt I'll be putting much emphasis on it while they're in the modern world, but it would be nice to have some extra pressures I can heap on them while they're in the fantastic one.
Balance
My desire for balanced rules should be fairly self explanatory, but I'm actually less worried about it than I'd normally be. I don't think I really need too worry to much about balancing guns against melee or bows in the modern world because in our world guns are assumed to be better and most (relevant) people use them anyways. In the fantastic world, most people are going to have magic to bolster their more archaic weapons. I'd probably be willing to go so far as to give my mooks levels in ToB or Spell Shaping (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?board=64.0) classes and I'm toying with making low level enchanted gear common.
You can find the rules I'm using here (http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=208491), but the most important points are probably: I'm using an HP/VP (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198224) mechanic, defense bonuses from Unearthed Arcana, a High point buy, and gestalt.
If you have any questions about the game, I'd be happy to answer them and, if you have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them (even if you just want to tell me to use the d20 modern rules).
P.S. I apologize for any typos I might have missed. My spell checker was acting a bit funny, blinking certain things on and off.
======
Everyone who should be gone? Good. Let's get on with it.
I'm currently running/starting a fairly heavily homebrewed PF campaign that takes place in the modern world, but also has access to a more fantastical, less modern, world. As the PCs, and no small number of NPCs, will be natives of our world, firearms of the modern variety will be playing a roll.
Right now, I'm trying to find a robust set of rules for said guns (because PFs flintlocks just aren't going to cut it). There are a number of rather difficult criteria I want to hit, which has me leaning towards wanting to find or adapt an already existing system, rather than simply trying to build my own. Still, I would appreciate any advice on either front or simply on interesting ways of integrating modern technology into the campaign.
The main things I want to accomplish are as follows:
Variety
I'd like there to be some variety in firearms. More than the token weak handgun/strong handgun/weak long-arm/strong long-arm divide. I'd also like the guns to feel different; i.e. not like swords in 3.5. This is probably one of the biggest things keeping me from simply jumping for the d20 modern firearms rules. As one of my players pointed out: there's really not all that much difference between using an anti-material rife and a hunting rifle in d20 modern. He was talking about the skill required to use them, but I'd extend the sentiment to their mechanics as well. With out special feats, semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons are pretty similar. At the very least, I'd like the different types of guns (pistol, revolver, shotgun, submachine gun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, you should really be bolting that down rifle) to have some positive distinguishing features. Basically, I'd like to have the choice be more involved than "this option always gives you the best numbers" or "they're all interchangeable".
On a slightly lesser note, it would also be nice if there were options for different types of ammo, both in terms of different calibers and specialty rounds. Eventually, I think I'd like to introduce smart guns and airburst rounds (either as shiny new toys or loathsome new enemies depending on who the PCs are working for at the time), but other near future or exotic variants would also be fun (Gyrojets any one?).
Options
I'd like there to be a variety of options for using different kinds of guns in different ways. For example, it would be nice if you could lay down suppressive fire with an automatic weapon. I imagine this sort of thing will either already be a part of most rule systems governing modern weapons or easily added, but I felt it was important to mention, especially because I don't know what types of tactics need explicit rules, nor what those rules should look like.
Logistics
It would be nice if the rules took certain logistics considerations into account. I'm mostly thinking about ammo (Is it being stored in magazines, are those magazines stored in your pack or in some more readily accessible manner [particularly relevant for spells that heat up metals]? How much of a given type of ammo can you reasonably carry in magazines at one time [beyond just weight considerations]?). Again, I doubt that sort of thing is difficult and I also doubt I'll be putting much emphasis on it while they're in the modern world, but it would be nice to have some extra pressures I can heap on them while they're in the fantastic one.
Balance
My desire for balanced rules should be fairly self explanatory, but I'm actually less worried about it than I'd normally be. I don't think I really need too worry to much about balancing guns against melee or bows in the modern world because in our world guns are assumed to be better and most (relevant) people use them anyways. In the fantastic world, most people are going to have magic to bolster their more archaic weapons. I'd probably be willing to go so far as to give my mooks levels in ToB or Spell Shaping (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?board=64.0) classes and I'm toying with making low level enchanted gear common.
You can find the rules I'm using here (http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=208491), but the most important points are probably: I'm using an HP/VP (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198224) mechanic, defense bonuses from Unearthed Arcana, a High point buy, and gestalt.
If you have any questions about the game, I'd be happy to answer them and, if you have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them (even if you just want to tell me to use the d20 modern rules).
P.S. I apologize for any typos I might have missed. My spell checker was acting a bit funny, blinking certain things on and off.