Firearms ADD 2E

[Bullet06320]

Looking for sources for firearms in 2nd edition d&d

[Khedrac]

Well the Spelljammer rules have some, so the starting Spelljammer boxed set would be a place to start.

[Ashtagon]

Don't forget the PHB and the Player's Options books.

[Anonymouswizard]

Don't forget the PHB and the Player's Options books.

Yeah, the PhB has the Arquebus.

Another interesting source, because you can nab it for free, is actually a retroclone of Basic D&D. Lamentations of the Flame Princess (http://drivethrurpg.com/product/115059/LotFP-Rules--Magic-Free-Version?manufacturers_id=2795) includes an appendix with fairly good firearms rules, going from matchlocks to flintlocks. Requires you to remember the 'ignore five points of armour at short range' bit, but they work well.

[Tinkerer]

Did the hippo guys have some more stats for them or am I thinking of first edition?

[LibraryOgre]

Did the hippo guys have some more stats for them or am I thinking of first edition?

Giff (not to be confused with Gith) like them, but I don't know if they have special rules.

The Forgotten Realms Adventures hardback has some rules, as well. "A Mighty Fortress" (One of the Green Books) also did some firearms rules, including having the damage dice explode on even numbers above 2... so if your weapon does a 1d8, and you roll 4, 6, or 8, you roll again and add.

[Ashtagon]

The exploding dice mechanic was definitely in the player's options book, and i think in the phb too.

[Tinkerer]

Giff (not to be confused with Gith) like them, but I don't know if they have special rules.

Weird, I distinctly remembered them having flintlocks rather than the more standard arquebus but I checked the source and it states that they use the regular arquebus. Wait... as I was typing this I realized I probably mixed them up with another anthropomorphic hippo wielding primitive guns from a different system. My mistake (Damn hippos all look alike).

Player's Option Combat and Tactics has the flintlock/matchlock/wheellock pistol/rifle/etc... though. Less of an emphasis on exploding dice and more emphasis on inflicting knockdown and possibly just exploding in your hands.

[BWR]

Guns are fairly common on the Savage Coast (Mystara outside the Known World), and the core set has rules for matchlocks/wheellocks (IIRC).

[SaurOps]

Weird, I distinctly remembered them having flintlocks rather than the more standard arquebus but I checked the source and it states that they use the regular arquebus. Wait... as I was typing this I realized I probably mixed them up with another anthropomorphic hippo wielding primitive guns from a different system. My mistake (Damn hippos all look alike).

Player's Option Combat and Tactics has the flintlock/matchlock/wheellock pistol/rifle/etc... though. Less of an emphasis on exploding dice and more emphasis on inflicting knockdown and possibly just exploding in your hands.

Tactics and A Mighty Fortress (swashbuckling historical sourcebook) both still have exploding damage dice, as does Masque of the Red Death. Tactics farms more of the exploding damage dice out to the knockback die that C&T introduced. This has roughly a 25% chance of occurring. There was also a Boot Hill conversion of Old West firearms back in the AD&D 1e DMG; they tended to be more sensible than the exploding dice ones, as one shouldn't really be worshipping firearms as totems of instant death. It takes good aim to deal damage like that, and D&D isn't even observing reality all too heavily in the first place, so firearms should only be slightly more threatening than repeating crossbows.

[hamlet]

There is no hard codified "this is the way firearms work in AD&D" rule. There are several variations of rules throughout the years. Mighty Fortress and the Forgotten Realms Adventures are among the best in terms of balance independent of setting.

There's some in the Dragon Magazine archives, though I don't have access to them now and can't go digging for you.

Most of them fall into the age of flint and matchlock weapons that take a long time to reload. If you want anything more than that, you'll probably have to write your own notes and rules and make sure to take into account the impact upon the world around the guns.

[jojo]

There is no hard codified "this is the way firearms work in AD&D" rule.

Please direct your attention to pages 94 and 96 of your ADnD 2E PHB, pages 53 and 54 of the Arms and Equipment Guide or any number of pages from Player's Option: Combat and Tactics - but mostly page 131.

[hamlet]

Please direct your attention to pages 94 and 96 of your ADnD 2E PHB, pages 53 and 54 of the Arms and Equipment Guide or any number of pages from Player's Option: Combat and Tactics - but mostly page 131.

Yes, those exist, but they are not the only rules or even typical of how firearms worked as 2nd edition aged. There's also the Forgotten Realms Adventures book etc. My point was that there's no one system by which firearms work within the edition, not that there are no rules at all.

[jojo]

Yes, those exist, but they are not the only rules or even typical of how firearms worked as 2nd edition aged. There's also the Forgotten Realms Adventures book etc. My point was that there's no one system by which firearms work within the edition, not that there are no rules at all.

The Forgotten Realms Adventures book is specific to one campaign setting, an individual DM who prefers its mechanics might port it into their own campaign setting or another but, presumably, they then don't allow two different mechanical systems to apply at the same time.

I.E. "Ok guys, I like the firearms rules in Book X better than the ones in Book Z. We're playing in campaign setting Y, which doesn't have any firearms rules so feel free to use whichever ruleset you prefer for your flintlock pistols."

[CE DM]

players option: combat & tactics

HR4 A Mighty Fortress
historical reference for play in the 16th & 17th century; which, if you look at some history, is a truly FANTASTIC period to game/adventure in. A decent splatbook, but it barely scratches the surface, and it mainly falls into the same traps of most of the historic reference line.

Both have similar & very viable firearm rules for AD&D (or D&D).

PO:C&T exploding dice: "Last but not least is the ability of a firearm to cause open-ended damage. Any time a firearm hits its target, there is a 25% chance that a second damage die is rolled and added to the first. There's a 25% chance that that damage roll creates additional damage, and so on. This 25% chance is part of the knockdown die roll; if the knockdown die comes up 7 or better, the damage continues." (the firearms are given a d8 for KD; also note how easy to use this is even if KD options are not in play)

HR4 exploding dice: "Additional Damage: No matter what sort of firearm is being used, any time a character rolls an 8, 10, or 12, he rolls the die again and adds the second roll to the first. If the second roll is again an 8, 10, or 12, he rolls a third time, and so on. It is possible for a gun to cause tremendous damage."
(easier to use[less rolls], but the odds are keyed to the caliber /power...they do d8, d10 or d12 by type, for a 12.5%, 20% or 25% chance, respectively)

Dragon 199 has rules for classic, Dragon 60 & 70 have them for 1e (but borrow from 2e on armor penetration as they are rubbish otherwise), and perhaps most important (for some campaigns): dragon 232 has MAGICAL firearms, by the underrated (& MIA) Roger E. Moore.

Other settings have them in small doses, and maybe a couple have decent rules (Savage coast, Masque of the RD, I'm guessing), but I never used them that much. I'd sub in from the above for a FR Lantan blunderbuss or the like.