[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Gedrin

So, it's not a "firepower" question. What you really want is something that maximizes your powder to casualty rate.

That's an excellent metric to keep in mind for weapon designers who want to sell their weapons on any scale, certainly.

On the other hand, real life sees some powers use fantastically expensive Hellfire missiles and even Tomahawk cruise missiles to target comparatively cheap SUVs, because of the perceived danger of their passengers. It's all a matter of whether some enemies are dangerous enough to justify spending thousands and even millions of GURPS $ just to kill them.

The PCs have been happy to expend hundreds of pounds of the finest REF 0.8 binary smokepowder (at absolute minimum $700/lb*, usually around $2,000-$3,000/lb and can go up to $$7,000/lb**) to kill a single target in the past. Of course, that target was a great red dragon that was trying to sink their ship and eat their men, not to mention the PCs themselves.

They've also happily parted with smokepowder kegs of varying sizes for such targets as a platoon of shape-shifting, divinely-blessed, superpowered Royal Guards to a Pharoah who had boarded their ship and were in control of the deck, a few other dragons (not as all-fired huge as the great red, but pretty damn scary) and a magic-powered Astral warship filled with angry githyanki.

Frankly, against any kind of experienced adventurer***, it's probably a bargain to spend less than $1,000 to kill him at a range. It's not as if non-magical arrows do much against DR 10 field plate with Armor +3, Deflection +3 and Hardened 1; or even just a squishy wizard with DR 5 Bracers of Armour combined with Shield spell for DB +3 and a DR 3 (Tough Skin) Amulet of Natural Armour.

Especially as powerful warriors are liable to have HP 13-30 and Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction /2 or /3. Even a respectable thief or wizard can manage IT:DR /2 and/or HP 20 (Massless +0%) by the time they are among the masters of their craft.

And the PCs are bound and determined to fight all the most powerful heroes in the nation of some 5-6 million, along with a bunch of dragons, centuries-old dragon cultists, demons and a whole host of other powerful things.

So from their perspective, firepower is good. But it's not as if the PCs are the only thing driving the design of firearms in the setting, and even if they were, they have plenty of uses for efficient killing instruments, that achieve maximum effect with minimum waste.

Better to be able to supply a crack force of three thousand troops armed with smokepowder than just a couple of hundred, if all other things are equal. Even if the really elite may receive very powerful custom-designed weapons that 'waste' smokepowder compared to less eye-popping, more efficient designs in smaller calibers.

*The price the PCs got for a shipment whose owner was dead and whose current possessors did not have the contacts to sell it quickly and were terrified of storing such a huge amount.
**The price from the Church of Gond, the deity of invention and machinery, the only seller which always has some in stock and is absolutely reliable and trustworthy, as opposed to some of the fly-by-night alchemists who offer better rates.
***Meaning, "superhero", really.

Originally Posted by Gedrin

IRL, the big advantage of gunpowder was "cheap way to deliver potentially lethal wounds" and "makes walls go away". Those are fairly cost prohibitive.

In both real life and my setting, add that firearms can wound or kill armoured people on the battlefield. Arrows and sling stones mostly cannot, realistically. Their role is to distract, slow and wound with occasional incidental hits to unarmoured parts.

In my campaign, superpowered champions with magical arrows and sling stones can kill armoured foes, but magic works both offensively and defensively. Magical arrows and sling stones that blow through non-magical armour will bounce off magical armour like non-magical arrows and sling stones of non-magical armour, assuming that both sides have similar resources.*

On the other hand, Dmg 3d+ firearms will serve well against typical armoured infantry. Dmg 4d+ might serve against the less affluent type of champion or heavy infantry with shields and light armour. Dmg 6d+ will serve against almost any non-magical armour and shield and usually be quite effective against champions too. Not to mention monsters.

Given how tough dragons can be and the fact that from the remains of a great red wyrm may be made a suit which combined with all other magical gear on a stupendously rich knight gives DR 29-45 (Hardened 2), no matter how powerful one could make a man-portable weapon, there would be some tactical use for it in the hands of proper heroes.

*If anything, defence is cheaper than offence, at least over any sustained period.

Originally Posted by Gedrin

So we're left with the other advantages it can offer. Lethality at range without respect to ST. Explosion and dispersal of damage. The ability to crack just about any nut with enough expense (aka Plan B).

Lethality at Range Without Respect to ST:
People not strong enough to use a bow in combat can use the musket. Is that better than the crossbow? Probably depends on your people and your enemy. However, giving your high value people a first shot or last shot via a pistol is a decent idea.

It's not just a matter of ST. Apart from maybe a few exceptional people, who are good at all physical things, most people cannot be taught to be archers in a few months. They grow up archers or they aren't archers.

Crossbows are realistically much inferior to firearms in penetration. I don't use the GURPS Crossbow, Composite Crossbow, Pistol Crossbow or Repeating Crossbow, as they are far too effective compared to realistically statted firearms. I use Doug Cole's Pyramid article "The Deadly Spring" for crossbows.

Even so, with very good TL3+1 and TL4+1 steel, powerful crossbows can be made. They are not going to be reloaded quickly, however, being most likely slower to reload than muskets while not quite matching their power. Of course, it's much cheaper and more accurate against immobile targets at ranges between 150-250 yards. Using the Bullet Travel rules for arrows and bolts makes non-magical bows or crossbows a much less attractive prospect for sniping at anything that could move between your shot and the arrival of the arrow/bolt.

Originally Posted by Gedrin

Explosion and Dispersal:
Mines/grenades. A few small cans rolled into enemy formations (assuming close formations) loaded with shot can cripple enemies. Buried mines are probably cost prohibitive, but could be effective in set ambushes. The can devices could also be air dropped. This is a disruption and casualty weapon. Could be very effective in healer power attrition.
Explosives are useful in creating ambushes. Bringing down the right building or wall can cut off escape, or provide one. Traps were noted above, but think about the ability to change the terrain. Demo is...well, no one in the campaign has a lot of training in it...so no guts no glory. I think your battlefield is urban, and suspect this is where the best use of the powder in terms of battlefield surprise and shaping can be.

All true. This has been smokepowder's most valuable role so far.

Originally Posted by Gedrin

Plan B:
Low level ranger Sandy and the family's dolphin companion could limpet quite a few ships. An underwater limpet is an expensive smokepowder weapon, but quite reasonable if you have a proper delivery mechanism.
Ulgor the Unstoppable, Giant Tyrant and Champion of the Bloody Fist Vanguard of the...BOOOOOM!!!! Sometimes you just don't have the time to deal with someone in a civilized manner. It's the sort of thing that can make a GM smile and cry at the same time, but anyone who's location you know with enough time, can be blown completely to smithereens.

Absolutely a thing that my PCs have been doing a lot of. Granted, for limpet mining specifically, they prefer Oil of Impact, which is a REF 1.5 liquid (basically magical nitroglycerine).