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Old 09-30-2016, 03:35 AM   #251
Polydamas
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
Default Re: Emerging smokepowder weapons in my fantasy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
Obviously.

I wasn't saying that Kentucky rifles should have replaced heavier muskets, I was using them as an example of a muzzleloading black powder weapon that used a smaller caliber ball at higher velocities without needing massive barrels to handle high pressures.
Sure, but at the same time, barrel weight is not just about keeping the gun from exploding.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
Out of self-respect, authors should probably avoid having the stats fly in the face of common sense.

The TL4 Flintlock Carbine is listed as being as accurate as full-size combat rifles like the TL5 Baker rifle while remaining a smoothbore that was as fast to reload as any carbine, fusil or musket, not to mention weighing only 3.9 lbs. and being cheaper than the Baker. When used as a pistol, it has higher Dmg than any muzzleloading pistol of reasonable size listed in a GURPS supplement (equal to the Petronel, which has a 40" barrel and is no handier than a long rifle). It also has Acc 2, higher than a TL5 dueling pistol and equal to the best smoothbore muskets. It's either made out of unobtainium that no other historical weapon can use or the stats are wrong.
Which is why I said, if you don't trust the stats in the book, go research real guns then create your own stats using Doug's damage formula and 19th and 20th century firearms as your benchmarks. I think that Bill Stoddard would have liked to include footnotes in Low Tech (so that he or someone else could go over them again in later years). But the market does not support that. You should have your copy of the playtest mailing list, and I think that SJG maintains a password-protected archive somewhere.

Game authors do their best, but they are limited by house style, by a market which does not reward authors who show how they know what they know, and by being individuals not a whole research team. You were part of the playtest, so you had a chance to ask questions then ... and we are lucky that many people who have spent a lot of time and money researching are willing to write GURPS books for a tiny reward.
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