Flintlock guns

larsdangly · 10-01-2018, 12:05 PM

I'm polishing up a variety of TFT materials into supplements I will eventually submit for publication through W23 (or some other means of distribution), and one of those will be equipment, including weapons. None of this is really necessary, as the published game has a lot of gear in it already. But, sometimes its jolly to have official lists of things that can be colorful features of a particular setting; so, I suspect others will enjoy it.

The important thing is that any new equipment (particularly things used in combat) fit neatly into the range of capabilities of the 'canon' weapons and armor, and conform to the trade-space of benefits, prerequisites and drawbacks. This is pretty easy to do with most melee weapons and bows, but you have to be careful with gunpowder weapons. Everything from a jug full of black powder a colt .45 is presented in the core book, but the most sophisticated thing it is assumed a PC can just buy is the arquebus — a matchlock gun that packs a lot of punch but is slow and awkward to use. You could conclude that the intention is for the maximum 'tech level' found outside of rare artifacts corresponds to the 16th century.

Flintlock guns are a tricky case: They arise from technological innovations that I would say are within the scope of what a master Mechanician could probably do. And there are plenty of 'setting enrichment' reasons to have them exist in Cidri (this is the sort of gun classic pirates and musketeers would use). But they are also a more powerful technology for personal combat, as they can be transported loaded without the awkwardness of a burning match and then readied and fired pretty quickly. And, they aren't like auto-death machines, but realistically they should pack a punch proportional to other black powder guns.

My feeling is that they add to the game and can be well controlled simply by making them expensive and difficult to track down, and giving them damage attributes that are broadly in line with what can already be achieved by crossbows and other weapons that are part of the core system. But you could argue they cross some sort of line that shouldn't be crossed regarding Cidri's default tech level. What do you think?

10-01-2018, 12:05 PM	#1
larsdangly Join Date: Dec 2017	Flintlock guns I'm polishing up a variety of TFT materials into supplements I will eventually submit for publication through W23 (or some other means of distribution), and one of those will be equipment, including weapons. None of this is really necessary, as the published game has a lot of gear in it already. But, sometimes its jolly to have official lists of things that can be colorful features of a particular setting; so, I suspect others will enjoy it. The important thing is that any new equipment (particularly things used in combat) fit neatly into the range of capabilities of the 'canon' weapons and armor, and conform to the trade-space of benefits, prerequisites and drawbacks. This is pretty easy to do with most melee weapons and bows, but you have to be careful with gunpowder weapons. Everything from a jug full of black powder a colt .45 is presented in the core book, but the most sophisticated thing it is assumed a PC can just buy is the arquebus — a matchlock gun that packs a lot of punch but is slow and awkward to use. You could conclude that the intention is for the maximum 'tech level' found outside of rare artifacts corresponds to the 16th century. Flintlock guns are a tricky case: They arise from technological innovations that I would say are within the scope of what a master Mechanician could probably do. And there are plenty of 'setting enrichment' reasons to have them exist in Cidri (this is the sort of gun classic pirates and musketeers would use). But they are also a more powerful technology for personal combat, as they can be transported loaded without the awkwardness of a burning match and then readied and fired pretty quickly. And, they aren't like auto-death machines, but realistically they should pack a punch proportional to other black powder guns. My feeling is that they add to the game and can be well controlled simply by making them expensive and difficult to track down, and giving them damage attributes that are broadly in line with what can already be achieved by crossbows and other weapons that are part of the core system. But you could argue they cross some sort of line that shouldn't be crossed regarding Cidri's default tech level. What do you think?