Gunpowder Weapons in Your OSR Game Part One; Medieval Firearms

 This is a divisive topic, but here is my opinion: gunpowder weapons belongs in D&D. In my experiences, the discussion of gunpowder weaponry in D&D creates division amongst players, often weighted towards most players I’ve encountered being against them. The only other controversial idea that comes close is psionics (which are also cool.) However, I’d argue that the lack of inclusion of black powder weapons is rooted more in a misunderstood mishmash of medieval tropes that players collectively buy into which usually excludes black powder weapons. This is ill-informed. At the very least, it seems that player believe that the inclusion firearms is anachronistic within their game since they associate the use of firearms as something from the renaissance which they often see as separate from the late middle ages and not a regional intellectual shift during the late middles ages into the early modern period. Firearms didn’t enter the European battlefield until the late middles ages in the 1300s by way of China through the Middle East before then in the 1200s. Even with the inclusion of black powder into the battlefield in the 1300s, it was known about and discussed before then. Roger Bacon wrote about it in his Opus Majus in 1267. Some people could argue to have a historical line that they don’t want to cross as their aesthetic influence from the middle ages as a way to cut out firearms. Okay sure, but I find this funny because we gladly accept other late medieval advancements in D&D such as plate armor or all of those polearms Gygax shoved into the back of Unearthed Arcana. While, yes this is late into the 1000 year span of the Middle Ages, it is this period that informs most of our popular knowledge of the middle ages. In fact, it seems like most of the medieval knowledge that players have or used as a reference is from the 1200-1500 range of High to Late Middle Ages; a time where firearms were emerging and being used. 

Anyways, Gunpowder weapons has a basis within the core D&D games. Chainmail has “arquibusiers,” Dragon Magazine introduces overly explained and nitpicky firearm rules in Dragon #70, and you can see their inclusion in the d20 systems and beyond. But no one uses them! While Gygax would encourage you chose what to include in your “milieu”, he’d probably also mention how in Zelazny’s Amber series that gunpowder doesn’t ignite in that pseudo-medieval fantasy setting as a possible rationale for players who protest their inclusion. Okay cool, but Gygax also bulked out his AD&D rules with unnecessary filler that are baseless in real life/made up to fill a page that has since caused a mandala effect amongst players to create the illusion of variety but are overall meaningless bloat. For example: Broadswords and Splint Mail aren’t real and never have been, they are Victorian neologisms. Also, why did Gygax list all armor as “mail” in his DMG? Anyways, while I ground my personal take on D&D by attempting to be informed of the past and use it for inspiration, I think it’s illogical to argue in favor of one and against the other. It’s an arbitrary line that people just seem to stake their feet in the sand over simply because they have NO knowledge of Western Europe’s medieval era EXCEPT from D&D, video games, movies/tv and other popular media. Which is a shame. I hope people become more interested in researching history over prioritizing their misguided assumptions of the past. I guess what I’m trying to say is: If you have plate armor then why not handgonnes or cannons?

Firearms:
I’ll keep it pretty simple to help with the inclusion of these weapons. They should be different from bows and crossbows and provide more extreme pro/con rationale to help give them a distinct flavor. I’m also partial to the inclusion of additional effects that they provide beyond simple damage since combustion is a variable that should be considered. Generally, Handgonnes are basically poles with a small cannon attached to the end. These poles can range from a few feet long to more like a polearm in length. In addition, there is historical record for a scattershot handgonne. Handgonnes developed into the arquebus, which were more advanced and easier to use. So I’ll work with these options.

Handgonne: 100gp, 1d12 damage w/ bullet, 1d8 as a bludgeon. Range is same as a bow. Note: as a bludgeoning attack, apply a -2 to the attack roll since it is unwieldly.

Arquebus: 200gp, 1d12 damage/ w bullet, 1d6 as a bludgeon. Range is same as a crossbow

Scattershot Handgonne: 150gp, 1d4 per bullet, 1d8 as a bludgeon (-2 to attack). Causes a cone attack, same as a dragons (80ft long, 30ft wide on far end.) 20 close range, 20-60 medium, 60-80 long range. Fires ten shots simultaneously. Anyone closest to the attack is hit on a successful attack roll, misses don’t go past the initial group of close targets. Divide 10d4 equally (rounding down) among the closest targets in range, while subtracting the ones that missed.

Ex: A player firing a scattershot volley into a group of charging enemies rolls a 16 on their attack. There are four potential targets that are closest within the cone’s range. Their AC is 13, 13, 15, and 17. That would round down to 2d4 per target. Remove the target with 17 AC, causing 2d4 each to the remaining three targets.

Why d12 for damage? Well, a couple reasons: 1) I feel like the larger range is better reflective of the variable accuracy of these early firearms, where they could graze someone or blast a hole in them. This also seems to line up well with the increased scaling of ranged weapon output without needing to roll two dice. I’m not into rolling two dice for a single attack because I personally I don’t think early firearms should have a bell curve for damage, so d12 lines up well with my rationale. 2) I have a soft-spot for the d12, where I feel like it rarely is used and it deserves more opportunities to be rolled.

Additional gunpowder rules to use if you desire:

• It is assumed all weapons are loaded and ready to fire at the beginning of combat
• Takes 3 uninterrupted rounds to reload. Any attack that hits them would cause them to save vs. Paralysis to continue uninterrupted otherwise they waste the black powder and have to start over
• Firing the weapon causes a save vs. petrify amongst animals and non-intelligent monsters within 30ft of the weapon to keep them from running off. Trained horses used by anyone with 2HD or higher are unphased
• A plume of smoke is created in a 5 foot space in front of the shooter that drifts away in one round. This plume provides -2 to any ranged attacks as partial cover.
• Anyone hit with the force of a black powder weapon is knocked over on a failed save vs. Death Ray if they take 6+ damage. Firearms certainly would cause dents into well-made plate armor, and punch a whole into munitions grade armor. The impact of such a  blow would easily knock someone over. This included being dismounted from a mount as well. Anyone receiving full weapon damage from the Handgonne or Arquebus (12 points) has the bullet rip through them and hit the next closest target behind them if any (save vs. Death Ray to avoid)
• For any missed shots from the Handgonne or Arquebus, I use the “grenade-like Missiles” chart on page 47 of the Basic Fantasy rulebook to determine where the bullet hits instead if the target is in a crowd.
• Each bullet costs 5gp, each bottle of gunpowder is 120gp, with each shot costing 20gp; for a total of 6 shots per bottle. Can be used as an explosive grenade weapon for 1d6 per remaining shot within the bottle. Scattershot pellets are 10gp per volley, but uses the same amount of gunpowder.
• Water causes black powder to be inert and not work.

 Overall, firearms are expensive and finicky, but can be extremely effective. Beyond its intended application, they can be representative of the potential a normal man to rival the offensive output of any trained magic-user which could have political effects within a setting.