At 12:19 PM 1/9/98 GMT0BST, John(RickardsJ@cardiff.ac.uk)wrote:
>
>True enough. Early firearms were inaccurate, slow to reload once
>fired, prone to malfunction if improperly used and didn't work too
>well in wet weather.
>

>
>They also, of course, had the added problem of noise - not something
>to worry about if you're on the battlefield (unless you're giving
>orders), but if it's something requiring a little more quiet, firearms
>are not your best bet.
>

>

These are important points to remember. If firearms are brought into a BR
campaign it shouldn't be muskets, most likely the first firearms would be
matchlocks or maybe snaplocks. Both those styles of weapons were highly
inaccurate, incredibly slow to reload, and very prone to malfunction (far
worse then muskets even). In short not very good to use in large scale
combat (ie. war). IMC, both styles of firearms are available but I have
added an additional fly into the ointment. Aside from the natural problems
you get when dealing with firearms (see above) I require an additional
element in order for gunpowder to actually fire. This element is rarer then
gold, and thus in short supply and very expensive (increasing the cost of
powder by roughly 10 times). Also it is extremely heavy having the effect
of doubling the weight of gunpowder. Firearms themselves need to be made to
order (there are no gunsmiths in BR, as it is not a lucrative business) and
are as rare (if not rarer) and expensive (again about 10 times their listed
price) as the powder itself. When factoring in all of this, and adding the
use of magic in Cerilia, its easy to see why firearms will never replace a
good sword arm in BR. Allowing the "limited" use of firearms in both combat
and recreational (ie. hunting) has lead to some very interesting gaming
sessions, but I do not have to worry about gunpowder unbalancing the swords
and sorcery feel of my game. I suggest giving it a try. As an example one
of my PCs took a visiting Regent out on a hunt using her very expensive
"bang sticks" she had made just for this purpose. Unfortunately the
visiting Regents matchlock pistol misfired and badly maimed his hand. This
accident nearly wiped out all the diplomatic work she had done up to this
point, and still now the two countries have not completely resolved the
incident. BTW, this same Player did attempt to create several Units of
"gunmen". The Units were very expensive to outfit (I believe it was about
7+ GBs per Unit, its been a while), and while they had a devastating first
attack (causing only minor damage to themselves through a few misfires)
they were wiped out by the return attacks before they could reload. After
this expensive mistake none of my Players have even thought about using
firearms in warfare. Anyway all of the above is of course MHO. Thanks.


Sepsis, richt@metrolink.net (ICQ:3777956)

"War is a matter of vital importance to the State;
the province of life or death;
the road to survival or ruin.
It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
-Sun Tzu,(The Art of War)-

BR Netbook: http://webpages.metrolink.net/~veleda/birth.html