My whole take on this gun situation is as follows, and feel free to kill me
afterwards:

I *hate* magic and I *hate* mages. I hate elves too. The reason I like
Birthright so much is because, even though it is magical in nature (what with
the destruction of gods and bloodlines and such), it is *more* realistic then
a lot of TSR games.

I'm big on the "Divine Right" idea. Although I don't support the idea of some
egomaniac running this country without anyone to stop him, I do think the idea
of God choosing a ruler and that ruler being a messenger of God is pretty damn
cool. That's another thing about Birthright I like.

But I don't like mages. I didn't like Forgotten Realms 'cause it was so
magical, and I didn't like Dark Sun because the mages were even *more*
powerful then in any other setting. I liked Birthright because mages did not
run the show--it was more focused on what *our* world was like.

So, I brought guns into my campaign. And the guns beat the mages. And for all
of you who are arguing that a high-level mage can take out a battalion of
cannons, I tell you this. Sure, it a mage can cast fireball in a few seconds,
and it takes a cannon 30 rounds to load. But to do you ACTUALLY think these
cannons are rolled onto the field un-loaded?! All it takes it one lucky
cannonball and guess what? Your mage is toast. Dead. Broken ribs, internal
injuries, smashed bones, etc. I like technology *A LOT* more then I like
Fireball, and I personnally don't think bringing gunpowder into *any* setting
ruins that setting. I think it just gives the peasants and the fighters and
the thieves a bit more leverage.

In my opinion, mages are too powerful. Sure, the low levels, all it takes it a
trip down the stairs and their dead. But you get into the 9+ levels, and
that's the end of the story. On the flip side of that, a fighter is "strong"
the first few levels, because he has a lot of hitpoints, but you get past 9th
level and the mages start stealing the show with their flashy lightning bolts
and such. I think guns give fighters that little bit of flare that they need,
and I honestly think that gunpowder would have been invented in Birthright by
now.

- - The Motive