A Visitor's Guide to Nokt: Special Rules: Guns, Guns, Guns!
Firearms are considered “Martial Weapons,” and the Martial Weapons Proficiency Feat is required to use them correctly; anyone not proficient in Martial Weapons suffers a -4 “to hit” penalty, and takes twice as long to reload the weapon as indicated on the Firearms chart. Firearms are similar enough to each other to warrant “Martial Weapons (Firearms)” instead of a feat for each firearm.
Any Feat that you could take with a bow or crossbow (such as Point Blank Shot) can be taken for use with firearms.
Firearms use a different “to hit” formula than regular ranged weapons. To help simulate the lethality of these weapons, the AC bonuses due to armor must be re-calculated. Any metallic armor protects at one-half its base AC bonus value, and non-metal armors at one-quarter. Dexterity bonuses and functioning magic bonuses still apply fully.
Much like firing a missile weapon in melee combat provokes an Attack of Opportunity, so too does firing a pistol or scattergun in melee combat. (Muskets and rifles are too large to be fired in melee combat, though they can be used as Improvised Weapons for a club-like attack.) Due to the difficulty involved in firing a pistol in melee combat, the firer suffers a -2 “to hit” penalty on all such shots.
Firearms are susceptible to “critical fumbles.” On a roll of a natural 1, there is a chance for a fumble. Roll to hit again, and if this second roll indicates a miss, then the firearm has jammed. Removing a jam requires a full-round action, and then the weapon is ready to fire again. To remove a jam, make a DC15 roll against the character’s Knowledge (Firearms) skill. Success indicates that the jam is removed.
Firearms are very noisy, distracting things. An individual firing such a weapon stands a very good chance to lose all surprise/concealment. Firing a weapon adds +25 to the DC for all Hide checks, or, alternatively, gives someone a +25 bonus to Spot the person firing the weapon.
Firearms Descriptions
Pistol
: The common pistol holds a single shot, and it requires a Standard Action to reload. A pistol is anywhere from nine to twelve inches in length, although they have been made longer.
Repeater Pistol
: Available for military use, these weapons are illegal for citizens to carry. They hold two shots, and require a Standard Action to reload. It is, in essence, a two-shot revolver. A Repeater Pistol’s advantage is that it may be fired twice before reloading, allowing a character who has multiple ranged attacks available to make use of these attacks if the Full Attack option is chosen.
Musket
: The musket is a breech-loaded rifle that holds one shot, and requires a Standard Action to reload. They are generally about three to four feet in length.
Rifle
: Available for military use, these weapons are illegal for citizens to carry - and they are also rarely utilized anywhere but the battlefield. Anywhere from four to six feet in length, the rifle is used for taking out targets at a distance. At any range of fifty feet or less, the rifle is so unwieldy that the user suffers a -4 to hit with the weapon. Rifles hold one shot, and require a Full Action to reload.
Bullets
: Bullets are the standard projectiles for all firearms. They are not self-contained projectiles such as those used in modern firearms, but are similar - instead of a brass casing enclosing the firing cap and slug, these items use a paper sleeve. As such, they are susceptible to water damage - any bullets that get wet are rendered completely useless.
Scattergun
: A scattergun is, basically, the modern-day double-barrel sawed-off shotgun, no more than two feet in length. The lack of any meaningful barrel allows the shot to spread in a cone-shaped area, functioning as an area of effect weapon. It has an effective range of only thirty feet, with a terminal width of ten feet. Anything caught in that area, though, is a potential “hit.” The scattergun’s wielder rolls a firearms “to hit” for every person in the area of effect, and they take damage as follows:
- 0’ to 10’: 1d12
- 11’ to 20’: 1d10
- 21’ to 30’: 1d8
Additionally, the gun is designed with two independent triggers, one for each barrel. The net effect of this is that the user can fire a single shot per round, or “double up” on his shots. This option must be declared before the “to hit” dice are rolled. In this case, the area of effect is not increased; only the damage done. Firing both barrels results in the following damage progression:
- 0’ to 10’: 1d12+1d10
- 11’ to 20’: 1d10+1d8
- 21’ to 30’: 1d8+1d6
The scattergun can inflict critical hits just as any other weapon; however, only the first die rolled for damage is doubled.