I'm hip deep in this cumbersome project that I've been halfway considering for about ten years. It's a 3.5-based steampunk fantasy setting, based generally on the mid to late 1800s. Globally, but the area of central concern, at least to the first game I wanna run with it, is the wild west.
Now, I've spent an inordinate amount of time working on firearms and setting history (the latter is a perennial jinx for me: the more effort I put into a setting, the shorter the game is likely to run), but I've only scratched the surface of stuff I want to include in the game. I've decided to simply ignore the historical effects of widespread illness, mostly to make the actual gameplay easier, but the effects of widespread drugs, that's something I'm interested in emulating. I'm looking for any references, any pre-existing or premade rules on various drugs (especially those common in the late 19th century, such as opium and cocaine), anything that can help me make this game feel more realistic and fantastic.
I guess what I'm saying is, /tg/, can I score some drugs from you?
>>46241565
Nah im alright cheers, thanks anyway
Some crunch:
Firearms consist of three components: action, barrel, and grip. Barrel and grip largely define what size the weapon is (two handed firearms gain a 1.5x dex modifier bonus to attack, one handed firearms can be used with both hands or TWF'd, light firearms don't provoke AoOs), whereas the Action is where all the, uh, action happens. The action of the firearm is the component that must be enchanted to impart a magical effect to bullets fired from it, the action is the actual part of the weapon that some can be proficient in or a master of, etc.
Most actions are martial weapons, with only the archaic muzzle-loaded flintlocks, matchlocks being exotic. I'm toying with the idea of making Revolvers a simple action weapon, for historical purposes, but one of the benefits of proficiency in this game is that without it, you can't load archaic hand-load weapons, such as many early revolvers.
For simplicity's sake, I've standardized ammo, to an absurd degree. There's five damage die combinations that a gun might deal, and each is dealt by a single caliber of ball or bullet, and a single gauge of shot shell. So, for example, a pistol that does 2d8 and a rifle that does 2d8 both use the same .40 caliber round. A pre-loaded metal cartridge of that caliber costs about twice as much as the ball, powder, wadding, and percussion cap of the same caliber, but the benefit is you can just slap that bad boy in there in the middle of combat without a care in the world, while the idiot who went with the cheaper hand-load weapon tries to use his ram rod in the middle of a shootout. Of course, for a chunk of change, you can get a gunsmith to upgrade a hand-load weapon to fire metal cartridges, which in certain configurations might get you better guns.
>3.5 based
>has firearms
Was going to post some crunchier stuff up here, but that would have taken forever and flooded the board, so I'll just link my WIP document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zTJvqDtTfORVDkc5mWQbRwFxHZPVOgRtCeSoWuNK2_8/edit?usp=sharing
Right now I've taken a break from obsessing over adding more guns and I'm just working a bit on setting details in a different document. That's what prompted this idea to come ask if anybody here has drugs.
>>46242126
Beyond defining the range increment, cost, and size of a gun (and magazine size, in the case of certain weapons), I'm thinking the chief deal with barrel lengths will be various effects based on size. For example, field weapons being difficult to maneuver through small spaces, or causing you trouble when you try to perform certain actions with one on you, like tumbling or horseback riding.
Might give it a sliding scale based on weapon length, I dunno. An awkwardness stat? Unweildiness? Maybe make it part of the armor check penalty.
>>46241565
I'll be honest. I didn't read past the title but I'm sold.
>>46241565
Honestly, all of that sounds pretty great.
But so does most of the systems people are bashing everyday.
You want to know what will make me really want to play this game?
Proper implementation and balance.
If you have a buttload of customisation but half the options are worthless, you're gonna get lynched.
>>46241565
>>46241813
>>46242126
>>46242243
>working for 10 years on a way to shoehorn wild west rules into 3.5 instead of just using GURPS to stat up everything in a week
>or Savage Worlds, which could probably do the same thing
>or the Deadlands RPG itself, just with homebrewed monsters
Sometimes I really do wonder if exposure to 3.x caused brain damage.
>>46242546
>Sometimes I really do wonder if exposure to 3.x caused brain damage.
The toxic chemicals in the ink and binding are well-documented, but somehow it also causes problems for people who only read scans.
>>46242560
Someone's going to pop in complaining about >no fun allowed and shitty car analogies, but if you want to get into F1 racing you don't buy an SUV then spend years reshaping it into an F1 car, you just buy an F1 car.
>>46242546
I'm perfectly sane, all these papers Wizards of the Coast made me sign say so!
>>46242512
That's my major worry, but it's still early days.
It being a fantastical steampunk setting, I do want to include things that never really took off in reality like metal cartridge lemats and revolving shotguns, as well as anachronistic things like scopes and weapon attachments. There was a revolver made around this time in russia that formed a gas seal when the trigger was pulled, which meant that years later a suppressor could be fitted to it. And, I ask you, what is a bayonet lug if not the perfect place to mount a wand?
>>46242546
Just gonna chime in here and say Savage Worlds has its own version of Deadlands, you could just use that.
>>46242625
Uh, not sure in what era your setting is, but there have been scopes as early as the 17th century according to Wikipedia. I don't know about revolving shotguns (you means shotgun with a revolving magazine?) or the history of the Lemat, but I assume that when you are talking about that silenced revolver you are talking about the Nagant (no not Mosin, let's not get into this please).
The problem is that this particular revolver was invented in 1895 while the first commercial suppressor was marketed in 1902.
Also, with the invention of semi automatic guns during this era, your players may end up ditching the revolver depending on how close you want to stay to the real weapon development.
>>46242776
>(you means shotgun with a revolving magazine?
Indeed. There was one made by Roper, an early metal cartridge design. Bitch to load and unload, though.
And yeah, that's the silenced revolver I was speaking of. Technically, the Roper revolving shotgun could probably be fitted with a suppressor too, since it's a gas sealed weapon.
>>46242243
>Might give it a sliding scale based on weapon length, I dunno. An awkwardness stat? Unweildiness? Maybe make it part of the armor check penalty.
Sounds like a Size Category penalty would be more in order, just group barrel lengths according to each size category and apply penalties for going above "your" PC's size category in barrel length.
>>46242900
Also make it that longer barrels are more difficult to draw quickly.
