Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Six-Shooters and Sorcery

6 Gun Gorilla - 1930's

Gun Ownership for Magicians

Below is a list of enchantments for firearms and bullets.  This makes sense in my game world, and I think in others where guns are common, because Magic-Users can use guns, especially pistols - not that firearms aren't without some serious disadvantages.  Each of the enchantments below can be applied to individual bullets as a one use magic item, or much more rarely a gun itself will be ensorcelled.  I have marked the enchantments "minor" & "major" to give some idea of rarity and cost.

The enchantments below are are designed for a world where pistols do 1D4 - 1D8 damage per shot and long-arms 1D6 - 1D12.  I suppose it doesn't matter if one uses exploding dice for damage - because none of these enchantment provide direct damage bonuses.



1D20 Firearm/Bullet Enchantment Minor/Major/Masterful
1 Smokeless – The gun or bullet produces no smoke or visible flash when fired but still emits a report.
Minor
2 Silent – Gun makes no noise when fired, a simple and useful enchantment.
Minor
3 Assassin's – Combines the benefit of Smokeless and Silent, some of these bullets and guns produce strange noises, such as a crow's call, or odd glows.
Minor
4 Holy/Unholy – Blessed, anointed or marked by supernatural entities. These bullets/firearms are capable of damaging undead and otherworldly creatures that are immune to normal weapons as if there were +2 magic weapons.  They generally do not do increased damage or have to hit bonuses.
Minor
5 Seeing - These guns or bullets almost always come with a scope or spyglass and when fired viewing the glass allows the shooter to see along the path of the bullet for one round.  They strike normally. Useful for firing into the air.
Minor
6 Hunter's - A Hunter's bullet will always psychical inform its shooter as to where it is and can thus be used as a tracking device.
Minor
7 Anti-combustible - Firing an anti-combustible weapon or shell does not require combustion and works perfectly well underwater (or anywhere else free of oxygen.)
Minor
8 Marked – Marked bullets (or rarely weapons) seek to kill a specific target. The persons name appears on the bullet or gun and when used on the marked target strike at +2 to hit and will kill if they strike (Save vs. Death to take x4 damage). This enchantment occasionally spontaneously manifests itself when the aggrieved swear heartfelt revenge.
Minor
9 Eager - These weapons seek confrontation and will leap into the hand when combat seems imminent.  Likewise Eager bullets discharge themselves as soon as they are pointed at a an enemy with the intent to fire.  Shooter gians +1 Initiative and receives a 1 point penalty to reaction rolls.
Minor
10 Screaming - The sound of a screaming shot is disconcerting and causes the target to suffer a -1 hit for the next 1D6 rounds, even if the bullet misses.  Some creaming shells or guns say a specific phrase, such as their target's name or make a particular sound.
Minor
11 Vampiric - Enchantment saps life energy from shooter and converts it to deadly necromantic force.  Firing does 1 HP damage to shooter and an additional 1D6 to any living target.
Major
12 Flash - At firing these weapons (and more commonly bullets) produce a blinding flash and a loud explosion that will daze the unwarned momentarily.  Being with 20' of the discharge of a flash round requires a save vs. paralysis or 1D4 rounds of blindness (-4 to hit). Rare examples produce a color spray instead of a simple flash.
Major
13 Dividing - The bullet multiplies after firing.  For every two points on the hit roll over the amount necessary to hit an additional bullet strikes. 
Major
14 Hungry - After striking, the bullet from a hungry weapon will begin to gnaw its way through the target, inflicting 1D3 additional points of damage per turn until sated in 1D4 turns or removed.
Major
15 Fear - The sound of this gun or bullet firing causes fear in all creatures under 4HD if they do not make a saving throw vs. paralysis.  There are versions of this enchantment that cause blood-lust or insanity instead of fear, but they are rare.
Major
16 Ghost - Guns with this enchantment do not need bullets to fire, and ghost bullets may each be fired 2D4+1 times before being exhausted.  These shots will almost always appear as glowing spectral tracers and strike with a spray of odd colored sparks.
Major
17 Hanging Fire – If a hanging fire shot misses it will stop, hang in the air momentarily and fling itself back at the target the next round. If it misses the second time the shot will either be spent or (35% ) fly towards the shooter and try to hit him.
Masterful
18 Horological – Shots slow time (70%) or move at strange speeds and through alternative temporal streams (30%). Bullets that slow time allow the shooter to fire 1D4 times more that round while those that tumble sideways through time attack at +3 but will hit either 1D10 minus (1D4) rounds in the future. Bullets hitting in the past cause X4 damage because of paradox effects.
Masterful
19 Flame – Shells burst into flame on impact as a 10' fireball of 1-8(D6).
Masterful
20 Death – These weapons and bullets simply kill by tearing a whole through the target's soul. If hit, Save vs. Death or die, no damage on successful save or if the target lacks a soul.
Masterful

Note: Six-Gun Gorilla was apparently an actual comicbook hero in a 1939 "Wizard".  His name was O'Neill and he was the only survivor of a circus train accident raised by a kindly prospector and trained to shoot.  Six-Gun Gorilla is now a wilderness encounter/bandit leader/NPC/henchman possibility for my ASE game. Do not taunt Six-Gun Gorilla. 

2 comments:

  1. Most of these could also be used as general weapon enchantments. If you were running traditional D&D, what prices or requirements would you attack to the three levels of enchantment?

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  2. Not sure on prices - I'd think that a talented Wizard of 1-3 level could make minor enchantments, while one of 4 - 9 would be needed for major. Master enchantments would take a spell caster of at least 10th level. On weapons perhaps one category up.

    I guess prices for ASE would roughly be that minor enchanted bullets are 10GP each (and uncommon) while the major enchantments are in the 100's of GP range and rather rare. Master bullets and enchanted guns are either specially made for a purpose(or possibly manifest in the hands of gun-saints) or found only as treasure. Of course in ASE normal bullets are 1GP each and specially crafted, as all bullets must be.

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