Firearms
Firearm Proficiency
All Classes are proficient with the basic Pistol and Musket. Fighters, Rangers, Rogues, and Paladins have proficiency with all firearms. Bards, Monks, and Warlocks have proficiency with all one-handed firearms.
Firearm Traits
Firearms are a new and volatile technology, and as such bring their own unique set of weapon properties. Some properties are followed by a number, and this number signifies an element of that property (outlined below). These properties replace the optional ones presented in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Firearms are ranged weapons.
Reload. The weapon can be fired a number of times equal to its Reload score before you must spend 1 attack or 1 action to reload. You must have one free hand to reload a firearm.
Misfire. Whenever you make an attack roll with a firearm, and the dice roll is equal to or lower than the weapon’s Misfire score, the weapon misfires. The attack misses, and the weapon cannot be used again until you spend an action to try and repair it. To repair your firearm, you must make a successful Clear Firearm check (Wisdom Based; DC equal to 8 + misfire score). If your check fails, the weapon is broken and must be mended out of combat at a quarter of the cost of the firearm. Creatures who use a firearm without being proficient increase the weapon’s misfire score by 1.
Ammunition All firearms require ammunition to make an attack. However, if materials are gathered, you can craft ammunition yourself using Tinker’s Tools at half the cost. The number within the parentheses next to a firearm's ammunition equals the maximum amount of ammunition that can be loaded into the firearm at once.
Damage. Most firearms deal Ballistic Damage, which counts as both Bludgeoning and Piercing damage
Special Properties
Explosive. Upon a hit, everything within 5 ft of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier) or suffer 1d8 fire damage. If the weapon misses, the ammunition fails to detonate, or bounces away harmlessly before doing so.
Multi-Shot: This firearm can fire all its ammunition at once, causing its number of damage die to equal the amount of shots currently loaded (maximum represented in parentheses next to its multi-shot score) . Using the multi-shot action reduces the firearm's reload score to 1 for the next turn and the multi-shot attack adds the weapon's multi-shot score to its misfire score. A shot made with the multi-shot attack has a penalty to hit equal to the weapon's multi-shot score.
Scatter: this firearm deals damage in a cone. When a scatter weapon attacks all creatures within a cone, it makes a separate attack roll against each creature within the cone. Each attack roll takes a –2 penalty, and a firearm that makes a scatter shot misfires only if all of the attack rolls made misfire.
Firearm | Cost | Ammunition | Damage | Weight | Range | Reload | Misfire | Properties |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
One Handed | ||||||||
Hand Mortar | 400gp | Shell(1) | 2d8 Fire | 5lb | 40/160 | 1 | 3 | Explosive |
Pistol | 100gp | Bullets(1) | 1d10 Ballistic | 3lb | 60/240 | 1 | 1 | |
Pistol, Derringer | 100gp | Bullets(2) | 1d8 Ballistic | 1lb | 20/80 | 2 | 1 | Multishot 2 (2d8) |
Pistol, Dragon | 250gp | Pellets(1) | 1d8 Ballistic | 3lb | 15ft. Cone | 1 | 2 | Scatter |
Pistol, Double Barreled | 200gp | Bullets(2) | 1d10 Ballistic | 3lb | 60/240 | 2 | 2 | Multi-Shot 2 (2d10) |
Pistol, Duck's Foot | 350gp | Bullets (3) | 1d10 Ballistic | 5lb | 60/240 | 3 | 2 | Multi-Shot 3 (3d10) |
Pistol, Palm | 50gp | Bullets(1) | 1d8 Ballistic | 1lb | 20/80 | 1 | 1 | |
Pistol, Pepperbox | 600gp | Bullets(6) | 1d10 Ballistic | 5lb | 40/160 | 6 | 2 | |
Two-Handed | ||||||||
Blunderbuss | 300gp | Pellets(1) | 1d10 Ballistic | 10lb | 15ft. Cone | 1 | 2 | Scatter |
Hand Bombard | 1000gp | Shell(1) | 2d10 Fire | 10lb | 50/200 | 1 | 3 | Explosive |
Musket | 200gp | Bullets(1) | 1d12 Ballistic | 10lb | 120/480 | 1 | 1 | |
Musket, Axe | 210gp | Bullets(1) | 1d12 Ballistic/1d8 Slashing(in Melee) | 15lb | 100/400 | 1 | 1 | |
Musket, Double Barreled | 250gp | Bullets(2) | 1d12 Ballistic | 15lb | 120/480 | 2 | 2 | Multi-Shot 2 (2d12) |
Musket, Quad-Barreled | 1000gp | Bullets (4) | 1d12 Ballistic | 15lb | 120/480 | 4 | 2 | Multi-Shot (4d12) |
Ammuntion
Ammunition | Cost |
---|---|
Bullet | 5gp |
Bullet, Alchemical | 10gp |
Bullet, Phosphor | 15gp |
Bullet, Radium | 15gp |
Pellet | 10gp |
Pellet, Alchemical | 15gp |
Pellet, Fire | 15gp |
Shell | 20gp |
Shell, Concussive | 25gp |
Bullet/Cartidge
A single cartridge holds a single lead bullet and the blasting powder to shoot it. If the cartridge gets wet, it is useless for 1d4 hours
Bullet, Alchemical
Alchemical Bullets function as regular bullets, but the cartridges don't become useless after exposure to water
Bullet, Phosphor
These bullets are coated in a chemical that burns white hot when exposed to fire. A creature hit with a Phosphor Bullet is dealt an extra 1d4 Fire damage. The cartridges don't become useless after exposure to water
Bullet, Radium
These bullets are coated in a chemical that emits unhealthy radiation when exposed to fire. A creature hit with a Radium Bullet is dealt an extra 1d4 Necrotic damage. The cartridges don't become useless after exposure to water
Pellet
These bundles of pellets and blasting powder are fired from special guns like Dragon Pistols and Blunderbusses and deal damage in a cone
Pellet, Fire
These bundles of pellets are made of a special substance that ignites when exposed to flame, they deal fire damage instead of ballistic damage.
Shell
This metal sphere contains an explosive substance that detonates upon impact.
Shell, Concussive
This metal sphere contains a violently explosive substance. It deals an extra 1d8 Thunder damage.
Credits to Matt Mercer
These firearm rules were adapted from Matt Mercer's Firearms rules for his campaign of Critical Role and can be found in their original form at https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/classes/gunslinger