Firearms in Eliosara
The following rules cover the use of firearms and include the firearms and ammunition types available. All firearms are subject to misfires if they’re not properly maintained.
Capacity: Weapons that have the capacity trait typically have multiple barrels or chambers capable of containing a round of ammunition. Capacity is always accompanied by a number indicating the number of barrels or chambers. After a capacity weapon is fired, you can select the next loaded barrel or chamber as an Interact action that doesn’t require a free hand. Each barrel or chamber can be reloaded after it’s fired as a separate Interact action.
Concealable: This weapon is designed to be inconspicuous or easily concealed. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks and DCs to hide or conceal a weapon with this trait.
Concussive: These weapons smash as much as puncture. When determining a creature’s resistance or immunity to damage from this weapon, use the weaker of the target’s resistance or immunity to piercing or bludgeoning. For instance, if the creature were immune to piercing and had no resistance or immunity to bludgeoning damage, it would take full damage from a concussive weapon. Resistance or immunity to all physical damage, or all damage, applies as normal.
Double Barrel: This weapon has two barrels that are each loaded separately. You can fire both barrels of a double barrel weapon in a single Strike to increase the size of the weapon damage die by one step. If the weapon has the fatal trait, this increases the size of the fatal die by one step as well.
Fatal Aim: It’s possible to hold the stock of this weapon under one arm so you can fire it with a single hand as long as the other hand isn’t holding a weapon, shield, or anything else you would need to move and position, to ensure the weapon doesn’t slip out from under your arm. However, if you use both hands, the weapon can make fatal attacks. When you wield the weapon in two hands, it gains the fatal trait with the listed damage die. Holding the weapon underarm stably enough to fire is significantly more complicated than just releasing one hand from the weapon, so to switch between the two grips, you must do so with an Interact action rather than Releasing or as part of reloading.
Kickback: A kickback weapon is extra powerful and difficult to use. A kickback weapon deals 1 additional damage with all attacks. Firing a kickback weapon gives a –2 circumstance penalty to the attack roll, but characters with 14 or more Strength ignore the penalty. Attaching a kickback weapon to stabilizers can lower or negate this penalty (page 182).
Modular: The weapon has multiple configurations that you can switch between using an Interact action. Typically, switching between configurations of a modular weapon allows it to deal different types of damage (listed in the trait, such as “modular B, P, or S”), though it’s possible for a modular weapon’s description to list more complicated configurations.
Repeating: Repeating weapons can’t be loaded with individual bolts or bullets like other crossbows and firearms can; instead, they require a magazine of specialized ammunition to be loaded into a special slot. Once the magazine is in place, the ammunition is automatically loaded each time the weapon is cocked to fire, reducing its reload to the value in its reload entry (typically 0). When the ammunition runs out, a new magazine must be loaded, which requires a free hand and three Interact actions (to remove the old magazine, retrieve the new magazine, and slot the new magazine in place). As with other types of reloading that take multiple actions, these actions don’t need to be consecutive.
Scatter: This weapon fires a cluster of pellets in a wide spray. scatter always has an area listed with it, indicating the radius of the spray. On a hit, the primary target of an attack with a scatter weapon takes the listed damage, and the target and all other creatures within the listed radius around it take 1 splash damage per weapon damage die.
Bayonet: This blade or spike can be attached to a crossbow or firearm but, unlike other attached weapons, can be wielded in one hand as its own weapon. When used as a separate weapon, it can’t benefit from any runes or abilities that function only for attached weapons.
Blunderbuss: This weapon fires pellets from a trumpet-shaped barrel, making it an excellent choice for hunting brush fowl or dealing damage within a short, broad area. Adventuring gunslingers often carry a blunderbuss to deal with swarms of vermin and similar threats.
Double-Barreled Musket: This flintlock breech-loader has two side-by-side barrels. Though less accurate than a standard musket, a double-barreled musket offers versatility in firing options.
Double-Barreled Pistol: This flintlock pistol has two side-by-side barrels. Though less accurate than a standard pistol, a double-barreled pistol is a useful and versatile weapon.
Dragon-Mouth Pistol: Similar to the blunderbuss, a dragon-mouth pistol fires pellets from a flared barrel. Though less powerful than a blunderbuss, the dragon-mouth pistol is appreciated for its portability and one-handed design. Though the name was coined because of the destructive belch of this handheld scatter weapon, many gunsmiths craft dragon-mouth pistols with elaborate embellishments that resemble a stylized dragon’s maw framing the barrel.
Flintlock Pistol: Though less accurate and powerful than a flintlock musket, the flintlock pistol is a preferred weapon of privateers thanks to its more compact size and affordability. Pirate captains often wear a brace of such pistols in a bandolier so they can draw and fire without stopping to reload.
Forked Bipod: Developed by scouts and hunters who often don’t have time to break down a tripod when beset by the chaotic monsters of the Usten Yor, this two-pronged stabbing weapon can be used as a bipod to stabilize a gun with potent kickback. A forked bipod can be deployed or retrieved for use as a melee weapon as an Interact action.
Hand Cannon: Popular among ‘less civilized’ folk, hand cannons are little more than a hardened tube with a handle and external ignition attached. A hand cannon can be used to fire almost anything that can be packed into its barrel. The wielder of a hand cannon can change the damage type granted by its modular trait as part of the same Interact action used to reload.
Harmona Gun: A favored weapon of monster hunters in Treal, the harmona gun is a large-bore long gun that fires a heavy, slow-moving round. The gun got its name due to the eerie similarity between the buzzing sound its oversized projectiles make flying through the air and the flight of a fae bird called a harmona.
Knuckle Duster: This bit of hardened metal, favored by street toughs, is typically made of brass and features four finger holes so that it can sit atop the knuckles, adding extra power to a punch.
Pepperbox: This weapon is a specialty of the officers of the Navy of Vikira. The pepperbox has three barrels that each hold a single shot, and the shooter can manually rotate the whole barrel assembly to align a loaded barrel with the firing mechanism.
Reinforced Stock: A reinforced stock is a weighted crossbow, firearm haft, or grip customized for striking in melee.
Ammunition
Firearms require ammunition consisting of a projectile and black powder. A round of ammo can vary in its composition but is typically either a prepackaged paper cartridge, including wadding, bullet, and black powder, or loose shot packed in manually. Some weapons, like hand cannons and blunderbusses, can fire other materials, but their ammunition has the same price due to the cost of the black powder. Because making rounds of firearm ammunition requires creating black powder, you need the Alchemical Crafting skill feat to make them. Firearm rounds are a valid option for magical ammunition, just like arrows or bolts. Crafting magical firearm ammunition requires you to be able to craft both alchemical and magical items.
Misfires
Firearms that are improperly maintained or subjected to unusual strain can misfire. If you attempt to fire a firearm that was fired the previous day or earlier and hasn’t been cleaned since then, roll a DC 5 flat check before making your attack roll. If you fail this misfire check, the weapon misfires and jams. The attack is an automatic critical failure, and you must use an Interact action to clear the jam before you can reload the weapon and fire again. Once you have spent at least an hour cleaning a weapon, you don’t need to roll for a misfire until the next day unless an effect says otherwise. You can clean multiple firearms during this hour, up to a reasonable limit as determined by the GM (typically no more than five). Some abilities cause a weapon to misfire as part of their effects. If such a misfire happens as a result of an attack (due to an action that causes a misfire on a failed attack, for example), it retroactively makes the attack a critical failure.
Weapon Traits
These weapons include the following traits, in addition to any described in the Core Rulebook.Capacity: Weapons that have the capacity trait typically have multiple barrels or chambers capable of containing a round of ammunition. Capacity is always accompanied by a number indicating the number of barrels or chambers. After a capacity weapon is fired, you can select the next loaded barrel or chamber as an Interact action that doesn’t require a free hand. Each barrel or chamber can be reloaded after it’s fired as a separate Interact action.
Concealable: This weapon is designed to be inconspicuous or easily concealed. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks and DCs to hide or conceal a weapon with this trait.
Concussive: These weapons smash as much as puncture. When determining a creature’s resistance or immunity to damage from this weapon, use the weaker of the target’s resistance or immunity to piercing or bludgeoning. For instance, if the creature were immune to piercing and had no resistance or immunity to bludgeoning damage, it would take full damage from a concussive weapon. Resistance or immunity to all physical damage, or all damage, applies as normal.
Double Barrel: This weapon has two barrels that are each loaded separately. You can fire both barrels of a double barrel weapon in a single Strike to increase the size of the weapon damage die by one step. If the weapon has the fatal trait, this increases the size of the fatal die by one step as well.
Fatal Aim: It’s possible to hold the stock of this weapon under one arm so you can fire it with a single hand as long as the other hand isn’t holding a weapon, shield, or anything else you would need to move and position, to ensure the weapon doesn’t slip out from under your arm. However, if you use both hands, the weapon can make fatal attacks. When you wield the weapon in two hands, it gains the fatal trait with the listed damage die. Holding the weapon underarm stably enough to fire is significantly more complicated than just releasing one hand from the weapon, so to switch between the two grips, you must do so with an Interact action rather than Releasing or as part of reloading.
Kickback: A kickback weapon is extra powerful and difficult to use. A kickback weapon deals 1 additional damage with all attacks. Firing a kickback weapon gives a –2 circumstance penalty to the attack roll, but characters with 14 or more Strength ignore the penalty. Attaching a kickback weapon to stabilizers can lower or negate this penalty (page 182).
Modular: The weapon has multiple configurations that you can switch between using an Interact action. Typically, switching between configurations of a modular weapon allows it to deal different types of damage (listed in the trait, such as “modular B, P, or S”), though it’s possible for a modular weapon’s description to list more complicated configurations.
Repeating: Repeating weapons can’t be loaded with individual bolts or bullets like other crossbows and firearms can; instead, they require a magazine of specialized ammunition to be loaded into a special slot. Once the magazine is in place, the ammunition is automatically loaded each time the weapon is cocked to fire, reducing its reload to the value in its reload entry (typically 0). When the ammunition runs out, a new magazine must be loaded, which requires a free hand and three Interact actions (to remove the old magazine, retrieve the new magazine, and slot the new magazine in place). As with other types of reloading that take multiple actions, these actions don’t need to be consecutive.
Scatter: This weapon fires a cluster of pellets in a wide spray. scatter always has an area listed with it, indicating the radius of the spray. On a hit, the primary target of an attack with a scatter weapon takes the listed damage, and the target and all other creatures within the listed radius around it take 1 splash damage per weapon damage die.
Weapons Descriptions
Arquebus: This is a long rifle that offers more range than the average firearm, though the long barrel and ferocious kickback make the weapon particularly unsteady unless a tripod or other stand is used to stabilize it. The arquebus is one of the most commonly used long guns among the soldiers of Vikira.Bayonet: This blade or spike can be attached to a crossbow or firearm but, unlike other attached weapons, can be wielded in one hand as its own weapon. When used as a separate weapon, it can’t benefit from any runes or abilities that function only for attached weapons.
Blunderbuss: This weapon fires pellets from a trumpet-shaped barrel, making it an excellent choice for hunting brush fowl or dealing damage within a short, broad area. Adventuring gunslingers often carry a blunderbuss to deal with swarms of vermin and similar threats.
Double-Barreled Musket: This flintlock breech-loader has two side-by-side barrels. Though less accurate than a standard musket, a double-barreled musket offers versatility in firing options.
Double-Barreled Pistol: This flintlock pistol has two side-by-side barrels. Though less accurate than a standard pistol, a double-barreled pistol is a useful and versatile weapon.
Dragon-Mouth Pistol: Similar to the blunderbuss, a dragon-mouth pistol fires pellets from a flared barrel. Though less powerful than a blunderbuss, the dragon-mouth pistol is appreciated for its portability and one-handed design. Though the name was coined because of the destructive belch of this handheld scatter weapon, many gunsmiths craft dragon-mouth pistols with elaborate embellishments that resemble a stylized dragon’s maw framing the barrel.
Flintlock Pistol: Though less accurate and powerful than a flintlock musket, the flintlock pistol is a preferred weapon of privateers thanks to its more compact size and affordability. Pirate captains often wear a brace of such pistols in a bandolier so they can draw and fire without stopping to reload.
Forked Bipod: Developed by scouts and hunters who often don’t have time to break down a tripod when beset by the chaotic monsters of the Usten Yor, this two-pronged stabbing weapon can be used as a bipod to stabilize a gun with potent kickback. A forked bipod can be deployed or retrieved for use as a melee weapon as an Interact action.
Hand Cannon: Popular among ‘less civilized’ folk, hand cannons are little more than a hardened tube with a handle and external ignition attached. A hand cannon can be used to fire almost anything that can be packed into its barrel. The wielder of a hand cannon can change the damage type granted by its modular trait as part of the same Interact action used to reload.
Harmona Gun: A favored weapon of monster hunters in Treal, the harmona gun is a large-bore long gun that fires a heavy, slow-moving round. The gun got its name due to the eerie similarity between the buzzing sound its oversized projectiles make flying through the air and the flight of a fae bird called a harmona.
Knuckle Duster: This bit of hardened metal, favored by street toughs, is typically made of brass and features four finger holes so that it can sit atop the knuckles, adding extra power to a punch.
Pepperbox: This weapon is a specialty of the officers of the Navy of Vikira. The pepperbox has three barrels that each hold a single shot, and the shooter can manually rotate the whole barrel assembly to align a loaded barrel with the firing mechanism.
Reinforced Stock: A reinforced stock is a weighted crossbow, firearm haft, or grip customized for striking in melee.