rules Campaign Firearms Rules

[Paxon]

Firearms Ruleset

This game is using the Guns Everywhere setting, but that doesn't really account for modern firearms. I'm not totally satisfied with Pathfinder options, and Starfinder weapons are a little too high tech and not quite balanced with PF. Nor am I 100% satisfied with other sets of modern firearms rules I've seen, though some do have facets I like. Therefor I'm synthesizing some of these rules into the post-apocalytpic/modern firearm rules below. (Credit to Wyrmworks Modern Combat and FFD20 for many of the individual bits and pieces of rules here).

 

Modified Guns Everywhere:

Guns are commonplace, but it isn't always easy to obtain them, or keep supplied with ammunition. Early firearms are seen as antiques (though some jury-rigged firearms resemble them), and advanced/modern firearms are widespread.

• Early and Advanced Firearms are simple weapons, and early firearms, advanced guns, and their ammunition are bought or crafted for 10% of the cost listed (unless noted in the table in this post).

• Modern pistols, rifles, and shotguns are also Simple weapons, while more advanced and automatic weapons are considered Martial weapons. See table in the next post for specifics.

• Heavy Weapon firearms require their own Exotic Weapons Proficiency, or are available with the Heavy Gunner Proficiency (discipline) talent.

• The gunslinger loses the gunsmith class feature and instead gains the gun training class feature at 1st level.

• Equipment Talent modifications:

  • Firearm Proficiency (discipline): Gives proficiency with all Martial firearms as well as Simple Modern and Advanced firearms. 

  • Gunsmithing Feat: The Crafting Firearms and Ammunition abilities also apply to Simple and Martial modern firearms (half cost, like advanced).

  • Heavy Gunner Proficiency (discipline): New. You gain proficiency with all Heavy Weapon firearms. If you have the Gunsmithing feat, you can also create Heavy Weapons and their ammunition under the same rules (half cost).

 

Advanced and Modern Firearms

• Advanced firearms resolve their attacks against touch AC when the target is within the first five range increments, but this type of attack is not considered a touch attack for the purposes of feats such as Deadly Aim. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally, including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment. Advanced firearms have a maximum range of 10 range increments.

• It is a move action to reload a revolver or chamber rounds in a rifle. It only takes a swift action to reload an already filled box magazine (put in a new clip; this can also be done with a move action).

• Heavy Weapons take a full-round action to reload.

 

Rate of Fire

Modern firearms have various rates of fire, including single shot (SS), semi-automatic (SA), and automatic. Early and advanced firearms are all single shot.

 

Single Shot: Just like firearms have always worked in PF. One shot per attack. If you can reload as a free action, you can fire as many shots in a full attack or a barrage as you have available.

 

Semi-Auto: A semi-automatic weapon normally fires one shot as an attack. However, the user can take a special attack action to fire twice, as if using the Barrage sphere's barrage ability (including taking a -2 penalty on all attacks), except using this method does not allow the user to expend martial focus for additional attacks. If the wielder has the Barrage sphere's barrage ability, they can instead count their base attack bonus as five points higher exclusively for the purposes of qualifying for additional attacks when martial focus is expended. (Thus, a character with 6 BAB would be able to take 4 attacks when expending martial focus with an SA weapon, rather than 3).

 

The user can also take a full-attack action to fire an additional time this round at your highest bonus, as if using the Rapid Shot feat (including taking a -2 penalty on all attacks). If the wielder has the Rapid Shot feat, he ignores the -2 penalty on all attacks but does not gain any further attacks from the feat. Only a single firearm can benefit from semi-automatic fire per full-attack, like when two-weapon fighting with firearms you can only benefit from semi-automatic fire with one firearm.

 

Automatic: This weapon is capable of automatic fire, rapidly shooting bullets as long as the wielder holds down the trigger.

• Targeted burst: As a special attack action, fire a long burst of rounds targeting all creatures in a line starting from any corner of the wielder's space and extending to the limit of the weapon's range or until it strikes a barrier it cannot penetrate. When using an automatic weapon to attack all creatures in a line, the wielder makes a separate attack roll against each creature in the line. Each creature in the line can only be affected by one attack from each burst, and feats such as vital strike can only affect one of the damage rolls. Each attack roll takes a -2 penalty. Effects that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur, invisibility, or mirror image spells, do not affect an automatic weapon's line attack. Roll to confirm each attack roll that threatens a critical hit separately. A single burst with an automatic weapon consumes 10 charges or uses of ammunition. When using automatic fire, creatures count their perception checks to hear the sound as if they had rolled a 20, even with suppressed firearms. You may not reload during Automatic Fire.

  • If the wielder of this weapon possesses the Barrage sphere, they can choose to spend their martial focus to make additional line attacks as if making a barrage attack. The same area can be targeted by the same burst twice, and apply (blitz) talents to every creature in said lines. 6 BABFrom Barrage:
    Beginning at 6 base attack bonus, you may expend your martial focus to make an additional extra attack, increasing the penalty to all your attacks from -2 to -4. For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess beyond 6, when expending your martial focus you may increase this penalty by an additional -2 to make an additional extra attack.
    
    (So at 6 BAB, expending martial focus gets you two total line attacks at -4).

  • When taking a full-attack action with an automatic weapon, the wielder can fire as many bursts in a round as he has attacks, provided his gun can hold enough ammo to make all of the attacks, otherwise it only fires what the current box contains (30 box can only have 3 attacks).

• Suppressing Fire: As a full-round action, you wildly spray an area hoping to hit anything that comes into it or to keep things from moving through that area. You can affect 2 areas: a cone in front of you 20 ft wide extending to the first range increment of the weapon, or a 30 ft diameter area that is below you and up to your weapon’s first range increment away from you. Make a single attack roll at a -4 penalty, and apply it to all enemies in the targeted area. If that number beats that creature’s or enemy’s AC, roll damage against that creature. If you roll a natural 20, you hit all enemies currently in the area, but do not do extra damage. Any enemy that enters this area or leaves a square in this area until the beginning of your next turn is considered a new target of your original attack roll, taking damage if they would be hit (once per movement, not once per square moved). Abilities that modify being targeted by an AOO also modify being targeted by this action. This action uses up 30 ammunition, or the remainder of your magazine (must have at least 25 round remaining).

  • If you posses the Cone of Death barrage talent, increase the size of the cone with this action to a medium range (100'+10' per BAB) cone.

• Sustained Fire: or more affectionately known as Rip-a-clip. You unload your weapon on a single target. The more consecutive rounds you do so, the more damage the target takes. As a 1-round action, roll an attack against a single target within the 1st range increment of your weapon (for each size larger the target is than you, it may be an additional range increment away). The attack is at a -4 penalty and targets normal AC. At the end of the round (before the beginning of your next turn. Functionally this will be after the enemy block turn in combats), if you weren't interrupted* apply max base weapon damage on a hit, otherwise roll normal weapon damage. If you take this action a second consecutive round, succeed on the attack, and aren't interrupted, apply max weapon damage x2. If you take this action a 3rd consecutive round or beyond, hit, and aren't interrupted, apply max weapon damage x4 on a hit. This action takes 30 rounds of ammunition each time, and you must be able to reload as a swift or free action to be able to reload your weapon between consecutive rounds (if reload is required). 

  • For each size larger a creature is than you, reduce the attack penalty by 1. If your weapon is mounted, there is no attack penalty.

  • *You are interrupted if you take damage or are directly targeted with a melee attack during the enemy turn.

 

Shotguns:

Shotguns are large bore weapons with devastating stopping power at close range. Shotguns target Normal AC, instead of Touch AC. If a slug is used when firing, a shotgun’s critical range is changed to 20/4x, and the attack is made against Touch AC within the weapon’s first range increment. Slugs can only target one individual. If a shotgun with pellets loaded is fired at a character within its first range increment, the attack receives a +2 to hit, and any character adjacent to, but not behind that character, receives the minimum damage of that attack, as if the attack were a Splash Weapon.

(this usage of shotguns applies to modern shotguns. Early and advanced guns with the scatter quality still use those as normal, and would represent a sawed-off shotgun or other modified pellet firearm with a very wide firing arc).

 

Sniper:

With a Sniper Rifle, you may apply sneak attack damage to eligible attacks made within the first range increment of the weapon. You must use Single Shot mode to apply sneak attack damage.

 

Rubber Bullets: Rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from standard firearms. They are intended to be a non-lethal or more specifically a less lethal alternative to metal projectiles, dealing only bludgeoning damage. A firearm user can use rubber bullets to deal nonlethal damage (at the normal –4 attack penalty for using a lethal weapon to deal nonlethal damage).

 

Beanbag Rounds (aka Flexible Baton rounds): Beanbag rounds consists of a small fabric "pillow" filled with #9 lead shot weighing about 40 grams.  They are intended to be a non-lethal or more specifically a less lethal alternative to metal projectiles, similar to rubber bullets.  Beanbags, however, are specifically intended to stun their target by causing intense and painful muscle spasms at the point of impact, that render the target momentarily immobile.  Targets hit by a beanbag round are Staggered for 1d3-1 rounds.  On a successful FORT save vs the attackers practitioner DC, they are instead Sickened.

 

Beanbag rounds count as Slugs for damage/attack purposes (20/x4 on a crit, Touch AC for the first range increment), but all damage is nonlethal.  They can be used to do lethal damage, at the normal -4 penalty.  Additionally they have a max range of 2 range increments.  Any target struck in the 2nd range increment by a beanbag ONLY takes the nonlethal damage and is not subject to the Stagger/Sickened effect. Creatures immune to nonlethal damage are also not affected by the additional effects.

 

Misfires

Modern firearms are created using highly machine precision instruments, yet they are made up of multi moving parts. That and other factors such as the weapon being dropped or hit, old or degraded shells, lack of or improper cleaning and handling, the elements and such can lead to a misfire.

When attacking with a modern ranged firearm a roll of a natural 1 causes a misfire. That in itself is no big deal, it just means the shot did not happen but it could also mean a jammed weapon. Like when you roll a second time on a critical to confirm the hit you do the same on a misfire. If your second roll would hit the target your gun simply failed to fire. No ammunition is expended on a standard misfire your attack just didn’t happen. However if your confirmation roll is a MISS, then the weapon has Jammed.

• Jammed Weapon: If your weapon has becoming jammed you must spend an attack action to unjam it and the ammunition from the attack is lost. Besides bullets this includes, grenades, rockets, missiles, etc.

• Broken Weapon: If you are so unlucky as to actually roll a natural one a second time on a misfire confirmation the weapon breaks gaining the broken condition until fixed.

 

Cover

If you are immediately adjacent to your source of cover, you may take shots at your opponents. This requires using a move action to lean and shoot (it takes no action to shoot past partial cover). If you are behind Total Cover and can lean out, using this move action has you peak out until the beginning of your next turn, reducing your source of cover to Improved Cover until you take an action to move back in.

 

Tech Sphere - Mechanical Ranged Weaponry:

If you select Mechanical Ranged Weaponry from the tech sphere, buying the talent once gets you access to all exotic crossbows, early firearms, and advanced firearms. Selecting it a second time expand your list of ranged weapons you can create to include all of the Simple and Martial weapons (pistols, rifles, shotguns) found in the list below. If you take it a third time, you gain access to all Heavy Weapons listed below. Superior Mechanical Weaponry is unavailable (and rendered mostly irrelevant).

 

Rapid Reload Feat

The Rapid Reload feat and the Expert Reloading talent are considered to have the same function: Whenever you reload a ranged weapon with which you are proficient, you may decrease the required time; hand and light crossbows become free actions, heavy crossbows and one-handed firearms become move actions, and two-handed firearms become standard actions. Modern and advanced firearms become free actions to reload. Heavy Weapons become standard actions to reload.

If you possess the Crossbow Mastery feat, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when reloading any crossbow. If you possess Firearm Proficiency (discipline) you know longer provoke AOOs when reloading Simple and Martial firearms. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Paxon (see edit history)

[Paxon]

Firearms Equipment Options

The following table shows new firearms options for this setting. All early firearms are also available, at 10% of their listed cost. Early firearms use spherical bullets as listed in base pathfinder. Advanced and Modern firearms use rounds as listed.

 

 

NAME	Hands	Ammo	Damage	Critical	Type	Range	ROF	Capacity	Weight	Special	Cost
"ADVANCED" FIREARMS (Simple)
Revolver	1h	Pistol	1d8	x4	B and P	20	SS	6	4 lbs		250
Double-Barrel Shotgun	2h	Shotgun	1d8	19-20/x2	B and P	20	SS	2	15 lbs	scatter	450
Shotgun	2h	Shotgun	1d8	19-20/x2	B and P	20	SS	1	12 lbs	scatter	300
Rifle	2h	Rifle	1d10	x4	B and P	80	SS	1	12 lbs		350
MODERN FIREARMS: Simple
Hold-out pistol	1h	Pistol	1d4	x2	B and P	15	SS	4 box	0.5 lbs		250
Medium Pistol	1h	Pistol	1d8	19-20/x2	B and P	30	SA	12 box	2 lbs		475
Heavy Pistol	1h	Pistol	1d10	x3	B and P	30	SA	10 box	3 lbs		550
Heavy Revolver	1h	Pistol	1d8	x4	B and P	40	SS	7	4 lbs		600
					B and P
Sub Machine Gun	2h	Pistol	1d8	x2	B and P	70	SA/Auto	45 box	6 lbs		1000
Pump Shotgun	2h	Shotgun/Rifle	1d10	18-20/x2	B and P	30	SS	4	8 lbs	Shotgun	350
Hunting Rifle	2h	Rifle	1d10	x4	B and P	80	SS	5	9 lbs		800
MODERN FIREARMS: Martial
Automatic Pistol	1h	Pistol	1d6	x2	B and P	30	SA/Auto	25 box	3 lbs		750
Tactical Shotgun	2h	Shutgun/Rifle	1d10	18-20/x2	B and P	30	SA	8 box	10 lbs	Shotgun	700
Assault Rifle	2h	Rifle	1d10	19-20/x2	B and P	100	SA, Auto	35 box	10 lbs		2000
Sniper Rifle	2h	Rifle	2d6	18-20/x2	B and P	150	SS/SA	15 box	12 lbs	Sniper	2500
Heavy Sniper Rifle	2h	Heavy	3d6	19-20/x3	B and P	180	SS	6	15 lbs	Sniper	3500
MODERN FIREARMS: Heavy Weapons
Light Machine Gun	2h	Heavy	2d6	19-20/x2	B and P	100	Automatic	100 belt	22 lbs	Automatic fire only	4000
Heavy Machine Gun	2h*	Heavy	3d6	19-20/x2	B and P	150	Automatic	90 belt	83 lbs	Automatic fire only, Mounted only*	8000
Barrel Mounted Grenade Launcher	-	WPG	grenade			30	SS	1	3 lbs		800
Grenade Launcher	2h	WPG	grenade			70	SS	1	6 lbs		1000
Multiple Grenade Launcher	2h	WPG	grenade			60	SA	6 cylinder	14 lbs		5000
RPG Launcher	2h	RPG	RPG	RPG		100	SS	1	20 lbs		2500
Grenades
Smoke		WPG	Fog Cloud	x2		20 burst	SS		1 lbs	Concealing	70
Flash Bang		WPG	1d6	x2	B/P/S	15 burst	SS		1 lbs	Blind/deaf	150
Fragmentation		WPG	4d6	x3	B/P/S	25 burst	SS		1 lbs		150
High Explosive (HE)		WPG	3d6	x3	half Fire	30 burst	SS		1 lbs		250
HEAT		WPG	4d6	x3	B/P/S	5 burst	SS		1 lbs	ignores 6 hardness/DR	275
Tear Gas		WPG	Stinking Cloud	x2		20 burst	SS		1 lbs	Nauseating	100
RPGs
HE		RPG	4d6	x3	B/P/S//fire	30 burst			3 lbs		200
Anti-Armor		RPG	6d6	x3	B/P/S	5 burst			3 lbs	ignores 5 hardness/DR	300

* HMG can only be fired mounted on a vehicle or emplacement

 

Ammunition

NAME	Weight	Cost
Pistol Ammo (50)	1	10
Rifle Ammo (50)	3	20
Shotgun Ammo (50)	0.8	15
Heavy Ammo (50)	5.5	30
Rubber Bullets (50)	2	50
Beanbag Rounds (50)	2	50

 

 

Grenade Launchers and Weapon Propelled Grenades

The Grenade Launcher and Multiple Grenade Launcher fire Weapon Propelled Grenades (WPG). You may target a square with a ranged touch attack, causing the grenade to explode up contact. Or you may target a creature with a ranged attack roll targeting normal AC. If you hit a creature directly, the attack does an additional 1d6 damage plus any other damage bonuses your character otherwise gets with firearms. With a successful DC20 reflex save, a creature in a grenade's blast radius only suffers half damage.

• Fragmentation: Deals 4d6 Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage in a 25' radius
• High Explosive: Explode in a 30' radius, and deals 3d6 half B/P/S damage and half Fire damage.
• Flash Bang: Deals 1d6 B damage in 15' radius, and any creature within radius must make a DC25 Ref save or become blinded and deafened for 1d4 rounds
• HEAT: High Explosive Anti-tank grenades only explode in a 5' radius dealing 4d6 B/P/S damage, but deal full damage to objects and ignore 5 DR/Hardness of anything they hit directly.
• Smoke: This grenade creates a cloud of smoke which lasts for 10 minutes and covers a 30′ radius. The smoke obscures all sight, including darkvision beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target.) The smoke can also be one of many colors including red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, grey and white. Smoke is used for both covering movement as well as a signal device.
• Tear Gas: This grenade contains chemicals that release a nauseating cloud that is exactly like the stinking cloud spell (but is non magical) and lasts for 4 rounds. Living creatures in the cloud become nauseated and continue to be so for 1d4+1 rounds after leaving it. Roll separately for each nauseated creature. Fortitude save 15.

Hand Grenades: Any of the above WPGs except HEAT can be purchased/crafted as hand grenades instead, for the same listed cost as WPGs. A hand grenade is a small balanced item with throwing range increments of 20'. It explodes 1 round after you throw it, at the end of your turn. Priming and throwing is a standard action. As a swift action, you may prime a grenade and hold onto it with a free hand. You may then throw it on your subsequent turn, and it will explode at the end of that turn.

 

Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs)

RPGs target touch AC within their first 5 range increments like other firearms. DC20 ref save to take half damage from being caught in the blast radius.

• High Explosive (HE): Explode in a 30' radius, and deals half B/P/S damage and half Fire damage.
• Anti-Armor: Deliver damage in a smaller area. Anti-armor ammo does B/P/S damage in a 5' radius, and deal full damage to objects + ignores 5 DR/Hardness against anything it hits directly.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Paxon (see edit history)

[Paxon]

Firearms Rules Change Log:

5/20/22

Added additional and modifications to proficiency talents. 

Added some clarifications on RPG/WPG Ammo.

 

5/24/22

Made some minor corrections.

Added HEAT and Flash Bang WPG grenades, and the ability to use most grenades as hand grenades.

Changed grenade ref saves to 20 for half damage.

Modifications to the Rapid Reload feat.

Clarified/modified Automatic ROF actions, and added Sustained Fire option.

Added reload times to Heavy Weapons (full round, or standard action with reload feat/talent).
 

6/17/22

Added Beanbag Rounds

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Paxon (see edit history)