Smoking Gun (Magical Revolvers)

This is a collection of rules for firearms – revolvers, specifically – in TTRPGs. This does not aim to be a realistic portrayal – instead, an interesting one. Enjoy.

REVOLVERS
(Fernando Correra)

 First, how revolvers work mechanically. Revolvers:

• Can fire multiple shots in a single attack. Before you roll to hit, declare how many bullets you're firing and at what target(s). You get -1 to hit per target past one. If your character has multiple attacks per turn, firing a revolver spends all of them.
• Deal Xd6 damage, where X is the amount of bullets fired at the individual target.
• Reload quickly. Spend an action to reload 1d6 bullets, half if you moved this turn.
• Have range equivalent to a shortbow. In the hands of an expert, range as a longbow.
• Are all magical – every single one of them. When fired, the revolver casts the spell attached to it. The spell is cast on each taget hit. [BULLETS] is equal to the amount of bullets fired at the individual target.
• Fires strays on doubles. For each pair present, take one die away. This bullet hits an unintended target.
• Are magically catastrophic on triples. If there is a triple present, add yourself as a target of the revolver's spell, with [BULLETS] equal to 3.

As a magic item, revolvers are found where most other magic is found – in the hands of freaks and their dark abodes. For whatever reason, revolvers are a lost invention. Here are 1d6 potential reasons why:

1. Guns inspire greed, greed inspires death. The mythic underworld is full of riches; the mythic underworld is teeming with ghosts. The gunmen of the world ventured to find glory measured in silver; the gunmen of the world rot at the bottom of lightless pits.
2. The invention is not completely lost. The Gun-Pope knows their construction, the conclave shall learn upon his death. Crusaders travel the world packing heat – that of gunfire and brimstone.
3. God took the knowledge of their construction away from us. We had it coming. What he can't take away is the vestiges that still remain.
4. They used to be plentiful. After the Wizarding Wars on The Frontier, the world took a "swords to plowshares" attitude for a time. If only we lived back then.
5. We never knew how to make them in the first place. A revolver is the skull of a fae – with six sockets for six baleful eyes. Fae steal children and trick mortals to avenge their fallen bretheren.
6. Once upon a time, Methea the Knower, soon after mastering arms of fire, was torn apart by ten lions. Once upon a time, Abe de Festo was torn apart by nine lions. Once upon a time, Yulio Monteguerra was torn apart by sixteen lions. Once upon a time, Usmana Wisdom-Teeth was torn apart by twenty-two lions. Once upon a time, the brothers Salt and Petre were torn apart by six lions apiece. Once upon a time, the covert arms conglomerate SHY was torn apart by two-hundred-and-sixty-five lions.

 Bullets are rare because revolvers are rare. A bullet costs 5 sp. Per expedition, there are:

• 1d6 bullets for sale in settlements with a blacksmith.
• 2d6 bullets for sale in settlements with a gunsmith. On doubles, double the price.
• 4d6 bullets for sale in settlements with a Gun-Church. On doubles, double the price unless you are trusted by the church. On triples, the church has a blowout crisis that violently effects the community.

1D6 MAGICAL REVOLVERS
(Fernando Correra)

 

LARGE MAMA
A fat, cubic thing. It feels like a brick in your hand – hits like one, too.
Target is knocked back [BULLETS] * 10 feet and must save (subtracting [BULLETS] from the roll) or be knocked prone.

PALE HORSE
One continuous piece of ivory – save the handle, which is made of petrified wood.
If the target dies from this attack, they are raised as a ghoul under your command for [BULLETS] days. After the duration, [BULLETS]-in-6 chance they run off into the night with a will of their own. Otherwise, they disintegrate. On triples, take 2d6 damage – if you die, you become a rabid ghoul.

LITTLE VISCERATOR
More rust than gun. Somehow still works.
[BULLETS] of the target’s limbs become a lingering, bloody mist. If struck by 4+ [BULLETS], the entire target disintegrates. In [BULLETS]+1 rounds, they will reform.

FUNNY MAN
Small and snub-nosed. The trigger resembles a curled finger.
Teleport to the location of the bullet. If it struck a target, animate or inanimate, swap places with them. If you struck multiple targets, they all swap places with each other randomly. On triples, teleport to a random location within [BULLETS] miles.

PSYCHO KILLER
Ornate, curling gold. The end of the barrel resembles a smiling mouth.
[BULLETS]-in-6 chance the target goes berserk, foaming at the mouth and unable to tell friend from foe. Lasts [BULLETS] rounds. During this time the target can crawl at a dead sprint and walk on walls.

HELL'S BELLS
Small silver bells hang from the bottom of the barrel. Sounds like fifty gongs when shot.
[BULLETS]-in-6 chance the target is deafened and registers as undead [BULLETS] hours. Otherwise, just deafened for [BULLETS] rounds. 

DESIGN NOTES
(Fernando Correra)

 Talking more casually, onto design notes:

Unlike my other posts, these rules are not playtested in the slightest. I woke up, saw Loch’s GLAUGUST post (prompt was "He wields a gun"), and had an idea. However, as a GM who has included firearms in past games, I still have insights. 

I think these rules would work best in a world where the only guns in existence are magical revolvers. Adding firearms to your TTRPGs is tricky business, because all of a sudden everybody at the table begins to think their characters are gun experts. Perhaps it is because modern players can easily imagine gun violence as compared to sword violence. Having guns only be magical items makes them more similar to talking swords and the like – unique treasure that is earned, not built.

You may look at Xd6 damage and go “woah, so I can just fan the hammer for 6d6 damage at one target, that’s a lot!” That is correct – it is a gun, it kills things. I’d recommend you keep the damage this way. Doubles are a very real risk when rolling 2d6 or above, triples even more so. Emphasize risk and make it a big dramatic moment when someone empties the chamber.

If you enjoyed this, write six of your own magical revolvers!

Thank you to Gokun for the excellent sixth reason why guns are a lost invention. Thank you to Loch for inspiring me to write again. Thank you for reading.