New GM needs advice for adventure... gunpowder [Archive] - Wizards Community

New GM needs advice for adventure... gunpowder [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ThatOneMonk
08-01-05, 06:25 PM I'm a practiced GM in d20, but I've never done FR before so I decided to give it a shot. I've read a bit through the setting book, the magic book, the dieties book, and the waterdeep book, to get a feel for the setting. I think I'm finally starting to grasp how expansive this setting actually is!

Anyways, my question concerns my opening adventure hook. My characters are starting at level 8 and I'd like it to go epic eventually, though i realize it will take a while. One of the pcs is going to be a wild elf druid. The hook I had in mind was that his god/dess has a special mission for him to prove his worth. He and his future partners are being tested for greater things (to come later). The test in question (which is what I have the biggest question about) concerns some tinkering gnomes that live out on an island to the sea to the west. One of these gnomes is an accomplished alchemist, and is on the breach of discovering a very potent formula for blackpowder. His brother, an accomplished engineer, is interested in turning this into a weapon, while the first brother is only really interested in it for entertainment value (fireworks!). The God/dess predicts that the second brother will use this formula to creat powerful weapons that would be a travesty to the natural order of things (i.e. guns/cannons/ etc). The pcs mission is to either prevent the whole thing from happening somehow, or at least stop the second gnome brother from turning this seemingly harmless invention into something awful.

Does this work, or is it too contrasting for the setting? Any questions, comments, or ideas would be very helpful. Thank you!
Grem of Surkh
08-02-05, 12:30 AM um, latanese gnomes have already invented smokepowder and are experimenting with simple cannons
ThatOneMonk
08-02-05, 12:38 AM hmm, well first off, where can i find information on these latanese gnomes, and second, is it still possible for my adventure to work? Could these gnomes be genious' and have made a particularly potent formula?

third, and probably most important now, would an elven god of nature want to prevent such an invention? shanksh!
Kuje31
08-02-05, 01:18 AM Blackpowder doesn't work in FR but magical smokepowder does. :) The physics of the world are different and so gunpowder doesn't work. Of course you can change that if you like.

Smokepowder has been coverted in Magic of Faerun.

Hard to say if the deities would disallow it or think it's unnatural....

As for Lantan, it's one of the areas that really isn't that detailed.
ThatOneMonk
08-02-05, 02:05 AM hehe sounds vague 'nuff for me to work with! thanks a bunch!
BrianCritchley
08-02-05, 02:39 AM well I know for a fact smoke power is illegal in some areas. Waterdeep for instance. many wizards see smoke powder weapons as a bit of a threat. much like the Samurai saw guns.
Grem of Surkh
08-02-05, 10:44 AM Gond sees Latan as his home turf, he is the main deity there and the gnomes and humans who live there worship him as their patron.

Gond, and possibly Oghama would not allow a deity to intervene directly in the distruction of his worshipers, or their inventions...
StandardIdiotPC
08-02-05, 01:12 PM Sounds to me like plot points! Keep these coming, it makes it very interesting!
vezina
08-02-05, 03:08 PM I don't have the DM's guide on me, but I'm pretty sure it says that smokepowder is just a magical version of gunpowder, which makes it more expensive and rare. I know that FR doesn't have gunpowder yet, but I don't see anything wrong with bringing it into the world...
Kuje31
08-02-05, 03:40 PM I don't have the DM's guide on me, but I'm pretty sure it says that smokepowder is just a magical version of gunpowder, which makes it more expensive and rare. I know that FR doesn't have gunpowder yet, but I don't see anything wrong with bringing it into the world...

It doesn't have gunpowder because as I said above the physic's of the world don't allow it to work, which is why they have a magical version.
vezina
08-02-05, 03:47 PM It doesn't have gunpowder because as I said above the physic's of the world don't allow it to work, which is why they have a magical version.

I'm not going to argue with you over that, but doesn't it say what I said in the DM's guide? I can't remember off the top of my head..maybe that was just 2e.
The Darkone
08-02-05, 04:02 PM Smokepowder vs Gunpowder is an old debate. Basically, and I may be wrong on this Gary Gyrax used to say that he wouldn't have guns in his DnD setting (Greyhawk) but Ed had it in the Realms and called it smokepowder, however it differed from gunpowder because it was magical in nature. I don't have the old Dragon issues this was discussed in, and it's just something I heard via hersey. But basically, as usual, Kuje is right, gunpowder doesn't work in the Realms. In my games it is not uncommon to run across small arms along the Sword Coast, but it is still viewed somewhat as a gimic.
Kuje31
08-02-05, 04:26 PM I'm not going to argue with you over that, but doesn't it say what I said in the DM's guide? I can't remember off the top of my head..maybe that was just 2e.

No, kinda. Magic of Faerun references the guns in the DMG in the smokepowder section of Magic but normal gunpowder does not work in the world. :) However, the guns are in the DMG so you are partly right about the DMG.
Alac Luin
08-02-05, 05:02 PM As for cannons, Thay already has them. Thayen Bombards (I think) in Unapproachable East.

So the Red Wizards would have intrest in things "smokepowder" related.
Faraer
08-02-05, 05:08 PM I strongly recommend not starting the party at 8th level, especially as a novice to the setting. You'll miss out on your PCs' formative years, and they'll have to imagine their connection to the Realms rather than playing it out. Remember, the Knights of Myth Drannor took about a decade of our-world play time to get to that level.

The tinker-gnome corruption of Faerūnian gnomes and the spurious Lantan–gnomes connection, while they're in print, are not strong. The Lantanna are mainly human.

See "Firearms" in Dragon #60, and Forgotten Realms Adventures. Still, firearms are very rare in the Realms.
ThatOneMonk
08-02-05, 07:59 PM how do the physics of the world prevent gunpowder? and I dig the smokepowder thing, but is it rare?
Kuje31
08-02-05, 08:07 PM how do the physics of the world prevent gunpowder? and I dig the smokepowder thing, but is it rare?

They just do. Gunpowder, electronics, and other things from earth, don't work in Realmspace.

And since smokepowder only came out about 20 years or so, give or take, it is still rare. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ThatOneMonk 08-01-05, 06:25 PM	I'm a practiced GM in d20, but I've never done FR before so I decided to give it a shot. I've read a bit through the setting book, the magic book, the dieties book, and the waterdeep book, to get a feel for the setting. I think I'm finally starting to grasp how expansive this setting actually is! Anyways, my question concerns my opening adventure hook. My characters are starting at level 8 and I'd like it to go epic eventually, though i realize it will take a while. One of the pcs is going to be a wild elf druid. The hook I had in mind was that his god/dess has a special mission for him to prove his worth. He and his future partners are being tested for greater things (to come later). The test in question (which is what I have the biggest question about) concerns some tinkering gnomes that live out on an island to the sea to the west. One of these gnomes is an accomplished alchemist, and is on the breach of discovering a very potent formula for blackpowder. His brother, an accomplished engineer, is interested in turning this into a weapon, while the first brother is only really interested in it for entertainment value (fireworks!). The God/dess predicts that the second brother will use this formula to creat powerful weapons that would be a travesty to the natural order of things (i.e. guns/cannons/ etc). The pcs mission is to either prevent the whole thing from happening somehow, or at least stop the second gnome brother from turning this seemingly harmless invention into something awful. Does this work, or is it too contrasting for the setting? Any questions, comments, or ideas would be very helpful. Thank you!
Grem of Surkh 08-02-05, 12:30 AM	um, latanese gnomes have already invented smokepowder and are experimenting with simple cannons
ThatOneMonk 08-02-05, 12:38 AM	hmm, well first off, where can i find information on these latanese gnomes, and second, is it still possible for my adventure to work? Could these gnomes be genious' and have made a particularly potent formula? third, and probably most important now, would an elven god of nature want to prevent such an invention? shanksh!
Kuje31 08-02-05, 01:18 AM	Blackpowder doesn't work in FR but magical smokepowder does. :) The physics of the world are different and so gunpowder doesn't work. Of course you can change that if you like. Smokepowder has been coverted in Magic of Faerun. Hard to say if the deities would disallow it or think it's unnatural.... As for Lantan, it's one of the areas that really isn't that detailed.
ThatOneMonk 08-02-05, 02:05 AM	hehe sounds vague 'nuff for me to work with! thanks a bunch!
BrianCritchley 08-02-05, 02:39 AM	well I know for a fact smoke power is illegal in some areas. Waterdeep for instance. many wizards see smoke powder weapons as a bit of a threat. much like the Samurai saw guns.
Grem of Surkh 08-02-05, 10:44 AM	Gond sees Latan as his home turf, he is the main deity there and the gnomes and humans who live there worship him as their patron. Gond, and possibly Oghama would not allow a deity to intervene directly in the distruction of his worshipers, or their inventions...
StandardIdiotPC 08-02-05, 01:12 PM	Sounds to me like plot points! Keep these coming, it makes it very interesting!
vezina 08-02-05, 03:08 PM	I don't have the DM's guide on me, but I'm pretty sure it says that smokepowder is just a magical version of gunpowder, which makes it more expensive and rare. I know that FR doesn't have gunpowder yet, but I don't see anything wrong with bringing it into the world...
Kuje31 08-02-05, 03:40 PM	I don't have the DM's guide on me, but I'm pretty sure it says that smokepowder is just a magical version of gunpowder, which makes it more expensive and rare. I know that FR doesn't have gunpowder yet, but I don't see anything wrong with bringing it into the world... It doesn't have gunpowder because as I said above the physic's of the world don't allow it to work, which is why they have a magical version.
vezina 08-02-05, 03:47 PM	It doesn't have gunpowder because as I said above the physic's of the world don't allow it to work, which is why they have a magical version. I'm not going to argue with you over that, but doesn't it say what I said in the DM's guide? I can't remember off the top of my head..maybe that was just 2e.
The Darkone 08-02-05, 04:02 PM	Smokepowder vs Gunpowder is an old debate. Basically, and I may be wrong on this Gary Gyrax used to say that he wouldn't have guns in his DnD setting (Greyhawk) but Ed had it in the Realms and called it smokepowder, however it differed from gunpowder because it was magical in nature. I don't have the old Dragon issues this was discussed in, and it's just something I heard via hersey. But basically, as usual, Kuje is right, gunpowder doesn't work in the Realms. In my games it is not uncommon to run across small arms along the Sword Coast, but it is still viewed somewhat as a gimic.
Kuje31 08-02-05, 04:26 PM	I'm not going to argue with you over that, but doesn't it say what I said in the DM's guide? I can't remember off the top of my head..maybe that was just 2e. No, kinda. Magic of Faerun references the guns in the DMG in the smokepowder section of Magic but normal gunpowder does not work in the world. :) However, the guns are in the DMG so you are partly right about the DMG.
Alac Luin 08-02-05, 05:02 PM	As for cannons, Thay already has them. Thayen Bombards (I think) in Unapproachable East. So the Red Wizards would have intrest in things "smokepowder" related.
Faraer 08-02-05, 05:08 PM	I strongly recommend not starting the party at 8th level, especially as a novice to the setting. You'll miss out on your PCs' formative years, and they'll have to imagine their connection to the Realms rather than playing it out. Remember, the Knights of Myth Drannor took about a decade of our-world play time to get to that level. The tinker-gnome corruption of Faerūnian gnomes and the spurious Lantan–gnomes connection, while they're in print, are not strong. The Lantanna are mainly human. See "Firearms" in Dragon #60, and Forgotten Realms Adventures. Still, firearms are very rare in the Realms.
ThatOneMonk 08-02-05, 07:59 PM	how do the physics of the world prevent gunpowder? and I dig the smokepowder thing, but is it rare?
Kuje31 08-02-05, 08:07 PM	how do the physics of the world prevent gunpowder? and I dig the smokepowder thing, but is it rare? They just do. Gunpowder, electronics, and other things from earth, don't work in Realmspace. And since smokepowder only came out about 20 years or so, give or take, it is still rare. :)