So far the transition has been seamless (Rogue|Bard ---> Rogue|Ardent) until one small thing threw a wrench in the whole thing. The original character carries a pirate-style pistol as his off-hand weapon as opposed to a crossbow or something of that nature. It also happens to be something the player is very attached to, and I don't want to tell him no.
I'm definitely not stuck on running the setting 100% by the book, but 97% would be preferable. So in the interest of preserving this aspect of the character, how would a firearm come to be in Athas? How would it function (i.e. psionic trigger, etc.) and just how rare would it be?
My idea so far is that it would run off some kind of psionic trigger, whether internal or generated by the character, and fire metal bullets (making them quite rare, I intend this to be a limited use item). As for actually acquiring it at some point I intend to drop the characters into a ruin beneath the desert, and perhaps they can find it there as a relic from the green age or something?
I'm sure there's a better way then that available, but I'm not familiar enough yet with the full details of Athas to make it not feel shoehorned in.
I beseech ye, Dark Sun experts of the WotC boards, lend me your infinite wisdom! I'll contribute to :P
In the past, it probably resembled a world more like Forgotten Realms than Eberron (no Magitek trains and golem suits and airships) so an arcane or psionic firearm probably would never have existed.
That said, magical/psionic guns are cool!
Maybe Athas' distant past WAS more like Eberron and players could find truly ancient "MagiCasters" which would be pistol-like for wands/rods and rifle-like for staffs. Oh, and orbs could be grenades. It could just resemble a flintlock with an arcane/psionic crystal attached to the front, and this fires the magical energy.
Going with this theme, the Sorceror Kings may have a Bronze Age exterior, but under their castles and ziggurats, they might have arcane laboratories with whirring and sparking machinery helmed by sentient golems. They'd certainly be the type to hoard all technology as well as magic from the past.
1) Dark Sun is not a bronze age or stone age. They have the capability and means of working iron into steel. They just don't have the raw materials required. It is more like a post-apocalyptic setting.
2) Dark Sun's past was actually more like Eberron than the Forgotten Realms. At one point in time it had a very advanced past history rich with psionic technology, including things like psitek trains, flying ships, and golems. From what I remember, it was not as rich in magic until after Rajaat. So, nearly any imaginable item could be found as either a pre-rajaat psionic item, or a post rajaat magic item dating back to some time around the cleansing wars.
As for the "pistol," it could either be a "psicaster" from some time deep in Dark Sun's past. Forget the bullets, just give it a limited number of charges with no real way to recharge it (as anybody with the knowledge to repair such an item, other than a Sorcerer King--who would kill the character for it--is long dead). Or, make it an experimental magic weapon from the cleansing wars. Perhaps give it some sort of bonus against some particular race. Make it use defiling magic. Make it a weapon that the character will only want to use in moments of dire need by making the item impose some sort of penalty on the group much like defiling with a daily power imposes a penalty on the group.
I am planning to give my players a Sword of Deity Smiting at one point in DS. Kills users of the divine power source on hit. Aside from that useless ability it will be their first metal weapon does basic damage. Its not going to be too hard for them to find, but it will probably be their first mission after they get to Tyr.
- An ancient cache of lifeshaper "guns" under the desert has mutated from the influence of reckless magic. Now they parasitically bond with hosts, who are compelled to use the weapon to feed the creature. The gun resembles a manticore, and, after wrapping itself around the host's are, launches spikes from its tail when the host uses a javelin-throwing motion. If the creature doesn't feed at least daily from a creature killed by one of its spikes, it will sustain itself with the host's blood.
- A mutated kank is capable of producing acidic spit just after hatching. A desert tribe breeds the creature until its herd all has this capability. They blind the kanks after they hatch and remove their legs (except for the breeders). The juvenile kanks are fed regularly, and learn to spit acid directly forward when squeezed. A few especially prized mutant kanks have adapted to this treatment and psychically bond with their wearers, learning to spit when the owner wills it and simply grasping the owner's forearm with its own legs.
So what I see is you have three options...
1.) go the gamma world route and use a regular weapon with better stats, but essentially limit the shots available to 1/enc. if the character uses it more than 1/enc then they are "out of ammo" until you decide otherwise (treasure reward, scavanging, etc). Think of an ammo card that you tap to fire, or consume to fire unlimited for the encounter.
2.) You can make it a kind of magic item, with charges, etc.
3.) you can simply treat it as a regular weapon (probably in the superior catagory) with stats and reload/ammo cost to match.
he could have gotten it from ruins.. or what not.. but just having it is gonna put a target on his back
first off if its not magical its made from metal which makes him very rich indeed... if he uses it near anybody they are gonna think hes a defiler.. sorry but just the instant reaction dark sun people have and he'll get stoned to death by the general populous..
in conclusion its a bad idea to let him have it.. its better if he just finds and alternate or have some integrity and make a new character for the settings.. cuz translating an old char from a different setting just shows a lack of creativity and general lazyness.. which is usually a sign you prolly dont want them playing... plus there are so many cool darksun weps who needs a gun..
Oh, and if the Wand's power is a Daily, it automatically Defiles. See how the other PCs react to that...
Or find the psionic equivalent of EB and he has to expend 1 pp to make it work. He'll have to GET that pp somewhere ... he might start to look like a DS native instead of a transplant. {wicked grin}
My thoughts on using the obsidian is it can be such a great implement for empowering magic and psionics that it would add to the Dark Sun flavor.
Only the DM should know that any flaws in the obsidian could cause it to backfire and either cause damage to the user (blast 1) and it would be an easy way to remove the weapon from the PC over the course of the adventure.
...If Mythbusters can make a cannon out of a tree...
Permit me to remind you what happened when Mythbusters quit using hand-made gunpowder and tried some of the professionally manufactured kind (DON'T remind the players).
Details.
Nah, I'll make you find the episode and watch it on tape. Mythbusters DID make a spoof-quality rendition of the appropriate parts of the Star Trek episode.
Hints:
- home-made gunpowder burns but does not explode
- professionally-made gunpowder does explode
- trees, like eggs, resist crushing but are vulnerable to damage from inside
The rest is better seen than described.
Stuff from previous ages is the easiest answer, grab Gamma World and go. Giving a player a pistol doesn't unbalance a game if the tareks are toting assault rifles.
One possibility for the metal shortage is that the SKs are stocking up on guns and ammo.
Alternatively, knowledge of explosives and rifles could be known, but impractical:
There's plenty of critters on Athas large enough to have bones that could have the marrow taken out and turned into a gun (well, really a hand cannon, unless the character has a cantrip or wild talent that let's them create minor flames). Perhaps some of these critters, if given a high sulphur diet, end up with kinda explosive marrow. The reason this isn't common is because feeding them this way gradually makes them sterile and lethargic (eventually paralyzing and killing them, when they are normally used for labor), turns their valued meat and/or dairy poisonous (making it a hard choice to raise gun-animals), and makes their skin too weak to work into anything useful. Perhaps only nomadic tribes make use of this knowledge, following shepherds or camping near farmers, sneaking sulphur into the feed before raiding the folks raising their new weapons. Maybe a templar with a fire-starting wild talent is assigned to sit at the city gates, tapping any broken bones that anyone tries to carry into the city.