Fifth Edition Rules
Firearms Rules for D&D 5e
Weapon stats, reloading, misfires, armour interaction, and massed Volley Fire.
Black powder is the ordinary weapon of the Golden Sea. These rules give Fifth Edition tables complete firearm statistics, reloading and misfire procedures, how powder weapons interact with armour, and a massed-fire procedure that resolves a hundred muskets without a hundred attack rolls.
Individual accuracy and massed fire answer different questions. Everything here is drawn from the Fifth Edition Conversion Pack.
Compatible with D&D 5e and D&D 5.5e.
Firearms and Massed Fire
Individual accuracy and massed fire answer different questions.
Firearm baseline
| Weapon | Damage | Range | Reload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol | 1d10 piercing | 30/90 ft | 1 Action |
| Carbine | 1d10 piercing | 60/180 ft | 1 Action |
| Musket | 1d12 piercing | 80/240 ft | 1 Action |
| Boarding Gun | 2d8 piercing | 20/60 ft | 1 Action |
| Swivel Gun | 4d10 piercing | 120/360 ft | 2 crew |
Proficient reload
This rule concerns normal handheld firearms. The Swivel Gun keeps its listed crew requirement of 2 crew.
Armor interaction
Against a creature without meaningful armor, such as cloth, robes, or padded protection, a firearm attack has Advantage.
Against rigid metal armor or comparable armor-like natural protection, such as chain, scale, half-plate, plate, chitin, stone-like skin, or heavy dragonhide, a firearm attack gains +2 to hit. That is +2 to the attack roll, not +2 damage.
| Target protection | Firearm benefit |
|---|---|
| Unarmored or lightly protected (cloth, robes, padded) | Advantage |
| Rigid armor or armor-like protection (chain, scale, half-plate, plate, chitin, stone-like skin, heavy dragonhide) | +2 to hit |
These benefits do not stack on the same attack.
Misfire
A natural 1 causes a misfire. A proficient user clears the misfire as a Bonus Action; a nonproficient user uses an Action. Poor powder, rain, and wet conditions can make firearms less reliable according to the situation.
Noise and smoke
A firearm discharge is normally audible at least 300 feet away, and often much farther in open conditions. Powder smoke fills the shooter’s immediate space until the start of their next turn. Sustained massed fire can obscure a larger area.
Point-blank fire
The Game Master’s Guide point-blank rule remains available: when the fiction places an unarmored or unaware target at point-blank range, the firearm deals +2 damage. This is damage, and is distinct from the armor interaction rule’s +2 to hit.
Specialist firearms
| Weapon | Damage | Range | Properties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Rifle | 1d12 piercing | 150/600 ft | Ammunition, Loading, Two-Handed, Misfire (1); ignores Half Cover |
| Kalthoff Repeater | 1d12 piercing | 100/400 ft | Ammunition, Two-Handed, Reload (30), Misfire (1), Repeating Fire |
Repeating Fire: when a user takes the Attack action with a Kalthoff Repeater, they may make two attacks even without Extra Attack. A neglected weapon may misfire on 1–2 at the GM’s discretion until properly maintained. A maintained Kalthoff Repeater keeps its normal Misfire (1).
Aimed fire and massed fire
Personal firearm ranges represent one shooter attempting to hit a particular target. A musket ball travels much farther than the range at which one shooter can reliably pick out one person. Coordinated fire remains useful at greater distances because many shots enter an area occupied by the target.
Volley Fire
Volley Fire is a Personal Scale massed-fire procedure. It resolves coordinated fire without rolling one attack for every musket.
Minimum three shooters. A Volley requires one round of preparation unless the shooters are already drilled and waiting.
Damage
Damage is 1d10 per complete two muskets, rounded down.
| Target Size | Maximum Volley Damage |
|---|---|
| Small | 5d10 |
| Medium | 8d10 |
| Large | 10d10 |
| Huge | 14d10 |
| Gargantuan | 16d10 |
Damage save
DEX save, DC 12 + 1 per five shooters, maximum 18. Success halves damage.
Suppression
The target also makes a WIS save against the same DC. On a failure, the target has half movement and Disadvantage on attacks until the end of its next turn.
Morale
If one Volley removes more than half the target’s remaining HP, the target makes WIS DC 12 or breaks.