Improved Air Rifle Rules & Two Air Rifle Bonus Classes
Improved Air Rifle Rules & Two Air Rifle Bonus Classes
Someone1 got me thinking a month or two ago about an alternative method of implementing air rifles, one that uses a resource die-like system for damage. It actually only took me a couple of days to decide to implement it, but it’s only now that I got around to making the accompanying 1-rank bonus classes too! So it’s now that it gets posted.
New Air Gun Rules
Gunpowder cannot exist on Aia2, but there is no reason that this would stop military innovation. A Girardian gun is a semi-automatic air-powered firearm, originally developed by a Nerepholian inventor. They have rapidly proliferated owing to recent wars, but are still exotic in most places.
Air guns require a replaceable air canister, attached to the weapon as the stock of the rifle for air rifles, and attached to/part of the grip for air pistols. These canisters are fragile, and will rupture if impacted or abused.
The special rules applicable to Girardian guns and their canisters are as follows:
Air Level Dice: Each air canister has an associated air level die. Air level dice size shifts along the following track: d0 » d4 » d6 » d8 » d10 » d12. The air level of the canister attached to a gun determines the gun’s damage and range.
Canister Size: Pistol canisters are smaller and hold less air. Their air level dice cannot go higher than d8. Rifle canisters explode if attached to a pistol.
Damage: Equal to the air level die, except every time the maximum value of the die is rolled, another die of the same size is added (a “dice explosion”). These additional dice may also explode, and will continue doing so until the chain of maximum rolls ceases.
Range: Equal to the air level die times 10 in feet. For example, if the air level is d6, the current range is 60’.
Air Reduction: Every time an air gun’s damage die comes up as 1, the attached air canister’s air level die is shrunk by 1 size.
Canister Replacement: Replacing an air gun’s canister in combat requires an entire turn of active concentration, during which nothing else can be done.
Canister Refilling: An air gun maintenance pack can refill either kind of canister with 20 minutes of pumping. They also contain cleaning tools, a bullet mold and lead melting pan, and space to hold two spare air canisters.
Air guns have a remarkably quiet report and no muzzle flash. They are not silent, but it is extremely hard to locate a hidden shooter outdoors. Unlike bows, they may be fired while prone.
Weapon & Equipment Stats
Girardian Air Pistol (Hands 1, Weight 1# (~5lb), Damage 1d8(!) blunt (maximum), Range (air level ×10’), Cost 150d (150 days of an unskilled laborer’s wage))
Girardian Air Rifle (Hands 2, Weight 2# (~10lb), Damage 1d12(!) blunt (maximum), Range (air level ×10’), Cost 150d)
Lead Slug (Cost 12 slugs for 4d)
Air gun maintenance pack (can hold 2 air canisters) (Weight 1# (~8lb), Cost 20d)
Pistol Air Canister (Pressure d8 maximum, Cost 30d)
Rifle Air Canister (Pressure d12 maximum, Cost 50d)
What’s Changed?
I took the damage system and replaced it with a scale based on air canister pressure. You track air canister air levels in dX increments now, from d4 to d12. Pistol canisters cap at a lower pressure level (d8) while rifles can reach d12 at most.
Air gun damage dice still explode, so their damage doesn’t drop off as harshly as you’d think. A d4 is a lot more likely to explode (25% chance!) than a d12 (~8% chance!).
I also corrected my original apparently incorrect assumption of an hour to refill. The new time of 20 minutes is probably easier for players to manage. And added a bit more detail regarding what, specifically, the maintenance pack is for.
The Classes
These are one-rank ‘bonus’ classes. Use them for your GLOG, or as like prestige classes or something as an option instead of the usual bonuses for leveling up. I partially made them for the sake of letting players start with the weapons, since they’re very expensive at character creation (coming in at 50% and 100% more than the default starting funds) and are tricky to obtain otherwise.
Ranking bonuses are added once per rank taken in a class. Since bonus classes only have one rank, they can only be obtained once.
Duelist
Starting Equipment: Air pistol (1#), air gun maintenance pack (1#), 2 pistol air canisters (d8 max), melee weapon of choice, 2d10×100d in unpaid gambling debts or otherwise.
Prerequisites: Must be from or familiar with Nerepholia WHEREVER AIR GUNS ORIGINATE FROM IN YOUR GAME, and/or if taking as a rank after character creation possess proficiency in Girardian Air Guns.
The duelist has mastered a new style of fighting, one whose grounds have not yet been tested and whose techniques are still evolving: the art of the pistol. The recent invention of air-powered arms have provided a potent weapon comparable to the gunpowder that Aia lacks, and the duelist has taken that and combined it with the ancient art of melee combat.
Ranking Bonuses
Taking Duelist grants +1 Attack, +1 Defense, +1 Luck, and +1 Initiative.
Rank 1
Dances With Blades » You do not invoke opportunity attacks from enemies when making ranged attacks inside their reach so long as you’re making them with one-handed air rifles.
Dual Technique » Once per turn, if you’re simultaneously wielding both a one-handed air rifle and a one-handed melee weapon and perform an attack with one of them, you may take a free bonus attack, performed with the other.
Lancer
Starting Equipment: Air rifle (2#), air gun maintenance pack (1#), 2 rifle air canisters (d8 max), 2d10×100d in unpaid gambling debts or otherwise.
Prerequisites: Must be from or familiar with Nerepholia WHEREVER AIR GUNS ORIGINATE FROM IN YOUR GAME, and/or if taking as a rank after character creation possess proficiency in Girardian Air Guns.
Nerepholia’s development of the air gun perhaps benefited the assassin most of all. Here was a weapon that is not much louder than a crossbow, and that can fire thirty shots in as many seconds at twice the range! One whose accuracy is unparalleled, and whose only limiting factor is expense and difficulty of use; there is no better weapon for a skilled professional.
The Lancer is a sniper, likely employed at some point by a mercenary company or city guard. He has mastered the Girardian air rifle, a weapon invented less than half a decade ago, and he earns his keep through its effective use. His skill and need for independence lends itself to an independent, adventurous lifestyle; it is no surprise that many end up in rogue bands of travelers as another killer for hire.
Ranking Bonuses
Taking Lancer grants +2 Attack.
Rank 1
Sharpshooter » Your effective maximum range while using an air rifle is doubled.
Double Tap » Once per turn, after making a ranged attack with a two-handed air rifle against a target, you may perform a free bonus attack against that same target.
Notes
These should be playtested. Lancer’s stat boosts might be too weak compared to, say, a warrior. I’d like to give them each a non-combat ability if possible, but I’m not sold on any yet and they might deserve a bit more flavor. Suggest me some!
Did you know I have a glossary? If you’re confused about terms, it’ll help with conversion to other systems.
blodbesk on Reddit, to be specific.