If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.

I was heavily inspired, throughout the whole creation prosses, by the amazing work of u/ZowJr in The Arcane Artillery and its previous version found at the mind blowing Steampunk Compendium V7 by u/Maxyhydro, and the awesome Gunslinger Martial Archetype by Matthew Mercer.

So, I started this little project to fill that gap. This is the first time I make homebrew this scale, and I tried my best to make it good. As is tradition with 5e, I tried to keep my rules as concise and simple as possible, partly in hopes of creating something that won't ruin any games, at least by itself.

Hello, my name is Natya. I started running an Eberron inspired steampunk homebrew setting as a first time DM a couple of months ago. Bad idea, I know. As a steampunk setting, technology is kind of advanced and fused with magic. Given this, I decided to add firearms to the world, but I wanted for my players and other creatures to look at guns and bows as two different yet similarly effective way to kill people. However, after lurking in the depths of the internet, I failed to find a homebrew set of rules for firearms that both fit into my game's setting and was not obviously stronger that the options found in the PHB.

Firearms

Proficiency with Firearms

Firearms can be separated into two broad categories: one handed firearms and two handed firearms.

Unless otherwise specified by the DM, firearms count as a separate proficiency from martial and simple weapons, and there is separated into one handed and two handed firearms proficiencies.

Firearms properties

Firearms are ranged weapons, and weapon attacks made with firearms follow all the normal rules for ranged weapon attacks, except that ammunition from a firearm is destroyed whether the attack hits or misses.

Firearms, however, have special properties that set them apart from other ranged weapons, as shown in the Firearms table.

Misfire. If you make an attack roll with a firearm and the die roll is equal to or lower than its misfire score, the attack automatically misses, and some mechanisms of the firearm jam, increasing it's misfire score by 4. During its turn, a creature can use an action or an attack during its Attack action (character's choice) to unjam a firearm, returning it's misfire to its original value. If a jammed firearm misfires, the chamber explodes, breaking the weapon and dealing the weapon damage dice to the user. You cannot make ranged attack rolls with a broken firearm.

To repair a firearm, you need materials with a cost equal to 1/8 of the weapon's price, and you must spend 1 hour and succeed on a Dexterity (Tinker's tools) or Intelligence (Tinker's tools), which can be done during a long rest. The DC for this check is 14 + the firearm's original misfire score. Repairing the firearm returns its misfire score to its original value.

If you use a firearm with which you lack proficiency, treat its misfire score as if it were 3 higher for all purposes.

Reload. A limited number of shots can be made with a weapon that has the reload property. A character must then reload it during their turn using an action or an attack during its Attack action. You need at least one free hand to reload a one handed firearm.

Scatter. When making an attack with a scatter weapon, you use your Strength modifier for the attack and damage rolls. When you make an attack with a firearm with the scatter property, you can choose up to two additional targets, that must be within 5 ft of the original and not have full cover. If the attack roll is equal or higher than this additional targets' AC, they take damage equal to the weapon's damage dice (you do not add your ability modifier to this damage roll).

Art by Fantasio