(Iapheia) Bullshit Weapons of the Iapheian Main
And some normal ones too.
Iapheia overview post here.
Prices are listed in Davellan lier (Ł), and are highly variable depending on location.
Hands: Self-explanatory. Note that all firearms need both hands to reload, unless otherwise stated.
Damage: See Iapheia's damage rules.
Range: Shots beyond this range have -4 to hit and -2 damage. Shots beyond twice this range are ineffective.
Shots: Maximum shots fired per attack action, shots per full load, and ammunition type. (Multiple shots are handled as a single attack. For each shot fired beyond the first, a multi-shot weapon gains +2 to hit. It also deals +1 damage for every 4 points by which you exceed the target. I'm not completely happy with this rule and it'll probably change.)
Reload: Reload time in actions. "S" means the weapon is reloaded with single bullets, like a revolver, and the number after indicates the number of bullets loaded per action.
Jam: If you roll this number or higher on an attack roll, the weapon jams. (Jam 21 or higher never jams.) Attempting to clear a jam has a 3-in-6 success rate, and initially takes one action; if you fail, the next attempt takes ten minutes, and if that fails, it'll take an hour (but that will definitely fix it).
Ranged Weapons
Gerd Arntz, Kasernenbesetzung (1931)
These stats assume a patchily maintained, preowned weapon, which describes the majority of guns in the Iapheian Main.
Standard Firearms
REVOLVER 50Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d6+1, Range 90', Shots 1/6 (.42), Reload 1S3, Jam 20.
Certain early-war models have become collector's items. Quinan revolvers are especially prized, since the Voluntary League destroyed most of the country's stock as a symbolic rebuke of the officer class.
REPEATING PISTOL ("REP") 70Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d6, Range 90', Shots 1/12 (.29), Reload 1, Jam 19.
A standard sidearm for vehicle and angel crews and NCOs. Every veteran knows half a dozen jokes about their poor reliability.
CARBINE 50Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6+1, Range 120', Shots 1/12 (.29), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Can be fired one-handed at -4 to hit.
A cavalry and special forces weapon. Regular infantry call it a "bastard gun".
AUTOMATIC SLIDE CARBINE ("SLIDER") 100Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6, Range 60', Shots 3/30 (.29), Reload 1, Jam 18.
-2 to hit.
True submachine guns never quite came to fruition during the war, but these stuttering, inaccurate harmonica repeaters saw some service in trench assaults and urban warfare.
RIFLE 30Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6+2, Range 180', Shots 1/12 (.29), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Usually bolt-action, but a few lever-action holdovers do exist, mostly Vengardesc and Saani models. In some cities, open carrying an unloaded rifle is perfectly normal.
SHOTGUN 40Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d8, Range 30', Shots 1/1 (12 bore), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Double-barrelled models cost 60Ł and have Shots 1/2, Reload 1S2. A sawn-off barrel reduces Range to 10' and Hands to 1.
Ubiquitous in rural areas. Questionable in cities.
LIGHT MACHINE GUN 300Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6+3, Range 180', Shots 6/90 (.29), Reload 2, Jam 19.
-4 to hit unless braced (takes an action, spoiled if you move).
Most surviving pieces are drum-fed. Carrying one will draw legal attention in even the most laissez-faire cities.
Dubious Firearms
Despite its Cambrian explosion of stupid guns, Iapheia has yet to invent the Krummlauf.
Most of these were experimental follies, cooked up by military R&D teams to justify their obscene budgets. They are not usually on general sale, but may be found as occasional curiosities among eccentric arms dealers or mercenaries, or buried in abandoned supply caches.
1) BULLGUN 120Ł
Hands 1, Damage 3d6, Range 20', Shots 1/1 (.66), Reload 1, Jam 20.
A single-loading handgun designed for close assaults. Nearly as loud as an exploding shell. The recoil can cause hairline fractures if you hold it wrong. Honestly, you're better off with a bayonet.
2) CARCINO 140Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d8, Range 30', Shots 1/1 (12 bore), Reload 2, Jam 19.
Can also fire .73 solid rounds (Damage 2d6+3, Range 90', -2 to hit).
A ball and shot gun. Adapted from a defensive weapon used by crab farmers, hence the name. Actually fairly effective in both modes, but .73 solid rounds are a huge pain to manufacture.
3) CROSSBOW 60Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6, Range 120', Shots 1/1 (wooden stake), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Quiet, no flash, no smoke. Bypasses ballistic armour. Wooden stakes are functionally free, and can be whittled during downtime, 6/hour, if you have a knife and a source of wood.
Crossbows had been extinct for centuries except as obscure sport shooting weapons, but variants of the Kemsish stake crossbow saw some limited adoption in the last days of the war, as shattered supply lines struggled to keep guns loaded on the northern front.
4) FINÉE 250Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d8+2, Range 360', Shots 1/3 (.42), Reload 1S3, Jam 20.
Must be assembled and set up to fire, and disassembled to move it safely. Doing either takes 5 rounds. Long-range penalty is only -2 to hit and -1 damage.
A marksman's rifle taken to its semi-logical conclusion. A fully assembled finée is about 9' long and extremely fragile, so the barrel is a separate assembly which must be screwed onto the stock once in position.
5) GUNSABRE 200Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d6+1, Range 90', Shots 1/6 (.42), Reload 1S2, Jam 19.
-2 to hit. Also a melee weapon (Hands 1, Damage 1d8+1, no hit penalty). Does not risk being damaged when used in melee.
Several variants exist, different styles of sword or different melee weapons entirely. Practicality be damned, the idea is too modesc to die.
6) KEYID 90Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d6+2, Range 90', Shots 1/9 (.42), Reload 1S3, Jam 19.
-2 to hit. Attaches to your forearm. Concealable under heavy clothing. You can ready the firing handle, or stow it to free up your hand, without taking an action.
Pronounced "keed". Essentially a long-barrelled revolver strapped to the forearm, with a hinged trigger grip. Briefly fashionable among Noskan dragoons in the mid-10th century, Llov designed a new variant for their own cavalry, who were unprepared for the completely different aiming technique and quickly returned to carbines.
7) RATTONER 120Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6+2, Range 150', Shots 2/12 (.29), Reload 2, Jam 18.
A double-barrelled rifle, one atop the other, firing sequentially like a miniature organ gun. It was meant to compensate for conscripts' poor aim by giving them an extra chance, but ended up just wasting twice as many bullets.
8) SUBSPRINGALD 150Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6, Range 60', Shots 1/6 (.37 cold), Reload 1, Jam 19.
Near-silent, no flash, no smoke. Long-range penalty is -6 to hit and -3 damage.
Commissioned by a wildly optimistic Mabradesc spymaster, this baffling weapon resembles a crossbow-shotgun hybrid with a pistol grip. It's entirely torsion-powered, almost silent, and far too bulky to have any real use in espionage.
9) TRIPLE-BARRELLED SHOTGUN 100Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d8, Range 30', Shots 1/3 (12 bore), Reload 1S2, Jam 20.
-2 to hit.
Both sides tried these. Less time was spent testing them than coming up with a better justification than "three is more than two".
10) YARBEL 150Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d6+1, Range 90', Shots 1/5 (.42), Reload 1S3, Jam 20.
Pulling the secondary trigger fires all remaining shots at once. -1 Jam per shot beyond the first.
Bullets are loaded into a disc-shaped drum that spins forwards, like the Porter turret rifle. Named after comic serial character Miska Yarbel, a bumbling, airheaded gunslinger from unspecified Distant Lands, whose only redeeming quality is her lightning-fast trigger finger.
Uranic Firearms
Nathan Lerner, Pen Light Drawing #6 (1939)
Rare and justly feared. Carrying one of these openly paints a huge target on your back. Costs are indicative - these are never available for general sale.
Uranic firearms are powered by virtus cells, cylindrical batteries made from silver, zinc, and glass. Virtus cells cost 50Ł each, but you'll need a specialist supplier, and stocks are always tightly limited. A single virtus cell contains 20 charges, and switching one out takes 3 actions.
Uranic weapons deal true damage, which bypasses all armour and cannot be mitigated with Grit.
ANTI-ANGEL PISTOL ("EXORCIST") 2,000L
Hands 1, Damage 2d6+3 true, Range 90', Shots 1/1 (.42), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Uses 1 charge per shot.
This rare weapon, issued to veteran infantry brigades on the Mabradesc side, has acquired a reputation (and a nickname) far surpassing its actual battle record.
URANIC CHARGER 1,000Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d6+2 true, Range 180', Shots 1/12 (.29), Reload 1, Jam 20.
Uses 1 charge per shot.
The most common human-portable uranic weapons of the Tribulation War. From the propaganda posters, you'd think every conscript got one on the first day of basic.
SUNLANCE 10,000Ł
Hands 2, Damage 2d8+3 true, Range 120', Shots 1/∞, Reload -, Jam 19.
Uses 2 charges per shot. Does not use solid ammunition. In smoky or dusty conditions, Range 30' and Jam 17. On a jam, deals 1d6 true damage to the user.
The sunlance never made it past early trials, but, even if it had, it was far too expensive and volatile to be the promised war-ender.
Variations
Cost modifiers are multiplicative.
CHEAP ×0.5Ł
Damage -1, Jam -1.
Very old, badly mistreated, or a poor-quality copy.
FINE ×2Ł
Range ×1.25, Jam +1.
Cannot be combined with Cheap.
Finely-crafted and in good condition. Probably pre-war.
HARDENED x1.5Ł
When used as a melee weapon, Damage +1, and not at risk of being damaged.
Steel-plated. Handguns may have a knuckleduster for a grip. Spikes are optional, but traditional.
KHESHI x1.5Ł
Damage +1.
Standard firearms only. Uses an exotic calibre - .29 weapons instead use .32, revolvers use .44, shotguns use "Kheshi gauge" (11.5ish bore). The standard calibre can still be used, but has Jam -1 and -2 to hit.
A late-war or post-war import from Vikhesh to the southeast. Kheshi guns are known for their superior stopping power and blocky, brutalist designs.
Ammunition
Harold Edgerton, Bullet Series (c. 1935)
.29 and .42 rounds and 12 bore shells are available in any major settlement. 5Ł per dozen.
Exotic calibres (.37 cold, .66, .73, Kheshi calibres, etc.) have only a 1-in-6 chance of being available in a small settlement, 3-in-6 in a modest city, or 5-in-6 in a major city. 10Ł per dozen.
Don't worry about magazines and whatnot, that's one step too crunchy for me. Assume you have enough for whatever guns you're carrying.
Melee Weapons
Werner Drewes, Composition VIII - The Two Fighters Fight (1934)
UNARMED
Hands 0, Damage 1d4.
Most Iapheians have at least some field training in the subtle art of beating the shit out of each other.
KNIFE 5Ł
Hands 1, Damage 1d6+1.
Covers everything from the traditional Obern stiletto to the eighteen-inch monsters used by Paldrian marines. Also, brass knuckles.
HAND WEAPON 10Ł
Hands 1, Damage 1d8.
Axes, maces, hammers, industrial tools. Any sane resident of the Iapheian Main owns something like this.
NOBLE WEAPON 100Ł
Hands 1, Damage 1d8+1.
Mostly swords, but the Narellaise glaivette and the Noskan duelling axe are favoured by a few insufferable aristocrats.
GREAT WEAPON 30Ł
Hands 2, Damage 1d10.
Polearms, heavy blades. Rare nowadays - if you want serious close-quarters stopping power, you pick up a shotgun.
Guns in Melee
PISTOL WHIP / RIFLE BUTT
Hands as firearm, Damage 1d6+1.
If the damage die explodes, reduce the firearm's Jam by 1 permanently.
Sometimes you're both out of bullets, and the sweeper angels are advancing, and the crater's only big enough for one of you.
BAYONET 20Ł
Hands as firearm, Damage 1d8.
Bought for a specific firearm. Attaches or detaches as an action; the firearm has -2 to hit at range while attached. Breaks on a total damage roll of 14 or higher.
Late in the war, desperate soldiers would stick bayonets on anything, even pistols.
Explosives
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, Exploding Shell (c. 1915)
All explosives are small items (3 to a slot).
Explosives target a point, not a specific creature, and affect everything in their blast radius. Creatures affected can save for half damage. You still make an attack roll; if you fail, the explosive scatters 5' times the margin of failure in a random direction. Explosives that jam are duds, and will never explode.
These stats are for properly built explosives. Improvised explosives cost half as much, but have Jam -4, and, on a 20, they go off in your hand.
GRENADE 20Ł
Hands 1, Damage 1d10+1, Blast 10', Range Str×3', Jam 19.
Usually cylindrical, sometimes on a stick. Don't even think about trying to throw it back.
TIME BOMB / RADIO BOMB 30Ł
Hands 1, Damage 1d10+2, Blast 15', Range Str×2', Jam 19.
A time bomb explodes on a timer, which can be set anywhere from 1 round to 1 hour.
A radio bomb explodes when it receives a radio signal at a predefined frequency. Every 20 minutes (10 minutes when near a settlement), there's a 1-in-6 chance that random static detonates it.
Can also be used as stopwatches or radios, if you're desperate or stupid.
MOSQUITO CHARGE 50Ł
Hands 1, Damage 2d10, Blast 5', Range Str', Jam 18.
Cannot be improvised. Explodes on a 2-round delay. Instead of throwing it, you can make a melee attack to attach it to a creature (dealing 1d6 damage immediately on a hit), or attach it to a surface automatically.
These disc-shaped anti-angel grenades have a hardened, needle-like spike and several suction cups on the underside.
FUEL BOMB 10Ł
Hands 1, Damage special, Blast 10', Range Str×3', Jam 19.
Douses the blast area in flaming fuel. 1d6 fire damage per round for 1d6 rounds. Save at the start of your turn to extinguish, at +4 if you stop, drop and roll or someone throws a blanket over you. Targets that make the initial save take half damage as normal are not set on fire.
Llovans call it a "Noskan wineglass". Noskans call it a "Mabradesc firebird". Mabradesc call it a "Kheshi handshake". Kheshis call it a "fuel bomb".
Why So Crunchy?
hungwy (disputed), Who Give a Shit (2018)
This is a lot of rules by old-school standards. A lot of numbers. Sure, it adds texture, but a lot of gamers don't care about getting this granular, and they're within their rights not to care.
But you know who does care? Iapheians. Iapheians have to care. They were dragged kicking and screaming into this world in 1031. Suddenly, Pietre the Narellaise train conductor, who would never have learned the word "magazine" if he had a choice, had to know all about calibres and correcting for wind and what to do if a whole mob of guys were trying to murder him (because that was a thing that could happen now) and the trigger of his horrible mass-produced copy-of-a-copy slider was stuck.
Everyone older than about 12 has at least held a gun. Everyone older than 21 or so has fired one, probably at another living, breathing human. They're not all leadcranks who can quote model numbers and variants like scripture, but they know guns and they know that every gun is its own animal.
My players should feel that too.