Is that a Flintlock Pistol in your pocket?
Not real life
Just a quick note. I would rather guns were not easily available to everyone, I think that making it harder to get guns would probably make the world a better place.
I don't dislike guns, in fact I really found that I liked firing guns in a range, surrounded by trained professionals and calm, focused people. So, to be clear, any discussion of guns in this blog, or in the game itself, is not meant to be taken as a real position on guns, or in any way as supporting the use of or purchasing of guns. It is just a game.
Happiness is a warm gun
When should a gun jam? What is reloading? How does "doubling up" work?
Well, after hours of research I can confidently say, these are not a simple questions.
They are, however, good questions which require an answer for people playing Flintlock RPG. So, here they are, and hopefully simple enough!
Jamming
When a player attacks with a gun they make a roll. They will require a certain number of successes to be successful.
So the dice they throw will either show success (5-6) or failure (1-4).
If the dice all show failure then not only has the attack failed, but the gun is jammed.
What does that mean?
It means that the player must clear the jam, using the Clear Jam MCA Flare, or buy using a Tricky (1 Success Required) roll against their Intrinsic MCA. At this point there is no midway ground, no basic Clear Jam skill, so we'd be interested in knowing if one should be included, in your opinion. Replies below, please!
Reloading
Whenever a gun is used successfully, it is then empty and needs to be reloaded before being fired again. For this reason many people, who knew there was a good chance their firearms would be discharged, carried more than one loaded weapon.
In the game, any character can reload a gun and it takes one combat round to do so. Those characters using the Quick Reload Flare are able to reload between rounds, making them twice as effective as their non-Flared counterparts.
Double the fun!
If the PC has the Flare Double Pistol Attack (and indeed, this holds for any double attack) then the roll for the Flare must be made before the attack. Success indicates that the PC may now make two simultaneous, but independent, attacks against one or two targets which are in range. As these are independent attacks they both require a regular attack roll to be made, and one might succeed while the other fails.
Failure on the Flare roll means that the PC can only proceed with a regular single attack.
Other News
The game is 99% done for the initial design stage and now a lot of what happens is in the hands of those play-testers who are giving us feedback and ideas.
A special mention needs to go (again) to Kenneth Walker, whose insight, intelligence and positivity are only what I would expect from a teacher; his input has been and continues to be, invaluble. Teachers are truly exceptional people, with varied skill-sets, creative and divergent in their thinking and with the growth mindset required for progress. It is no surprise to me that so many RPGers are teachers, and vice versa.
The other groups and individuals testing the game are also continuing to do a great job and we thank those people too! It is an exciting time for Nine Dragons and for Flintlock.
