• alyqz@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    8·
    1 hour ago

    I imagine that the momentum would be conserved. So if the rifle normally shot a 30 gram ball at 300 meters per second, it would shoot a 5 kilogram ball at around 23 meters per second.

    • The larger size and lower speed of the cannon ball would likely reduce the range.
    • The larger size of the projectile would spread out the impact causing reduced damage.
    • The ballistics would be significantly different making it far harder to hit with.

    This is how I would do it in my game:

    • Reduce the damage from 1d12 to 1d10
    • Change piercing type to bludgeoning
    • Reduce range from 40/120 to something like 20/60
    • Add knockback of 5 ft to medium targets or 10 for small

    The really neat thing would be shooting non standard rounds that wouldn’t be possible from a musket like incendiary or smoke rounds.

  • Nighed@feddit.ukEnglish
    20·
    3 hours ago

    Wouldn’t it dispell the magic before it got to the ring? So your gun just exploded and your ring is now somewhere downrange?

    • owenfromcanada@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 hour ago

      You’d have to mount it on a wire a bit past the end of the barrel, or custom create a barrel that expands toward the end. Depends on whether dispelling the magic is an instant transformation, or if it “grows” at some rate.

    • Susaga@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      10·
      2 hours ago

      Yeah, if its range is enough to dispel a lock, then it must be at least an inch. So the cannon ball grows while an inch down the barrel.

      • Nighed@feddit.ukEnglish
        5·
        2 hours ago

        Meme is still correct though as that’s my face while calculating what to change so they don’t TPK or something when they try it on the next encounter…

        • Susaga@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          9·
          2 hours ago

          Rogue fires gun. Cannonball grows and shatters the gun. Gun pieces fall to floor in front of rogue. If you look, the ring is still in the wreckage, and still usable. Enemy spends a turn just looking at the rogue in amusement. Turn after goes as usual.

          • Nighed@feddit.ukEnglish
            3·
            2 hours ago

            They would have gone all in on this strat and left themselves open for shenanigans.

            Or decided to test it inside or something.

    • owenfromcanada@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      2 hours ago

      As another poster mentioned, this is likely the reason this isn’t already done in the fantasy setting. Either the mass is the same (in which case your flintlock isn’t going to launch it terribly far) or the mass changes and it would reduce momentum.

      That being said, it’s still a useful way to transport cannonballs, and could still be quite useful. Just not quite a “free” Catapult spell on demand.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    2 hours ago

    Because I hate fun, I assume that the people in a fantasy world aren’t all fools so if there’s an application of magic that seems obvious but isn’t already happening in the setting, there’s a good reason for that.

    • owenfromcanada@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 hours ago

      This is a good take, but it partly depends on the setting. Specifically, if these magic artifacts are fairly rare and valuable (even something meager like this ring), it’s entirely possible that people haven’t explored that kind of application of magic. It could also be viable if there are very few inventors/scholars in the setting.

      In any case, the conservation of mass thing another commenter mentioned would make this less viable, so you’re right on the money. That being said, laws of physics can be bent for rule-of-cool if that’s your table. Personally, if I were DMing it, I’d probably try to find a way to balance between realism and making their research process hilarious and/or dangerous, with the end result being them producing something useful but not gamebreaking (e.g., you can carry and deploy the cannonballs, but the gun doesn’t really fire them, but in combination with a method of flight, could still be awesome–or they apply this method with a large boulder and have that to work with instead).

    • nesc@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      53·
      2 hours ago

      Sounds as if you play as most unimaginative character that does everything in a dullest way possible. What’s the point of playing tabletop then? I mean half of the fun of tabletop rpgs is exploring the possibilities and creativity (for me).