When the request came in to design a  firearm with the ability to stop a charge the Academic Court's answer  was to commission master gun-smiths to craft a weapon that sent a spray  of small led balls at an  opponent. The Espingole was the result. Rugged  and deadly, there is nothing else like it on the battlefield. It is  capable of spraying a 20ft cone with small balls of led called “shot”. Keep  in mind, a cone-shaped effect shoots away from you in a quartercircle  in the direction you designate. It starts from any corner of your square  and widens out as it goes. These type of shots don't go around  corners.) Espingole is capable of firing a wide verity of ammunition-  even improvised ammunition in a pinch. Silverware, gravel, stones,  bones, whatever is at hand can be fired from an Espingole in a tight  situation. Doing so uses the “Shot, Improvised” profile and the backfire  chance is increased by 5 (If maintained it will backfire on a 6 or  higher).

Type: Exotic Ranged Weapon

Name	Cost	Dmg (S)	Dmg (M)	Critical	Range	Weight	Type
Espingole	1000 gp	1d6	1d8	x3	20 (Cone)	25 lbs.	Piercing

The weight includes the kit for cleaning and reloading.

Special:Reloading a firearm takes 2 move actions.  They do not have to be consecutive. If you posses the “rapid reload”  feat this is reduced to a single move action. A firearm may not be  reloaded while mounted  (except for the Dragoon). Firearms can not deal  non-lethal damage (except with the Warning Shot feat). Rolling a  critical failure (natural 1 on an attack roll) will result in the weapon  backfiring, dealing 1d6 damage (1d4 for small) to the user and  rendering the weapon useless. A Masterwork firearm will never backfire. A  firearm can be used as a “gun club” and it takes no time to convert it.  If you posses a bayonet it takes a swift action to equip it. While a  bayonet is equipped one can not fire the gun or reload it, the bayonet  interferes with the barrel itself. A bayonet may only be equipped to a  Mousquet, or Pistolet. Characters from Hassard are automatically  considered to be proficient with Firearms.

Meticulous maintenance is  required to maintain a firearm. Failure to clean and prep it in the  morning (an action that takes about 20 minuets) will result in it  backfiring on a roll of 1+ the number of days left un-maintained. A gun  cleaning kit (100gp) will reduce this time by 10 minutes.

All feats that apply to  bows/crossbows/raged weapons applies to firearms with the exception of  the  Rapid Shot and Many Shot feats.

Author's Note: This was created for a low fantasy setting I am developing. Original Content here: http://g-a-w.blogspot.com/2010/06/gun-mechanics-low-fantasy-setting.html
Questions and comments welcome.

Additional Ratings
Balance:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 4 Votes )
Utility:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 4 Votes )
Clarity:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 4 Votes )