Comparison of Early Firearms and Bows/Crossbows
Firearms in fantasy games is a contentious topic. I like them, but when they do not overshadow bows and crossbows too much. So, I decided to compare the statistics of early firearms (gonnes and matchlocks) and bows/crossbows with different effective ST values, and see how they perform against different DR values. Costs of TL 4 firearms were doubles to bring them down to TL 3. Basically, it seems that matchlocks are very similar to crossbows with winches, but with worse 1/2D range and slightly quicker reload (if paper cartridges are used). If we use additional rules, such as Malf., smoke clouds (Pyramid #3-36), then I can see them not upsetting the balance too much. If we include the wheellocks and more advanced weapons, however, their rate of fire and damage would probably make crossbows obsolete.
Here's the spreadsheet link - LINK.
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