Magical Guns in Felarya

So, this is something i've been thinking about for awhile since I saw this part in the Magic section of the fourm. "Typically, there’s no chance of miscasting or botching a spell, so long as you point the business end of the sword, staff or magirevolver in the right direction."

So, if guns can be made in magical way, or feature magic to function, what would that be like, and how effective would they be? Firstly, as somewhat of a disclaimer, this is going to mostly deal with magical guns and ignore Vitishmal guns, who have laser weapons and giant cannons, and probably a ton of weapons similar to Halo or the like.

To begin with, the look of the guns. While a fantasy setting involving a heavy amount of magic and possibilities for firearms are pretty much endless, I think that the best established look could potentially come from the obscure game CrossFire (which I only know about beacuse a large amount of their badass vip guns have been ported to Left 4 Dead 2, and how I thought of this). Take a look.









I'll stop there, as many more can be found online.

In any case, now that the magic gun look is established, next I'd like to talk about the ammo and firing mechanics.
As for ammo, I suppose these guns can either shoot regular bullets/slugs/buckshot ammo, common of normal guns. Though I do also imagine some shooting magical projectiles (magic bullets). Unlike true bullets, these could have some kind of regenerative properties within the gun, making you have near-infinite ammo, though reloading may be an issue. Or perhaps waiting longer for ammo (especially special ammo, like larger shells, explosive or incideary rounds). So in the latter case, one may have to wait a few minutes-hours after shooting, which could prove critical when in a fight in Felarya, especially against a predator.
As for fireing mechanisms, these would be probably magical in nature, regardless of ammo. While regular guns use gunpowder, creating a small explosion to project the bullet out of the gun at a high speed, magical guns would more likely use a kind of magical propellant, like the system used in modern-day experimental railguns and LEM launch coasters. By this, the bullet (regular or magical bullet) would be shot from the chamber, through the barrel of the gun by a strong magical pulse, initiated by pulling the trigger. This means the projectile could potentially reach higher launch speeds than normal bullets, which would greatly increase lethality and penetration, ideal for human, and predator targets. However, this would be increasingly less effective against larger targets. To giant targets, it would probably leave a sting, and would require multiple shots to inflict any serious damage.

So, the question occurs to me "But why not just learn a spell that can launch projectiles at your opponent instead of getting a magic gun?" Well, the answer is fairly simple, not everyone can master and use such a spell, especially under such stress and terror that a predator can cause. (Side note, by predator I mean not only giants, but smaller creatures, like bloodclaw apes). Additionally, the projectiles launched by magic guns would probably shoot faster and be much more lethal and effective then those from a spell from an average mage (more experienced mages would most certainly shoot faster). I'd imagine the effect would be similar to full-metal jacket rounds, designed for penetrating power. Though to a medium to low level mage, or those with little to no magic, magical guns/weapons would be indispensable. Additionally, using a gun would make it much easier to aim at a specific part of the target, and focus the bullets. This would be especially helpful for fairies, as their wings are their major weakness. Other giantess preds also have "weak points" such as eyes and other sensitive areas. While these may not be lethal, such an attack could allow one to escape and live to tell the tale.

As some final thoughts for my initial post; I'd imagine these magical guns to be fairly rare and expensive, mostly reserved for those in the local militaries/mobs and to those who can afford it, as the price would be expensive, to very expensive for the more complex weapons, especially those with elemental and specialized ammo, such as guns firing ice rounds, that can freeze targets. These weapons may also be available in other areas of Felarya, such as the Ryzelm’oire market, Kortiki, and other trade ports around the world.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing what you all think, as I've been thinking of this idea for quite some time, but didn't know how to write and explain it.

Wow, that is a lot to take in at once.

First, I believe guns and all weapons in Felarya was a hot topic here once. How they were too varied and that there was no general irl time frame from which Felaryan weapons came from. That trouble might resurface here.

But, more in the spirit of your post: I think magic guns could make use of Felarya's many minerals and gems to produce the effects you're talking about, maybe even some of the plantlife as well.
- A boralite-tipped bullet would lodge itself into the target and slowly leech the heat out of the target's body, essentially freezing them from the inside out.
- A shotgun with a scintilla-lined barrel is essentially always firing dragon's breath rounds.
- A sniper rifle with a Psierin gem socketed just above the scope to help the sniper focus more on what's down range.
There can be a lot of creativity involved when combining guns and Felaryan gems/metals. Here's the wiki page: http://www.felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mineralogy

If simple, arbitrary "magic" is involved, than the previously mentioned creative possibilities multiply tenfold. Magic could replicate gunpowder's explosion, like you said. It could create the bullet inside the gun itself, negating any need to reload at all.

Your point about them being used as a substitute for spells by the less magically-inclined is a fair one. Battleworn and grizzled warriors who prefer swords/axes and don't have a strong grasp on magic would find them favorable and handy.

On a side note, increasing a projectile's velocity doesn't directly correlate to increasing its lethality. A projectile that's too fast produces overpenetration. Ideally, you don't want the bullet to come out the other side of the target, yawing within them instead. Obviously, this wouldn't matter too much when facing a giant predator, as it would take a really stinkin' fast projectile to get through one of them.

Combining with the minerals is something I overlooked! Thanks Ponyboyace! I had originally intended them to use some kind of internal spell within the gun, which causes bullets to reform and gives any extra elemental effects, but using the minerals would create a much more reliable result and effects, especially over a long period of time.

Plantlife would be a pretty good addition as well, as ammo made from Holy Oaks would be amazing for an anti-demon weapon! Elori could potentially make for healing ammo (like a medic gun). Though, the most useful application of a plant would be the Crunierlon, as it would make any attack hurt much more on the enemy, making the skin more sensitive.

As for overpentration, to an extent it would be an issue, especially against human and similar sized enemies. However in general use for Felarya, i'd imagine one would want a higher amount of penetration, not only to counter the natural effects of Felaryan soil, but against larger predators. Though it would still be most likley non-lethal to giant preds (unless you had an army of them, though the same would be true of swords and any other weapons), it would still pack a nasty punch for the pred, allowing the prey to escape. I imagine that only the cannons and heavy weapons in Negav's walls are the only guns in Felarya actually capable of killing giant preds by themselves.

I thought a little bit more about how the Felaryan flora could be useful if weaponry.

Some initial thoughts are as follows:

- a shotgun shell with ground Crunierlon mixed in with the buckshot would make the shot more painful to the target.
- should a hunter be travelling with a mage, the hunter might find it useful to bring ammunition with Elori mixed in, so that after expelling the round, the mage's attacks can be more potent
- a dart/round with the spines of the Devil's thorn...ehhh. -shudders at the thought- look it up:

http://www.felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Plant_life

I already designed magic guns ages ago: Spell Sling (jedi-explorer)

jedi-explorer wrote:

I already designed magic guns ages ago: Spell Sling (jedi-explorer)

I do like that idea, and I'm not trying to discount it in any way. Though, I think our ideas are different enough to exist on their own. You see your Spell Slings require magical ammo, and require a mana flow to maintain them, as mine are a bit more like a modern gun, fireing a bullet that may be imbued with certian magical properties; meant for those with little to no magical skill, and as more defensive and anti-predator weapons (for smaller preds mostly, such as Bloodclaw apes or podmaws. Against larger preds, you could try to hit the eyes or a weak spot, to deter them, but it wont do too much harm, except from heavier weapons probably with caravans).