tegeus

11 hours ago, K Peterson said:

No, you're on the right track. If both sides fail then it's considered a total failure.

I'd say that the result is a little up to the game master to decide based on circumstances and environment. Perhaps the guard misperceived the sound of a bird or pigeon rustling nearby and went to investigate, leaving the character with the opportunity to pass by. But, the character made no attempts to quiet their movement, leaving the guard in a confused but alerted state.

You might interpret the resolution in a different manner. There isn't really a clear rules-provided outcome in a fail/fail scenario, but I'd suggest considering the specific circumstances, rather than having one set outcome for every scenario.

Thanks, I guess it is up to me as a GM depending on what the situation is.  I noticed that in OpenQuest it is:

Whoever rolled the lowest in their skill test wins the opposed test. In the case of ties for both the Player wins.

Question about the Opposed test rules.  They indicate in Renaissance Deluxe that it both fail neither side has a success.  So this raises the question of what happens if one character is trying to sneak past a guard (Perception vs. Stealth).  Or have I missed something?

2 hours ago, Simlasa said:

I tend not to care much about 'balance' and favor plausibility instead. How likely do I think it would be for a black powder firearm to penetrate a steel helmet or cuirass... that's what I'd go by. Such armor (and weapons) might be too expensive for the average person to afford... so might be rare.

I just don't want firearm combat to be too deadly.

40 minutes ago, Questbird said:

Blood Tide also has black powder weapons, and quite a variety of them, though I think it uses standard BRP rules. There's a rule from Swords of Cydoria which says that all primitive armours are half strength vs. firearms, which I find works pretty well.

I bought Renaissance and the rules looks to be more or less in line with what I came up with.  Except armour offers half protection against firearms.

9 hours ago, Simlasa said:

Totally bypass all armor?

I think that given the amount of time it takes a load a weapon (4 rounds).  The most shots a firearm will manage in melee is one.  So bypassing armour does not seem as unbalancing.  Maybe armour protection should just be reduced?

11 hours ago, SDLeary said:

You might want to take a look at Cakebread & Walton's Renaissance. A BRP variant that is tailored for the Black Powder era.

SDLeary

Thanks I will check that out.

I am setting Magic World Adventures in an old rundown world with varying levels of technology.  There is magic but there are also black powder firearms.  I borrowed the black powder weapons from RQ6 Firearms. I included the rules for Reload, Sneak Peak (AGLx5 or exposed), Steady weapon (+20% to hit), Take Cover, Damage weapon and Dual Firearms (-20% to hit for both to attack same rank).  Also I have firearms bypass armour of the available to this setting types and make parry and dodge useless.

Any thoughts.  Has anyone else created rules for firearms in MW.