Topic: Arquebus and Musket

I know that it is pretty silly to get specific about the fire arms of the period. I also know that by the time the musket "won out" and the aquebus was not used much any more that the musket had converged towards the arquebus. They had converged in terms of size and weight.

From reading the firearm appendix, the only difference between the musket and the arquebus is that the musket needs a rest and costs more than the arquebus. Otherwise they do the same damage and have the same ranges and range penalties. There is no reason why you would pick a musket instead of an arquebus.

Have I missed something?

Last edited by Justin in Oz (2013-07-27 13:56:28)

Re: Arquebus and Musket

Justin in Oz wrote:

I know that it is pretty silly to get specific about the fire arms of the period. I also know that by the time the musket "won out" and the aquebus was not used much any more that the musket had converged towards the arquebus. They had converged in terms of size and weight.

From reading the firearm appendix, the only difference between the musket and the arquebus is that the musket needs a rest and costs more than the arquebus. Otherwise they do the same damage and have the same ranges and range penalties. There is no reason why you would pick a musket instead of an arquebus.

Have I missed something?

yeah the terminology is a little sketchy but when trying to cover a 150+ year period and keep things relatively simple, sacrifices have to be made. (remember this is the game system that treats battle axes and long swords and maces as the exact same thing mechanically...)

Muskets have armor penetration at any range, arquebuses only at short range.

Re: Arquebus and Musket

Thanks for the reply. I went back to the text and found the reference.

Given the task, wide span of history and wild variations in specs, I think you have struck a great balance. Long arms really are for large groups and armies. They are pretty impractical for other applications. Small scale (ie player parties) a brace of pistols is really what you should be looking at.

The armour punching at all ranges is a really good way to distinguish the different long arms.