In yesterday's game, my players entered an old iron mine in the cairn hills, where they stumbled upon an ancient wizard's tomb. But they couldn't get in, so one of them got the idea to go back to the mining camp to fetch some explosives and blast the tomb open.
As I didn't really know if gunpowder is used in Greyhawk (don't want potential backfiring if my players decide to run around with muskets or pistols!) I said the miners didn't have explosives, so they'd have to settle for good old fashioned shovels and picks.
If there is any official ruling on gunpowder in GH, please let me know.
Cheers
Seriously, though, gunpowder need not be the boogey man that some people claim it is. Remember, the Chinese used it for many centuries without "weaponizing" it. In a world that already has fireball-tossing "artillary wizards" and enchanted bows, it's even more reasonable that there might not be a big rush to invent firearms.
GH miners using crude black powder explosives in their excavations would hardly cause the campaign to fall apart, IMHO.
1. Flint Wheel Lock
2. Arquebus
3. Greek Fire Projector
Transition was smooth and introduced with Spelljammer. They suck so bad anyway that no one has ever bothered using them save 1 PC who only used them for perhaps 2 sessions.
Guns are not supposed to work in Greyhawk due to Boccob's interference but I have let a single player in my campaign develop proto-firearms with the help of some NPC experts.
Originally posted by Kingdom Of Sunndi
I have never seen gunpowder used in official Greyhawk material.
That's because, as Samwise said, in the canon, gunpowder doesn't function (with one exception, Myrlund's sidearms). Gygax was quite clear on this.
As others are saying though, for a home campaign, why not? Canon doesn't hold much sway at my game table, and if you want a few primitive guns or explosives, go for it.
Originally posted by avfanatic
Murlynd the hero-deity paladin of Heironeous uses guns.
Guns are not supposed to work in Greyhawk due to Boccob's interference
Help an old 'hawker out and tell me what book or mag you got this information from. I had never seen it before, and thanks for pointing it out.
Gygax also detailed info about gunpowder and D&D in GH in "From the Sorceror's Scroll: Greyhawk: New Settings for Adventure" (Dragon #30, p.12). Thanks, as always, to Russ Taylor's wonderful index for the quick reference :D
. To expand on abysslin's reply, spelljammer says:
" Smoke powder does not function on Oerth, though it does in wildspace and on planets in the system. Whether this is due to the chemical makeup of the Oerth atmosphere or some interference by gods who already fear the growing power of mortals is unknown."
The only other reference I could easily find is in Murlynd's description I referenced in my above reply:
"His special aura enables these devices to function even on Oerth, for instance."
What I remember is that Boccob, concerned that technology would signal the demise of magic, has inhibited the ability of firearms to function in an effort to keep magic's stranglehold on Oerth. Since I can't back it up with a page number I guess you can discount it as theory, but I'll keep looking.
the old Chainmail rules by Gygax and Perrin had rules for crude guns.
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Which is how I figure it ought to be. Gygax chose not to integrate guns into his setting because he wanted it to be "low fantasy". I'm not saying you couldn't put them in YOUR Greyhawk campaign - just that you shouldn't be surprised if your sessions become a little less "classic" as a result. If guns don't belong in a genre, don't water down your image of the setting by including them.
Which is how I figure it ought to be. Gygax chose not to integrate guns into his setting because he wanted it to be "low fantasy". -
but cyborgs and robots are just fine... strange....
Originally posted by Lincoln Hills
If guns don't belong in a genre, don't water down your image of the setting by including them.
Amen!
Hope that helps.