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I picked up a cool little detailed layout for an ancient ship to use for miniature while GMing Palladium Fantasy. This ship layout includes cannons. I decided to use it in a game since there's the Tinkerer OCC. This leads me to 2 questions...

1. Which Rifter can the Tinkerer OCC be found?

and...

2. Have any GMs out there worked out a basic or general damage, range and rate of fire for ship cannons?

Thanks in advance.

Have you checked Weapons Armor & Castles? I think there's a section on siege engines that includes cannons. I haven't owned a copy in 15 years, so I can't say for sure.

Bill wrote:Have you checked Weapons Armor & Castles? I think there's a section on siege engines that includes cannons. I haven't owned a copy in 15 years, so I can't say for sure.

I do have a copy of it. I'll cherck it out! Thanks.

Tinkerers are found in Rifter #10. An although the Weapons and Castle does have siege weapons
in it, if you want to fine damage and sorts you need Library of Blethered. As for cannons, I've no
idea in any of the Rifts books where you can find a good old fashion cannon at.

Reagren Wright wrote:Tinkerers are found in Rifter #10. An although the Weapons and Castle does have siege weapons
in it, if you want to fine damage and sorts you need Library of Blethered. As for cannons, I've no
idea in any of the Rifts books where you can find a good old fashion cannon at.

Thanks Reagren!

What kind of cannons? Old style cannons circa 13/14th century? Circa 15-early 17th century? mid 17th century-early 18th century? mid/late 18th century? Early 19th century?

In general a full length cannon with an iron cannon ball should do roughly the damage below.

3lb cannon 1d6x10
12lb cannon 2d6x10 (a light gun on a ship)
18lb cannon 3d6x10
24lb cannon 4d6x10 (a typical medium gun on a ship)
32lb cannon 5d6x10 (a heavy gun on most ships)
56lb cannon 1d6x100 (a heavy gun on a heavy ship)

Later guns with better fitting balls and better gun powder (corned powder) should do about 25% more damage.

Ranges have varied radically. An early gun would be only 4,000-6,000ft with later guns with better fitting balls, better powder, better carriages, etc increasing ranges to about 3-4 miles for non-howitzers. Effective range at sea has not changed much until turreted mounts, optical sites, computerized (mechanical and later electrical) gunnery aids, etc made gunnery much more effective at sea. That effective range has always been in the 200-400yd range. Against land based targets gunnery was often practiced at much longer ranges, but wasn't very effective (you could fire an entire broadside at a fort a mile away and be lucky if a couple of cannon balls hit the fort in relatively calm seas).

Reload rates also varied radically. Early cannons it could take 10-15 minutes to reload, aim and fire a cannon. Later cannons with flint lock triggers, carriages and trunnions could fire about 1 round every 3 minutes for a good gun crew for prolonged firing.

By comparison (ignoring whatever is in the books) a heavy ballista could take 5-8 minutes to reload, does signficantly less damge, has somewhat less effective range (because the bolt is so much slower) and takes a lot of energy to reload from its crew. A Catapult might take as long and a heavy trebuchet might only be able to fire once per hour or twice per hour and could take 50-80 crew to operate (though a 400lb stone slung even at "pedestrian" speeds has a lot of hitting power even compared to a 56lb cannon ball).

Im not 100% on what is in the weapons books but I don think there's anything in PFRPG as they dont use gunpowder.

I THINK there is something in Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on cannons. I know there is a section on black powder weapons. However I am can't remember is the cannon is mentioned in there or not.

I seem to recall seeing something about a Dwarven cannon somewhere before... but I can't remember what book or if it was even in PFRPG :\

pblackcrow wrote:I THINK there is something in Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on cannons. I know there is a section on black powder weapons. However I am can't remember is the cannon is mentioned in there or not.

It is, but it is later on in one of the adventures (With the civil war cavalry soldiers). 4d6x10 damage and I think a 3 mile range. I don't believe it discusses firing rate, but napoleon guns and most wheeled smooth bores of light to moderate throw weight fired at about 1 round per 3 minutes for a good crew, depending on if it is returned to battery first before firing, or maximum rate of fire. Naval cannons are a bit slower in part due to the more enclosed space that you are forced to work in.

Older guns without trunnions, wheeled carriages, flintlock firing mechanisms, etc were much slower, 8-15 minutes per shot and the really big siege guns from the 13-15th century that threw massive >100lb stone and occasionally iron balls might manage 1-2 shots per hour (in part because of required cooling, forcing them around to aim them, etc).

Largest gun that I am aware of dated from roughly 1400 and I believe it through shot weighing approximately 1,000lbs.