Anonymous Gun Complaint

(The following is from an anonymous member, who shall remain anonymous. He asked that this be posted here for thoughts.)


Guns. Guns changed the world. Before guns, revolutions failed on a regular basis, simply because most of the time the common people were untrained and unable to use them. The Crossbow, the precusor of gunpowder based waepon (not bows, as you might be led to believe), was considered a controlled weapon by the Catholic Church, so far that most governments made it illegal to own one, due to the fact that it could punch through a nobles armor.

And then we have guns. Weapons that, much like a crossbow, even a untrained man can pick up and use. A weapon an untrained peasent can pick up, and turn on the noblemen on his horse in his armor, and kill.

The age of the gun bought about the end of medieval society. Socially, the common man gained slightly more freedom, the institution of serfdom and feudalism fell apart, and the first professional armies began to form since the fall of the Roman Empire. The peasents were forced from the lands they had farmed for generations, and moved to the cities, where they began working the factories, first powered by water and then by steam.

And we have guns in Surna. so how do you explain the incredible technology and social gap that excist?

Looking beyond that, a gun de-personalized killing. This may seem strange "How can you depersonalize something like that", but it did.

Even with the bow and the crossbow, you had to be able to see your target, and it was by YOUR strength that you killed someone. Your arm had to pull back the bow string, or cock back the crossbows mechanism. A gun removed that. A gun, the most you had to do was pack in the round, and in surna we have even gotten rid of that )Very very few people use flintlock and not cartridge based weapons). Killing a person is as easy as pointing a gun at them and pulling the trigger. Which people seem to do with an alarming amount in Surna 9Not the killing part so much as the ripping the guns out and firing at the first sign of anything).

With a sword or a mace or any close combat weapon, you had to use your strengh
With a sword or a mace or any close combat weapon, you had to use your strength, and your cunning, to beat your opponent. Steel on steel and blood for blood, it took alot of hate to actually go so far as to draw swords and go after another person, since they too, if they were using a sword anyway, would probably be itleast semi-competent. To put it frankly, it's alot easier to kill/injure yourself with a blade without training then it is with a gun, and you would have to be much surer of what you are doing then randomly shooting someone.

So, something...needs to be done. What, I don't know, but if you sit down and think of it all very little of it makes sense, and guns do seem to cause more problems in RP then they solve (How do you dodge a bullet? You don't, thats how, i.e.). So what can we do, not only to close the gap between people with guns, and people without, but also maybe make things a bit more easy to understand for people to come in

(fantasy implies pre-gunpowder or early-gunpowder, not rifles and revolvers.)

Quote :

Steel on steel and blood for blood, it took alot of hate to actually go so far as to draw swords and go after another person, since they too, if they were using a sword anyway

You can go up to anyone and kill them without thinking about it. Hate is just a minor factor. Do you think the Persians had to hate the Spartans to go after them? Killing never had to be personal.

Quote :

(How do you dodge a bullet? You don't, thats how, i.e.). So what can we do, not only to close the gap between people with guns, and people without, but also maybe make things a bit more easy to understand for people to come in

So ball shot and pellets don't go through armor? They go one mile an hour and can be dodged?

And what gap?

It is people's ego.

There is a gap, Gambit. Guns are superior to any piece of medieval technology there is. They can't be dodged, they can't be blocked, and they can't be stopped by armor.

There are ways to get around this, however:
1. Magic
2. Mithril, adamantium, other hard metals that can stop bullets (unless they're made of the same material)
3. Inhuman abilities, whether it's from supernatural or natural means. The ability to dodge a bullet or parry one with a sword.

Otherwise, no one stands a chance against a gun. It would make no sense that Occitan, or the Steampunks and their technology wouldn't take over the world and advance it. Me, I've always tried to isolate myself from the gun. My characters are all unfamiliar with them and how they work (except Alyssa, she learned ICly).

I try to maintain that they're currently too advanced to be commonly produced, and maybe that's the answer. Perhaps the necessary ingredients to make gunpowder for the bullets are extremely rare, or gunpowder is very difficult to make. Maybe very few know how guns even work, well enough to make one.

Munroe wrote:

Perhaps the necessary ingredients to make gunpowder for the bullets are extremely rare, or gunpowder is very difficult to make

Mm.. No.

Basic ingredients. sulfur, potassium nitrate (salt pretty much), and charcoal/sugar can be used. Mash it down to a powder and light it. Gunpowder.

EDIT:

Finding the right amount of gunpowder for a bullet is hard.

Remember, ICly this isn't Earth. Those "common" ingredients might be extremely rare in Aeria.

Munroe wrote:

Remember, ICly this isn't Earth. Those "common" ingredients might be extremely rare in Aeria.

So I can't get a sulfur build up somewhere near a volcano or hot spring, and salt from a store and charcoal from a fire?

>.>

Oh my chemistry..

Saltpeter can also be used to produce gunpowder, and it's a common mineral in deserts so the Sidans would probably have a crap ton of it.

As a matter of fact I believe there something you can do with human urine that produces something that can be used as a replacement for one of the ingredients.

Prone_To_Death18 wrote:

As a matter of fact I believe there something you can do with human urine that produces something that can be used as a replacement for one of the ingredients.

They let urine ferment for a year and the salt would build up and they would use that.

Lal, see.
I LOVE it when people post anonymously. Cracks me up.

The fact is, guns and such weaponry are the physical counter-part to it's magic cousins. You don't see anybody complaining about magic, do you?


Also:
To my knowledge, no one has been severely damaged by a revolver, who does not also own a revolver, aside from Zeal, and Galvin.

Quote :

who does not also own a revolver

I don't?

Asterisk wrote:

Quote :

who does not also own a revolver

I don't?

None of my characters have even touched a gun. >.>

Crimzon_Reaper wrote:

Also:
To my knowledge, no one has been severely damaged by a revolver, who does not also own a revolver, aside from Zeal, and Galvin.

Zaku was killed by one.

And honestly, being the player of the most gun-totting trigger-happy lunatic. I agree with all these points. The only reason I even went onto giving my characters guns, was because instead of magic, I thought a more technological approach was cooler. Since Steampunk is my favorite genre. Which is fantasy, by the way. But, I've removed nearly all the guns from my characters, except for one, whom of which only has a revolver.

Maybe instead of trying to outlaw guns, entirely. Make them rare, expensive, hard to manage, and force realistic roleplay on players. IE, Gun-management, cleaning, repairs. The like.

Which is why I started Zaku's Steampunkery Business in the first place.

One of the reasons I made Jens. So I wouldn't be a pushover to people with guns.

Remember guys, guns kill people, people don't. >.>

Zaku350 wrote:

Crimzon_Reaper wrote:

Also:
To my knowledge, no one has been severely damaged by a revolver, who does not also own a revolver, aside from Zeal, and Galvin.

Zaku was killed by one.

Zaku owned one.

Regardless. I -am- cutting down on the amount of guns around my characters.

Naiko doesn't have a gun, Only the brains.

Sometimes I wonder how everyone managed to get a gun. In fact, I even wonder how the town guard can afford to supply each member with a revolver. Military forces are understandable, but everyone else is... trivial.

Psyche wrote:

Sometimes I wonder how everyone managed to get a gun. In fact, I even wonder how the town guard can afford to supply each member with a revolver. Military forces are understandable, but everyone else is... trivial.

Well, Zaku tinkers a bit, and has the money to afford one. So, he'd manage.

I don't know about everyone else, though. Half of the people should be dirt poor, since they don't even work.

None of my characters have ever had or touched a gun. Also, fantasy RP doesn't have to have a set time, it's as if they think our RP is medevial RP and it's not!

Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we could have huge ass star wars ships flying around because we don't have a set time.

Yes, but still, guns aren't that hi-tech, it's basically a stronger crossbow, which is easier to use.

Rossii wrote:

Yes, but still, guns aren't that hi-tech, it's basically a stronger crossbow, which is easier to use.

It's really much more than that.

I say get rid of all guns, and keep crossbows or anything lower.

Guns can 1hit KO MOSTLY everyone.

Ness Tea wrote:

I say get rid of all guns, and keep crossbows or anything lower.

Guns can 1hit KO MOSTLY everyone.

You do that. You get rid of magic, too.

Same deal.