THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF RUNIC ARMS Unofficially Brings Magic Firearms to Your D&D Game

There are some who want to introduce firearms into their Dungeons & Dragons games. Among them, there are some who may not like the idea of black powder weapons being involved. Whether you fall into that group, or just like the idea of more magical firearms. If any of that sounds like you, you will want to look at Ian Lambert’s The Complete History of Runic Arms. This unofficial supplement includes information about the history of special magical weapons that use runes to allow non-spellcasters to use certain spells like Fire Bolt. The weapons eventually evolved to using bullets and cartridges, but one of the beautiful things about this supplement is that it provides a history of the weapon, so you can implement the weapons in a number of ways in your campaign. The supplement also gives suggestions on how to implement the weapons at various stages of invention and different themes and tropes that your campaign might include with their inclusion. Finally, there are also some new subclasses that you can try that specialize in using these new runic arms.

“Dragons and orcs and goblins and fiends. Swords and shields and wands and magic. We’ve seen it all, in fantasy setting after fantasy setting. Some like to spice up their settings by adding black powder weapons, advancing the timeline from “ambiguous medieval period” to “ambiguous Renaissance period” with the introduction of cannons and flintlock weaponry. The way of the gun can become a mythic art in these worlds, treated with the kind of romantic reverence usually afforded to knights in shining armor.

But not all players are interested in mixing firearms and fantasy. The introduction of black powder weaponry in the real world led to numerous changes to society and warfare, and not everyone is interested in the ramifications that black powder has for a fantasy setting. This supplement presents a hypothetical progression of magical arms, from an advanced staff called a runelance all the way to muskets and grenades that might look more familiar and accessible to a modern reader, all without delving into the complications or tonal dissonance brought by black powder.”

The Complete History of Runic Arms is available on DMs Guild for $8.99. Oh, and did I mention that it says that it’s compatible with Matthew Mercer’s Gunslinger?