D&D the peasant railgun?

[LogicNProportion]

YOU FUCKING BASTARD!

You couldn't just leave sleeping dogs lie, couldn't you?

This is a forbidden act that you have transgressed upon! KILL TEAMS OF BEHOLDERS HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED!

And I for one have no pity for someone who would unleash one of our shameful, sacred covens to the pedestrian folk!

Good day sir!

I SAID GOOD DAY SIR!

PS. AND SO HELP ME YCHAK IF I HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT PUN PUN! IF SO, I'M KICKING YOUR DICK IN THE DIRT MYSELF!

 

[crimson5pheonix]

If the DM's smart enough, he'll remember there are no physics rules in D&D and the projectile will just drop to the ground when it leaves their hands.

 

[LogicNProportion]

If the DM's smart enough, he'll remember there are no physics rules in D&D and the projectile will just drop to the ground when it leaves their hands.

While technically plausible the pole will still deal only 1d6 damage and have a range of 10ft.

My friends, there is ALWAYS a chart.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

If the DM's smart enough, he'll remember there are no physics rules in D&D and the projectile will just drop to the ground when it leaves their hands.

While technically plausible the pole will still deal only 1d6 damage and have a range of 10ft.

My friends, there is ALWAYS a chart.

Not unless the DM writes one for just such an occasion.

 

[WanderingFool]

Lol.... I have no idea what that was for, but thank you for brightening up my day with that...

 

[archvile93]

I don't think physics work that way.

 

[thedoclc]

Really, you could make it even more hilariously illogical with delay actions and readied actions and interruptions with movement, if you wanted. 3.X had so many infinite loops and game physics exploits in the rules as written that they became almost a joke. Every RPG since Elf was a class has had something like that somewhere in the rules if you tried hard enough to find it.

Insert obligatory Rule Zero reference here.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

If the DM's smart enough, he'll remember there are no physics rules in D&D and the projectile will just drop to the ground when it leaves their hands.

+1

The "railgun" only works in the first place because D&D fails to take into account that certain actions that take little time are still not instant. So, either you implement physics (in which case the stick would only travel as far as people could pass it in six seconds, taking several minutes to make it down the 1000 peasant line, and having no velocity apart from the thrower at the end) or you don't implement physics (in which case the stick gets there in 1 round, but still has no velocity, since that isn't part of D&D, and therefore is only as powerful as the peasant at the end of the line).

The "railgun" is a case of someone using the rules to ignore physics when they like, and then apply physics when it benefits the argument/situation. As columnist Alexander Macris says (check out Check of Traps under columns, if you haven't already), if the result of a rule is absurd, then the rule should be questioned, as the rules are designed to prevent the absurd (paraphrased).

 

[Cowabungaa]

Bah, Don't always be so critical of Players trying to break the laws of physics.

when a player asked me If he could implement the rail gun in an up coming game I told him that I'd think about it.



In short the quest had the party defend a small city abandoned by the monarchy against a huge attack from an opposing force by sea.

To achieve this, through countless sub quests they activated an ancient weapon in the depths of the mountains- using the Golem powered rail gun they destroyed all but the commanders airship.

In an epic finale they were forced to bury the weapon and the bad guy under the mountain in order to prevent him from using it to "try to take over the world!"


Take what your players want to do and find a way to make it work - not just hit it with a ban hammer - you miss out on so much!

That's creative DMing right there, and that's how you keep your players interested. I'm still looking for some peeps to play D&D with, and I hope I end up with such cool DM's.

Also, you sure rolled a 20 on your Dungeoneering check, that's one epic gravedig you made here.

 

[Twad]

Wow. This is a old trick.

What about the "locate city as a tactical nuke" trick?
Or Pun-Pun?

The peasant railgun is funny, but nowhere near the scale of pure..rule bending as these two imho.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Someone mentioned the Locate City AOE Dmg trick. But whats Pun Pun?

 

[Vipoid]

This does work, though I'd advise against actually trying it, lest the DM decides to retaliate (if there is an Evil Overlord with some form of army, you could well find yourself on the recieving end of several orc railguns!) Although, if you do decide to try it, consider using craft quarterstaff, instead of demolishing ladders. Delightfuly, due to the fact that a quaterstaff has no listed cost, it can be made instantly and at no cost (gp or xp).

 

[Prower]

pun-pun, is an NPC, Given the ability to learn and use any power he can create.
a literal wishing for more wishes.

Usually the involvement of Pun-Pun is a disaster as players stop trying to solve their own problems both in and out of combat.
If you need a unique power, use a ritual!

The best example of what happens when you involve Pun-Pun is you create an awesome puzzle, faced with a daunting prospect one or more of your players looks at ways of making pun-pun open the door instead of attempting the puzzle and your game grinds to a halt.

 

[Lullabye]

so while i was spending some time running through 1d4chan i came across this recipe for peasent railgun:-

1. Hire a ton of peasants; let's just say that it is two thousand two hundred and eighty. Line them up in single file; this will form a chain of peasants two miles long. It'd be four miles back in MY day (witness me hiking up my 2nd Edition suspenders).

2. Buy a ladder. Just buy a standard, ten-foot ladder. Disassemble the ladder into a bunch of rungs and a pair of mighty ten-foot wooden poles. Hand a pole to the peasant at the back of line.

3. First round of combat. Peasant at the front of line readies an action to throw the pole at the enemy. Every peasant behind him readies an action to hand the pole to the peasant in front of him.

4. Next round: peasants fire off their readied actions, passing the pole two miles down the line and hurling it in six seconds or less. Pole accelerates to the speed of 1200 miles per hour, or a little less than Mach 2 at sea level.

5. Peasant Railgun can be reloaded and fired in less than 12 seconds.

6. ????? - Really, your choice. Weapon is scalable, you could use your peasant railgun to fire a number of things at a really long range. Add more peasants to make the weapons even faster; paint them red to make them fasta. Use gobbos to make a DnD grot cannon. Hurl pointy bombs for HEAT weapons. Severed heads make an impressive psychological warfare tool. It's even more wild with a bag of holding - place a team of fighters in it for DYNAMIC ENTRY over castle walls and shit, hurl some fucking bear cavalry directly into enemy lines, who knows. Combine this with the 15,000,000 gold-a-day trick and you're ready to absolutely ruin your DM's day.

7. Motherfucking PROFIT

does this work i mean seriously this sounds like such an awesome idea.

Awesome.
We are currently camped outside in a forest, trying to figure out how to stop a humanoid monster thing with the Gaebolg terrorizing a nearby village.
This idea is awesome, if only because we don't need to hire the damn peasants. They'll do it themselves.
Though, Im a Bard, and part air elemental, so I can use a song of tempest to speed up the poles too.
Awesome.
Though I doubt it would work.
Unless the peasants were Warforged?.....

 

[Hiphophippo]

As noted, possibly by me if this a thread I've seen on it before, it's super cool but no DM worth his salt would ever let it fly.

Certainly fun to think about how to best bend the rules though. Meta-gaming is fun for the whole family.

edit...yep. Same thread.

 

[w-Jinksy]

so while i was spending some time running through 1d4chan i came across this recipe for peasent railgun:-

1. Hire a ton of peasants; let's just say that it is two thousand two hundred and eighty. Line them up in single file; this will form a chain of peasants two miles long. It'd be four miles back in MY day (witness me hiking up my 2nd Edition suspenders).

2. Buy a ladder. Just buy a standard, ten-foot ladder. Disassemble the ladder into a bunch of rungs and a pair of mighty ten-foot wooden poles. Hand a pole to the peasant at the back of line.

3. First round of combat. Peasant at the front of line readies an action to throw the pole at the enemy. Every peasant behind him readies an action to hand the pole to the peasant in front of him.

4. Next round: peasants fire off their readied actions, passing the pole two miles down the line and hurling it in six seconds or less. Pole accelerates to the speed of 1200 miles per hour, or a little less than Mach 2 at sea level.

5. Peasant Railgun can be reloaded and fired in less than 12 seconds.

6. ????? - Really, your choice. Weapon is scalable, you could use your peasant railgun to fire a number of things at a really long range. Add more peasants to make the weapons even faster; paint them red to make them fasta. Use gobbos to make a DnD grot cannon. Hurl pointy bombs for HEAT weapons. Severed heads make an impressive psychological warfare tool. It's even more wild with a bag of holding - place a team of fighters in it for DYNAMIC ENTRY over castle walls and shit, hurl some fucking bear cavalry directly into enemy lines, who knows. Combine this with the 15,000,000 gold-a-day trick and you're ready to absolutely ruin your DM's day.

7. Motherfucking PROFIT

does this work i mean seriously this sounds like such an awesome idea.

Awesome.
We are currently camped outside in a forest, trying to figure out how to stop a humanoid monster thing with the Gaebolg terrorizing a nearby village.
This idea is awesome, if only because we don't need to hire the damn peasants. They'll do it themselves.
Though, Im a Bard, and part air elemental, so I can use a song of tempest to speed up the poles too.
Awesome.
Though I doubt it would work.
Unless the peasants were Warforged?.....

jesus christ of the titty fucking variety, i made this thread last summer, that some epic thread necromancy, well anyway thanks for the quote actually because i've actually gotten proper into D&D and i'm starting with a group this week as a bard.

i so have to try this , apparently the group is just for fun i'll see if he'll let us try it .

 

[Jakabotch]

So many serious DMs in here. The point of DMing is to make an epic adventure, but more so is to keep your players intrigued and engaged and having fun. I am always all for it when my players find a loophole of any sort to exploit to their benefit. It challenges me as a DM to find a way to patch said loop hole without breaking immersion.

For example, the pole flung by the peasant rail cannon would be undergoing quite a bit of friction as it passed through hundreds of peasants in a split second, yes? Why not make a roll check to see if the force applied causes it to burst into flames?

Hello, a critical fumble for a fire from the cannon could result in all sorts of mishaps. What if every peasant in the line received a wicked splinter and became enraged at the adventures forcing them to do such a ridiculous thing?

Exploiting a loop hole does not necessarily mean you're playing with unruly players out to ruin your day as a DM. It just provides an opportunity to add a little variety to your campaign while letting your players still feel that they aren't under the tyrannical rule of an omnipresent reality dictator in a world where pointed eared midgets can fling fireballs at will.

 

[SilentCom]

Why not just get a regular railgun? It would be way more fun that have a bunch of peasants hand poles to each other.

 

[Akiada]

So many serious DMs in here. The point of DMing is to make an epic adventure, but more so is to keep your players intrigued and engaged and having fun. I am always all for it when my players find a loophole of any sort to exploit to their benefit. It challenges me as a DM to find a way to patch said loop hole without breaking immersion.

For example, the pole flung by the peasant rail cannon would be undergoing quite a bit of friction as it passed through hundreds of peasants in a split second, yes? Why not make a roll check to see if the force applied causes it to burst into flames?

Hello, a critical fumble for a fire from the cannon could result in all sorts of mishaps. What if every peasant in the line received a wicked splinter and became enraged at the adventures forcing them to do such a ridiculous thing?

Exploiting a loop hole does not necessarily mean you're playing with unruly players out to ruin your day as a DM. It just provides an opportunity to add a little variety to your campaign while letting your players still feel that they aren't under the tyrannical rule of an omnipresent reality dictator in a world where pointed eared midgets can fling fireballs at will.

1. Jesus Christ this thread is old why did you go so far back to necro it.

2. This is not a loophole. There are no rules being exploited here (aside from the fact that you can use readied actions to pass things across huge distances with peasant chains if you operate purely on rules-as-written). As other posters have mentioned there are no rules for momentum in D&D. None. This trick relies on fooling the DM into ignoring physics (like the fact that there's no way a line of people can accelerate a pole so fast) and then tricking him again into bringing physics back into the equation.

There are no rules (aside from readied actions) involved here.

This isn't some clever trick of the rules. It both doesn't work by RAW and it doesn't work when you try to logically explain how a bunch of guys passing a pole get it up to such a speed.

The Peasant Railgun is just an exercise in convincing your DM to ignore the rules and logic. It is not a clever trick.

A clever trick is doing something like this [http://unicorn.us.com/alex/dnd/superweapon_arrowhead.gif]. By RAW, when you stick a portable hole in a bag of holding it results in the creation of a 10-foot sphere of annihilation. This actually works by RAW and logically. It is a clever trick and not "how do I keep my DM from seeing through my flawed idea?"

 

[Seydaman]

Ehehe, that's funny