D&D’s Latest Book Straight Up Gives You Magic Guns

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants will give Dungeons & Dragons 5E players a whole new way to deal with their foes, as it will feature magical guns that can be used to pop a cap in any goblins or kobolds that are giving the party trouble. Usually, players deal with their problems with swords, spells, or even talking, but a magical firearm opens all new possibilities for the murderhobos to get their murderhobo on.

There are rules for gunpowder-based firearms in the official D&D rulebooks, but they’re strictly optional and up to the discretion of the DM. This is because a lot of groups prefer to keep things strictly fantasy-themed, barring some D&D campaign settings, like Spelljammer, which feature a limited number of firearms. A few campaigns have snuck guns in, such as a particularly well-hidden one in Curse of Strahd that most players miss, but that’s the exception.

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D&D 5E’s Bigby Presents: Glory Of Giants Has Magical Gatling Guns

A new video on the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel discusses the magic items that will appear in Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. Alongside the kinds of items you might expect from such a book, like a magical glove created by Bigby, there are magical guns that are powered by the elemental rune sorcery used by giants.

The first is a blunderbuss called the Lucent Destroyer, which is described as being like a “Sunlight Gatling Gun.” This weapon has three barrels, all of which fire blasts of sunlight, all powered by the Light rune, while also giving the user the ability to cast the Sunbeam spell. Sunbeam is a level 6 Evocation spell that deals 6d8 damage on a failed save, so maybe don’t give it to the players in Curse of Strahd, otherwise, the Darklord of Barovia is going to last about five seconds.

The second weapon is the Thunderbuss, which is a blunderbuss inscribed with the Storm rune. Instead of using conventional ammunition, the Thunderbuss fires bolts of thunder at the enemy. This is great, because Thunder is a rarely resisted element in D&D, especially compared to Fire and Cold, so a weapon that can readily shoot it will be a huge help to the party.

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As is the case with all D&D equipment, the party has to rely on the good graces of the DM to get their hands on loot like this. For some DMs, giving their players firearms would be the worst decision in the world, as it would lead to the campaign descending into Grand Theft Auto with horses, but giving players these items during the final hours of an adventure would make for an explosive finale.