History FantasyGunControl / TabletopGames

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Zigzagged. SchizoTech is a major factor of the setting -- different factions range from Stone Age tech to steampunk Napoleonic -- and, while some factions make extensive use of firearms, others very explicitly enforce bans on their use, and make up for it by means of magic, supernatural strength, guerrilla warfare, or some combination thereof.

** The Empire, Dwarfs, and Ogres make extensive use of handguns, pistols, cannons, mortars, volley guns, and rockets. Oh, and steam-powered tanks and ''helicopters''. They're pretty much objective improvements over their muscle-powered equivalents, mainly balanced out by cost; e.g. an Imperial Handgunner is 9 points while an Imperial Archer is only 5, and a dwarf bolt thrower is 45 points to a cannon's 100. Some editions (e.g. 6e) actually make it clear that the Empire ''only'' uses gunpowder ranged weapons in their regular army, with catapults and ballistae entirely absent and archers and crossbowmen classed alongside the Free Companies as militia rather than proper troops (and even the Free Companies have a smattering of firearms in their bands). The other Old World human nations (besides Bretonnia, see below) are in the same boat as the Empire, though seemingly a bit behind -- it's noted in ''Dogs of War'' 5e that the crossbow is still more common than the handgun in the Southern Realms, and their army list in both 5e and 6e (while it does have cannons) restricts personal firearms to heroes and unit leaders. The [[{{Wutai}} Cathayans]] also use a lot of gunpowder, and their weapons are generally more reliable and accurate than the Empire's.

** Played 100% straight with the elves. While there's nothing in ''WFRP'' preventing an elven character from using them, the elven factions as a whole do not make use of firearms. The Wood Elf factions have the excuse of being primitive Iron Age tribes (and most of their bows being magical giving them performance rivaling guns), but the High and Dark Elves use the same standard bows, crossbows, and ballistae that they've had for thousands of years rather than mass-producing arquebuses. Note that literally every civilization in reality with the means to do so shifted over to cannons and guns as soon as they learned it was possible -- see for example the quick adoption of the arquebus and European-style cannons all over Asia (most notably Japan) after the Portuguese ventures there in the early 16th century. In-universe no reason is given as to why they handicap themselves so severely other than a vague allusion to [[CantArgueWithElves haughty superiority]], which falls pretty flat when you remember all the other compromises they're willing to make for the sake of expediency.

** Bizarrely enforced on Ixalan, a world based on the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs [[AnachronismStew and the following Golden Age of piracy]]. The Legion of Tusk (vampiric conquistadors) aren't depicted with any kind of ranged weaponry. The Brazen Coalition (the pirates) are depicted with crossbows, and their ships use, "firecannons," powered by {{Magitek}} instead of gunpowder. The closest thing to a handheld firearm is [[https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=blunderbuss+%28game%3Apaper%29 Dire Blunderbuss]], which is itself ambiguous on whether it uses magic or gunpowder.

** Played very straight on Innistrad, a set that otherwise calls to mind the late 18th or early 19th century in regards to battle dress. Tricorn hats and fencing swords are used alongside...hand crossbows.

** Averted on Ixalan, where the pirates of the Brazen Coalition use cannons and muskets.

* ''TabletopGame/KingsOfWar'': The only factions that use gun powder weapons are the Dwarfs and Abyssal Dwarfs. The Dwarfs possess rifles and cannons as common weapons, while the Abyssal Dwarfs combine alchemy and dark magic with their weapons.

* ''TabletopGame/DarkLegacies'': The game itself has steam-driven power armour, land battleships powered by coal and other steam-driven vehicles, flamethrowers and automatic crossbows that are fed with ammo belts (the belt-fed automatic crossbows have their own big brother in a version that uses a steam engine to recrank). But no guns... the closest thing is a weapon called the bolt cannon, which is a recently invented cannon that shoots heavy bolts by detonating a small bomb inside. What is especially weird is that Dark Legacies takes place in a future Earth which had survived a demon invasion. Yes there is magic but it's fairly weak, has many drawbacks and very rare. Not to mention that the laws of physics hadn't changed to make guns unusable. It's just that somehow, humanity and its allied race of tinker gnomes have somehow never re-invented gunpower weapons or found any surviving examples from military depots, gun shops etc...

** Even more notable are the Skaven, who wield sniper rifles, flamethrowers, [[IncrediblyLamePun Ratling]] [[GatlingGood guns]], laser cannons and... a ''nuke''. A lot of which hilariously backfires.

** The Lizardmen are primitive descendants of the servants of a bygone race of glorious starfarers. As such, their technological base is split between ancient technological wonders, which they can operate but not repair or reproduce, and stuff that they can make themselves, which is functionally at a Bronze Age level; their devotion to the bygone Old Ones means that they don't care to use any technology not developed and approved by their ancient masters. As such, a Lizardman army consists chiefly of ranks of reptilian warriors armed with stone and bronze clubs and spears, squads of skirmishers armed with javelins and blowpipes, and powerful magitek weapons carried by dinosaurs.

** Played 100% straight with the elves. While there's nothing in ''WFRP'' preventing an elven character from using them, the elven factions as a whole do not make use of firearms. The Wood Elf factions have the excuse of being primitive Iron Age tribes (and most of their bows being magical giving them performance rivaling guns), but the High and Dark Elves use the same standard bows, crossbows, and ballistae that they've had for thousands of years rather than mass-producing arquebuses. Note that literally every civilization in reality with the means to do so shifted over to cannons and guns as soon as they learned it was possible -- see for example the quick adoption of the arquebus and European-style cannons all over Asia (most notably Japan) after the Portuguese ventures there in the early 16th century. In-universe no reason is given as to why they handicap themselves so severely other than a vague allusion to [[CantArgueWithElves haughty superiority]], which falls pretty flat when you remember all the other compromises they're willing to make for the sake of expediency (such as, in the Dark Elves' case, ''openly allying with Chaos'').

** The Empire, Dwarfs, and Ogres make extensive use of handguns, pistols, cannons, mortars, volley guns, and rockets. Oh, and steam-powered tanks and ''helicopters''. They're pretty much objective improvements over their muscle-powered equivalents, mainly balanced out by cost; e.g. an Imperial Handgunner is 9 points while an Imperial Archer is only 5, and a dwarf bolt thrower is 45 points to a cannon's 100. Some editions (e.g. 6e) actually make it clear that the Empire ''only'' uses gunpowder ranged weapons in their regular army, with catapults and ballistae entirely absent and archers and crossbowmen classed alongside the Free Companies as militia rather than proper troops (and even the Free Companies have a smattering of firearms in their bands). The other Old World human nations (besides Bretonnia, see below) are in the same boat as the Empire, though seemingly a bit behind - it's noted in ''Dogs of War'' 5e that the crossbow is still more common than the handgun in the Southern Realms, and their army list in both 5e and 6e (while it does have cannons) restricts personal firearms to heroes and unit leaders. The [[{{Wutai}} Cathayans]] also use a lot of gunpowder, though their weapons are less common and more primitive than the Empire's.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has some notable aversions:

** However, the Knights of Bretonnia are a straight example, since they ''deliberately'' enforce Fantasy Gun Control in their own kingdom. In fact, they have Fantasy Gun Control in Bretonnia so hard some knights have [[GunsAreWorthless magical protection from guns]] just [[ThePowerOfHate because they hate them so much]]. The blessings from The Lady of the Lake also helps.
** Back in the day there was a lot of bleed between ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', meaning that futuristic warriors could have beastman troops, toting automatic rifles and riding bikes. And high fantasy armies could contain {{Powered Armour}}ed mooks with [[AbnormalAmmo boltguns]]. [[RetCon This doesn't happen anymore]].
** In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', rules are provided for gunpowder weapons but their use is discouraged by all the limitations put on them -- they are extremely rare, extremely expensive both to purchase and to maintain, and they are prone to misfires (capable of actually killing the wielder with a bad roll) to boot. That said they outclass all other missile weapons in the game for sheer damage if, ''if'' they manage to work and hit. Hochland Long Rifles do not share the same accuracy and reliability issues, but they are bloody expensive even for firearms and even if you could pry it from the owners' cold, dead fingers, rest assured their family will spare no expense in getting it back.

** Played 100% straight with the elves. While there's nothing in WFRP preventing an elven character from using them, the elven factions as a whole do not make use of firearms. The Wood Elf factions have the excuse of being primitive Iron Age tribes (and most of their bows being magical giving them performance rivaling guns), but the High and Dark Elves use the same standard bows, crossbows, and ballistae that they've had for thousands of years rather than mass-producing arquebuses. Note that literally every civilization in reality with the means to do so shifted over to cannons and guns as soon as they learned it was possible - see for example the quick adoption of the arquebus and European-style cannons all over Asia (most notably Japan) after the Portuguese ventures there in the early 16th century. In-universe no reason is given as to why they handicap themselves so severely other than a vague allusion to [[CantArgueWithElves haughty superiority]], which falls pretty flat when you remember all the other compromises they're willing to make for the sake of expediency (such as, in the Dark Elves' case, ''openly allying with Chaos'').

* Zig-zagged in ''TabletopGame/WorldsWithoutNumber''. In most of the setting, traditional firearms don't work at all due to the collapse of natural laws, but [[Magitek]] firearms called "hurlants" exist. On the island of Ondas, the local magical fields permit for the development and mass-production of normal firearms, but they don't work off the island at all.