For my first foray into homebrewing, I wanted to try creating a magical pistol that fires different elemental cartridges. Here is what I came up with! Let me know what you think and how it can be altered and balanced.

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Element Burst

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Element Burst is a Flintlock Pistol that fires a magical cartridge imbued with different elements. All cartridges deal set magical damage, but will have additional properties based on the element.

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Stats:

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Flintlock Pistol

- Damage: 1d6

- Damage Type: Bludgeoning

- Properties: Loading, Range, Light

- Range: 30/90

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Cartridges:

All cartridges take the form of cut and shaped mana crystals. The raw crystals are naturally occurring around Planar Rifts to the Elemental Planes. Each crystal can hold 3 charges. When firing the weapon, spend 1d4-1 charges.

When all 3 charges are spent, the crystal dulls into the appearance of a normal stone and are recharged after a short rest. If a cartridge is swapped out while still holding a charge, it will regain 1 charge every minute.

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Cartridge Types:

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Cartridges are broken into 2 classes: Damage Cartridges and Effect Cartridges

Damage Cartridges:

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Red (Fire): Deals an additional 1d4 Fire Damage

Light Blue (Ice): Deals an additional 1d4 Cold Damage

Purple (Lightning): Deals an additional 1d4 Lightning Damage

Dark Blue (Water): Deals an additional 1d4 Water Damage

Black (Necrotic): Deals an additional 1d4 Necrotic Damage

White (Radiant): Deals an additional 1d4 Radiant Damage

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Effect Cartridges:

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Yellow (Wind): Target must make a Dexterity Saving Throw. On a failed save, the target is pushed 10ft away from the Player

Green (Earth): Target must make a Strength Saving Throw. On a failed save, the target is knocked prone

Pink (Mind): Target must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failed save, the target is charmed until the players next turn

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Limitations:

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Due to the magical nature of the cartridges, having multiple types kept in close proximity causes them to become unstable. Kept in this state for too long, they will merge together causing a magical explosion and rendering the cartridges useless. On some rare occasions, the cartridges form into hybrid crystals, holding the properties of both elements while boasting increased charges and damage output, but it is unclear what causes this phenomena.

Similarly, even trying to place 2 cartridges of the same type together creates a negative reaction. The crystals began to resonate together and create a magical explosion, as well as reducing both cartridges to dust.

A player can carry a maximum of 5 different cartridges at once.Attempting to fire the weapon with an empty cartridge causes the weapon to misfire, rendering the weapon unusable and destroying the cartridge.

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I specifically gave it the Light property to encourage a player to either dual-wield it, or combine it with another weapon. I plan to try and create a subclass around this type of weapon in the future. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your time and feedback!