Ranged Weapons

I decided to start reworking my weapon-pages to be non-setting specific, and therefor just contain technical- and historical data, but to keep it light and digestible, providing an idea of why they were used, when they were used and against what they were used. Unfortunately, I have not had time to make this article non-setting specific yet, but a lot of the weapons here are modern enough that it shouldn't be necessary. 
== Arrows ==
Most people think arrows are pretty universal - but that isn't really true. An arrow made for a long-bow wouldn't necessarily work for a compound bow, which typically used arrows that were shorter but had a thicker shaft - and incidentally were too short to fire from a long-bow - whilst a long-bow arrow would be too fragile to survive being shot with the power of a compound bow at a close-range target. Unless your GM tells you otherwise, assume that the arrows your character has will not work for other types of bows - but arrowheads are a different story! 
=== Regular arrowheads ===
Regular Arrowheads were once used for, pretty much everything. Now, they're mainly used for practice. Regular Arrowheads are fairly durable and cheap to make. They can be fired many times without needing any kind of real care (note that the arrowhead has almost the same diameter at its thickest point, as the shaft), as despite the looks, the arrow isn't really "sharp" - rather you could compare it a bit to a very small estoc-tip. 
* No statistical differences - this is the default basic arrow. 
=== Hunting arrowheads ===
Most game that was killed by arrow could not be downed by a single shot. The small-profile regular-size arrowhead actually staunches the wound when it hits, so people realized they needed something that had a different shape, caused a larger wound and caused bleeding, or a larger amount of tissue per arrow. 
The hunting-style arrowheads are rarely identical - the picture here is just one example, but they have in common that they do not lock into the wound - as the hunter needed to retrieve his arrow - preferably intact, and without having to gut the entire animal to obtain it. Note that the arrow is thickest near the middle of the head, then tapers in again, becoming slimmer than the shaft - this causes blood to flow freely from the wound that has been inflicted, which is at least twice the size of a normal arrow! This type of arrow was also often sharp. 
* -1 Amor Piercing 
* Upgrade Damage Dice by one category 
* Causes target to bleed - this is a slow bleed, but if not dressed after battle, target will eventually die. 
=== War arrowhead ===
The war arrowhead follows the same initial principle as the hunting arrow, but when used against people on a battlefield, there is little hope of retrieving the arrow intact, as people often panic and break them immediately and in addition, many flee the battlefield after being injured. Due to its design, the War Arrow would lodge in a wound, being difficult to remove as the backside would tear and rend flesh all-over when removed. The war arrowhead was a death-sentence to be struck by, as it required surgery to remove safely, and most soldiers couldn't count on having access to that. 
* -1 Armor Piercing 
* Upgrade Damage Dice by one category 
* Causes target to bleed - this is a slow bleed, but if not dressed after battle, target will eventually die. 
* Arrows causes 2d4 slashing damage if removed without surgery. Failed surgery roll means target suffers 1d4 damage. 
=== Broad-head Arrow ===
The Broad-head Arrow was more expensive, and compared to the War Arrowhead, it was more of a novelty item - and some hunters did use them against particularly large game. Naturally capable of dealing immense damage, the amount of metal that went into crafting a single such arrow was enough to make two, or possibly three war arrowheads, making the broad-head an unpopular choice for warfare where shot-cadence was important. They also took up unreasonable amounts of space in a quiver, and they frankly didn't fly quite as well - but when fired correctly, an arrow such as this could likely kill nearly instantly, even if it missed any vitals from tissue damage alone. 
* -3 Armor Piercing 
* Upgrade Damage Dice by two categories 
* Causes target to bleed - this is a slow bleed, but if not dressed after battle, target will eventually die. 
* Arrows causes 2d4 slashing damage if removed without surgery. Failed surgery roll means target suffers 1d4 damage. 
=== Bodkin arrowhead ===
The first Bodkin arrowheads were probably made when people initially experimented, but they didn't become popular until armored men took the field of battle. Chainmail was the real reason for this invention gaining popularity, and the first bodkin arrowheads were very long, as frequently, even these long and very tapered arrows would not penetrate chainmail, but were rather rebuffed by the elasticity of the design of the armor - hence the very long tapered tip, meaning if the shooter was lucky, the tip would strike the center of a ring and at least wound the target a little before falling down. However, with plate armor becoming normal, bodkins were shortened again. 
* +2 Armor Piercing 
* Downgrade damage by one category 
=== Crescent arrowhead ===
The crescent arrowhead was the medieval shotgun - intended for small-game (mainly birds and rabbits), the arrow was excellent at short-range against a fast-moving small target that could be brought down with even a minor injury. The idea behind the arrowhead is to make a very wide tip that can injure regardless of where it strikes the target, enabling the shooter to hit a target even if the target is off-center from the arrow itself - but the arrow would not fly as far as a better designed arrow, and would deal abysmal damage against larger targets. 
* Cannot Pierce any kind of armor 
* Reduce damage to 1d4 regardless of launcher 
=== Blunt arrowhead ===
Used almost elusively for small game with valuable fur, blunt-arrowheads were not at all common - it was more common to use traps and then dispatch such animals with a club. 
* Cannot Pierce any kind of armor 
* Reduce damage to 1d4 regardless of launcher 
== Bows ==
Bows started out being a fairly advanced ranged weapon with limited application, due to weak attacks, and evolved into a powerful weapon of war, usable only by the skilled. Bows did not truly lose their application in war until the very late medieval period, and even after that, they were still used for hunting and sports.  
=== Material Types ===
Material limits application - and some materials are simply superior to others. 
===== Self =====
Self-bows are made entirely from a single piece of wood and this is the default bow-material - unlike composite bows that were made from multiple separate materials "composed together". Self-bows were largely inferior to composite bows, but were much easier to make, easier to maintain and much less expensive - and finally, easier to modify and to experiment with. In reality, at any given time in the medieval, for every working composite bow design, there was probably over 100 working self-bow designs - one couldn't simply reverse the process when making a composite bow and try a different method - you were pretty much stuck with what ever result you got.  
===== Composite =====
Designed in regions where wood is scarce and was mainly used by riders. It is built out of glued and wired together wood and horn. This permits the bow to reach unprecedented levels of draw-strength, despite requiring very little material - however, a composite bow also requires a great deal of effort to make.  
* Double strength requirement (if 0, it becomes 1)  
* +Upgrade Damage by one type  
* +10 meters reach on all distances  
* +100 GP in price, unless in region where this kind of bow is cultural norm (GMs discretion in that case)  
=== Design Features ===
There were certain design features that a bow could have - each design feature naturally made the bow more expensive and more difficult to make. A bow with no design features, if a self-bow, defaults to being a "round-bow" - round-bows are also called survival bows and are fairly unimpressive in both ability and performance. If the bow is composite, it defaults to being a flat-bow.  
===== Flat-bow =====
The Flat-bow was a huge improvement over the round-bow, having been whittled completely differently, resulting in a flat bow-shaft. Flat-bows have increased draw-strength as well as range.
* +10 meters reach on all distances  
* +10 GP in price  
===== Recurve-bow =====
The Recurve bow was featured a mild recurve, making it extremely well suited for hunting on foot. The recurve means that the ends of the bow are drawn in faster than the shaft itself, meaning the bow draws faster, making for quicker shots. Increases finesse, meaning the archer can shoot one extra time per round, but only at short range, but the bow loses its ability to fire volley-shots. Naturally this design is incompatible with Horse-bow. 
* Cannot effectively fire volley-shots anymore. 
* +1 AP
* + 10 meters reach to all distances
* +20 GP in price
===== Horse-bow =====
The Horse-bow recurved significantly more than an ordinary recurve bow - it was a matter of balance, the recurve made it easier (and faster) to draw, which made the bow easier to use despite the monstrous draw-strength needed to fire a bow that was short enough to use on horseback (a shorter bow had to be more powerful to compensate for the lack of inherent power generated by the shaft). The Horse-bow design only worked for short bows. Naturally, this design is incompatible with recurve-bow.
* All effects from recurve
* Double Strength Requirement
* Upgrade Damage by one category
* +20 GP in price extra
=== Bow lengths ===
Bows came in three general lengths - and once more, totally untrue, but we're trying to simplify here. 
===== War-bow =====
The War Bow length had no real application in hunting, though they were used for this if nothing else was available. They were far too large to be used from horseback. War Bows were far more accurate than any other bows, but were slow to fire, as the bow would not properly launch an arrow unless it had been correctly drawn. 
* Dmg types: Thrusting (1d10).
* Reach: 50/100/500
* Init: -2,
* Cost: 1.
* Special: Draw 
* Finesse bonus: 5
* Strength Requirement: 1
===== Hunting-bow =====
The Hunting Bow is a typical "civilian bow". In military application, such bows were not at all hopeless, as - if they had the right design - they could still fire volley-shots at moderate distance, and they were still well suited as defensive bows. The bow was smaller, often made with a recurve and could fire faster than a war bow, making it well suited for hunting game. A medium bow could be fired from horseback, but only directly to the side. 
* Dmg types: Thrusting (1d8). 
* Reach: 25/50/250 meters. 
* Init: -1, 
* Cost: 1. 
* Special: Draw 
* Finesse bonus: 5 
* Strength Requirement: 0
===== Short-bow =====
The Short-bow had only one real application - namely mounted combat. Designed to be small, specifically so that it could fire in any direction from horseback, the short bow was otherwise, militarily speaking, useless. As a hunting bow, it had limitations, as the design made the bow inaccurate on greater distances - making it well-suited for firing into a formation. 
* Dmg types: Thrusting (1d8). 
* Reach: 15/30/60 meters. 
* Init: -1, 
* Cost: 1. 
* Special: Draw 
* Finesse bonus: 5
* Strength Requirement: 2
== Crossbows ==
The
 crossbow is an old invention that didn't become popular until much 
later, because the crossbow's extra punching power was considered 
entirely unnecessary before heavier armor types were invented. Crossbows
 do not boast the same range as bows, in fact not even the heaviest 
crossbow boasts that kind of range, and they are also very slow to fire 
by comparison. 
=== Light crossbow ===
The light crossbow is mostly used for hunting and for target practice. It's practically speaking just a bow on a shaft. The Light-Crossbow was, during the medieval, the European ranged Cavalry weapon of choice, used as a skirmish weapon, as it can be fired in one hand fairly easy, and it's also very simply to reload, by adding a small hook to the saddle, which the crossbow's nose-ring is hooked on, and then re-grasping it to pull the string back. 
* Dmg types: Thrusting (2d4). 
* Reach: 10/25/50 
* Init: -1, 
* Cost: 2. 
* Special: Can be fired with one-hand, and re-drawn from horseback with special equipment. 
* Finesse bonus: 5.
=== Infantry Crossbow ===
The standard crossbow, mostly referred to as an infantry crossbow, is used from within the battle formations, to take potshots at the enemies. It uses the foot-in-nose method to redraw, and isn't possible to redraw from horseback or fire one-handed. Most professional soldiers have access to crossbows in their arsenals.  
* Dmg types: Thrusting (1d10). 
* Reach: 10/50/100
* Init: -2, 
* Cost: 2. 
* Special: +1 AP
* Finesse bonus: 5.
=== Arbalest ===
The arbalest is a powerful crossbow, used only by dedicated marksmen in the field, though providing a dramatically different result than the War-Bow, as it cannot perform long-range volley-shots, but can provide extremely lethal shots to designated targets - it is basically a medieval sniper-rifle. Defensively, it is often used by inexperienced shooters from inside a fortification, as the arbalest is easily drawn using its wench system. The bow itself is made of steel, the string normally made from woven copper. 
* Dmg types: Thrusting (1d12).  
* Reach: 10/75/150  
* Init: -3,  
* Cost: 2.  
* Special: AP 2  
* Finesse bonus: 5.  
== Smooth-bore muzzle-loaded firearms ==
Smooth-bore Weapons, meaning that are essentially portable cannons, or as modern people would say; Shotguns. Before rifling was invented, this was the normal way of designing any long-gun, regardless of it's purpose.  
=== Flintlock ===
The flintlock is a pistol variant of the musket, used in one hand, often paired with a melee weapon due to the short range and the reload time combined - meaning after you've fired your weapon, you will no doubt be in melee range the next second.  
Insert stats here later...  
===== Variant: Dragon Pistol =====
Essentially the pistol variant of a Blunderbuss (see below). They look practically identical to a flintlock, but scatter their fire.  
As with the full-sized blunderbuss, the pistol variant is not actually designed for killing, but for harassment and injuring across a larger area in an infantry formation. Firing a single bullet, one can hope to injure or kill a single individual, but with a weapon that scatters a cloud of pellets, the injuries can be spread across a larger area.  
=== Smooth-bore Carbine ===
Designed to be possible to fire from horseback, the Carbine lacks the precision of it's musket counterpart and while possible to use in one-hand, the carbine is best used when at least supported by the other arm - The carbine is afforded medium precision, used to place a single precise shot before charging in to deliver one more shot from pistol right before clashing with sabers.  
Alternatively, the carbine is good as a harassment weapon, allowing cavalry to charge a large infantry formation armed with muskets, and while difficult to hit on the move - they deliver harassing shots from a safe distance - most of these only hitting anything because the infantry formation is as large as it is.    
===== Variant: Blunderbuss =====
Not designed for mounted use, the Blunderbuss is was a personal defense weapon - though it was determined that the Blunderbuss was rather effective from mounted use as a harassment weapon - often used by dragoons who lacked the horses and proper training to do a normal infantry charge, the weapon didn't serve to kill very many, but it would wound many more than a single musket ever could.    
The blunderbuss fires a hail of small pellets that scatter and form a great cloud of projectiles. As such, it's only deadly in close range. As such, it is extremely popular with boarding teams in the Navies.    
=== Musket ===
A musket is the rifle variant of the flintlock pistol. Fitted with a bayonet, and quite long to add precision, the muskets were typically suited for use as short-spears in their own right, the stock reinforced with a metal plate where it braced against the shoulder to enable use for clubbing.    
=== Rifled break-action firearms ===
With the invention of the bullet a new loading method was introduced, and weapons were quickly revolutionized, enabling much more rapid reloading speeds on the field of battle.    
=== Break-action Pistol ===
The Break-Action pistol is barely remembered in the real world - it had a very short lifespan, in between the invention of the flintlock pistol that was common for quite long, and the revolver which replaced the break-action pistol, which still sees use today.    
Alas, it did exist and saw widespread use in the short period of time in which it existed. The Break-Action idea didn't translate well to rifles, due to the extremely long rifle barrels, making it next to impossible to reload the rifle while crouching or laying down - thus, the breach-action lock mechanism was made for rifles, but this was overkill and impractical for pistols that needed to be re-loadable from horseback as well.    
Break-action weaponry is state of the art in most Kingdoms during the Source Lands independence wars.    
=== Break-action carbine ===
The Break-Action Carbine didn't see use for very long either - Unlike break-action rifles which saw use for practically an abysmal amount of time, due to the rapid invention of breach-loading, the Break-Action Carbine - like the pistol - was practical, because from horse back, it was convenient to use break-action, where as breach-action was entirely impractical for these purposes.    
Break-action weaponry is state of the art in most Kingdoms during the Source Lands independence wars.    
=== Break-action rifle ===
Used almost exclusively for hunting, the break-action mechanism proved worthless in combat, due to the length of an infantry rifle, making it far too clumsy to reload while crouching or being prone, or even in tight quarters.    
However, break-action rifles did exist, though most commonly, one would combine them with a shotgun, having three barrels on the weapon, two for shotgun shells and one for a rifle round.    
These slightly obscure hunting weapons were quite popular around the invention of the cartridged-bullet.    
Break-action weaponry is state of the art in most Kingdoms during the Source Lands independence wars, the rifle being the exception.    
== Smoothbore break-loaded firearms ==
The idea to reload a musket, or blunderbuss (shotgun), by creating a method to open the gun up and reveal the actual chamber, instead of reloading by means of insertion through the barrel seems like a complete no-brainer, but it took decades before the concept saw widespread use. The first widely adapted version of this was "break-loading". Break-Loading differs from the more popular concept of break-action because it did not actually cock the weapon, but simply exposed the chamber to allow reloading, and the weapon still typically featured external hammers that had to be cocked.    
=== Break-Loaded Shotgun ===
A smoothbore break-loaded long-gun with external hammers for cocking.    
===== Historical =====
The Break-loaded shotgun is the grandchild of the early break-loaded muskets and blunderbusses, featuring the use of actual shotgun shells, but still requiring the manual cocking of hammers. While recently almost completely phased out, due to many countries adapting regulations against black-powder weaponry, there's still a considerable amount of these around, but they do not see production anymore.    
===== Source Lands =====
Break-Loaded Shotguns are considered state of the art shotguns in most Kingdoms, during the Source Lands independence wars.    
== Smoothbore break-action firearms ==
TBA    
== Rifled breech-loaded firearms ==
The breech, being very similar to break-action in concept, function by using some sort of mechanism that reveals the chamber of the weapon, allowing the user to insert a cartridge bullet - usually by pulling back a hammer or using a bolt-lock. This naturally means that there is considerable cross-over between breech-loaded firearms and bolt-action - this is also why it is not called "breech-action", but rather "breech-loading". Action describes the method with which a weapon is cocked, whereas "loading" describes the method with which a weapon is is physically loaded - though the two are not always different from each other, they sometimes are.    
=== Breech-loaded rifle ===
A rifled long-gun that is breech-loaded.    
===== Historical Use =====
Breech action was invented some time before the American Civil War, and first saw proper use during this war, and since revolutionized the battle-field, causing the shift towards trench-warfare, as the speed with which a soldier could now reload, and the accuracy brought about by a rifled long-gun was so devastating to open-field warfare that it lead to soldiers taking the complete opposite approach.    
===== Source Lands =====
Breach-Loaded rifles are considered state of the art rifles in most Kingdoms, during the Source Lands independence wars.    
== Revolving rifled firearms ==
The introduction of the revolving firearm made firing weapons in rapid succession much easier. The design did not prove useful for rifles, but it did prove useful for carbines. The design enabled cavalry to fire much more rapidly than an infantry man could - all it took was one pull of the thumb and the weapon was ready again.        
=== Revolver Pistol ===
Typically just called a "Revolver", being the most iconic of its class, the earliest revolvers had very limited firepower - it was at first difficult to make revolver frames that could withstand the trying nature of heavy ammunition - as such, revolvers mostly found affection with cavalry, though they made reliable sidearms for everyone.        
Heavier revolvers were invented, but ultimately these proved impractical due to the heavy recoil which made them unsuitable for the cavalry use, or for dual-wielding with a saber for that matter.        
Revolvers are common in the Mid-Source Lands, and in Orlais, but are considered the absolute pinnacle of pistol technology everywhere else, at the time of the Source Lands independence wars.        
=== Revolver Carbine ===
Essentially just revolvers with a stock and extremely long barrel, despite the fire power limitations the revolver design heavily improved on the deadliness of cavalry. For another glorious century, horsemen armed with revolving carbines and revolvers would dominate the battlefield, until the dreaded ungentlemanly weapons such as machine guns and those damned automo-cannons.                
Revolving Carbines are common in the Mid-Source Lands, and in Orlais, but are considered the absolute pinnacle of pistol technology everywhere else, at the time of the Source Lands independence wars.                
== Lever action rifled Firearms ==
Lever Action firearms mainly refers to carbines, intended to be used from horseback. Lever-action weapons use internal magazines, with cartridges being inserted into a slot, filling up the internal tube-magazine.                
The concept was still in a prototype phase when the Source-Lands independence wars happened, but they quickly replaced the revolver carbines, because the revolver carbines had some issues that caused some cavalry units to actually prefer the earlier break-action models - namely the fire that shot out from the drum - this was a problem, due to the particular way a horseman's carbine is wielded, often causing burns on the wielding soldier.                
The lever-action carbines were a huge success, but lever action never saw much use with other types of weaponry, excepting the shotgun. Prior to the invention of the pump-action shotgun, the lever-action was the most effective choice of shotgun there was, and it was ideal for Dragoons and remained in use with dragoons long after other military units adopted the pump-action model.                
The reason why Lever-Action Carbines were much more common than Lever Action Rifles, was that Carbines were commonly chambered in lower calibers than common full-size rifles, and the lever-action loading mechanism becomes tricky to use when paired with a rifle-lock that is designed to hold a large caliber round - it becomes a bit too heavy for effective use, especially after soot settles in the moving parts.                
=== Lever action Pistol-Carbine ===
The Lever Action Pistol-Carbine is essentially a short rifle, loaded by lever-action mechanism chambered in a pistol round. It was what the Cavalry forces had been waiting for - a weapon that could keep up with their speed. The weapon could only handle fairly delicate calibers, meaning the recoil was very limited, allowing the cavalry man to quickly reload and fire many consecutive rounds in a single charge. The only down-side was, that it took some time to reload, and there seemed to be no way around this. That was what the back-up revolver was for, however, which typically became effective at about the same range when the Carbine was spent.                
The Lever Action Carbine earned the nick-name "repeater" due to it's incredibly high rate of fire, and even earned itself a place among law-enforcement, infantry and hunters. A good shot could kill with it - both men and small game. Any man could injure with it, and ultimately, injuring was - in warfare - practically as good as killing in many situations.                
Mainly used defensively, the carbine had no real use in offensive situations - the carbine's loading mechanism prevented the shooter from going prone effectively and required a decent set-up, preferably standing.                
Lever-Action Carbines are State of the art in the Mid-Source Lands, and in Orlais, at the time of the Source Lands independence wars, seen only as prototypes outside of these locations.                
=== Lever action Rifle-Carbine ===
The same as above, but chambered in low-caliber rifle rounds (sometimes high-caliber but low load). These rounds are typically specifically associated with legacy models of Lever Action Rifle-Carbines now, and are not used in many other common weapons and have generally fallen out of fashion otherwise.                
== Lever Action Smooth-bore firearms ==
The Lever Action, as mentioned, was also incredibly popular with shotguns, for a shot amount of time only. The lever-action mechanism, as mentioned, was ineffective for infantry, and while the shotgun did see fairly limited use among infantry, it did see a lot of use in trenches. The loading mechanism was also unnecessarily complicated for how a shotgun operates.                
=== Lever action Shotgun ===
Adding more barrels to the shotgun worked fine - attempting to make a shotgun revolver was also something that the world saw examples of, but it was difficult to make a frame that could contain the blast of a shotgun shell, and ultimately ineffective.                
Ultimately, the shotguns general survival owes a lot to the invention of the lever-action mechanism, which heavily increased the combat effectiveness of the shotgun, in a world where weapons could suddenly fire much faster than before.                
The lever-action mechanism was marketed towards horsemen, Dragoons specifically, who could effectively use the weapon from horseback. Cavalry forces kept using them, but otherwise, the lever-action shotgun had a short lifespan, quickly replaced by the more infantry friendly Pump-action shotgun, which had the advantage, that - if mastered properly - the shooter could reload the weapon using the kick of the recoil.                
Lever-Action shotguns are State of the art in the Mid-Source Lands, and in Orlais, at the time of the Source Lands independence wars, seen only as prototypes outside of these locations.                
== Pump-Action Smooth bore firearms ==
Pump-action was only ever popular with the shotgun - though attempts were made to use the mechanism with other types of weapons, unsuccessfully.                
=== Pump-action shotgun ===
The Pump-Action shotgun was a minor improvement over the lever-action design, for shotguns and practically exclusively shotguns. The design is largely ineffective for most weapons that can make use of an internal tube-magazine, but the shotgun takes advantage of what seems like a disadvantage to weapons with lesser recoil, and the shooter can use the kick from the recoil to instantly load the gun.                
Thus, the weapon becomes much more effective when used on foot. The pump-action shotgun never did win over the cavalry forces though.                
This weapon is exclusively found in the Orlesian Military and in the Mid-Source Lands during the Source Land independence wars, and even then, only as a prototype.                
== Bolt Action rifled Firearms ==
The first bolt-action firearms cross over into the category of breech-action, by exposing the chamber by means of a bolt-lock, however, when referring to a Bolt Action rifle, one commonly refers to a bolt-lock weapon that also features a detachable or internal magazine, thus allowing for much faster reloading.                
=== Bolt Action Pistol-Carbine ===
Essentially the same as a Bolt Action Rifle-Carbine, but chambered in a common pistol caliber. This may initially sound like a fringe concept, but such weapons were extremely common during the American Civil War, though at the time they may not have been under this classification.                
=== Bolt Action Rifle-Carbine ===
A shorter version of a Bolt-Action Rifle, typically in a low rifle caliber.                
=== Bolt Action Rifles ===
Internal magazines could typically only hold 5 rounds, then later models came that could hold up to ten, which was considered amazing at the time. The invention of the external magazine kept the bolt action rifle artificially alive as the main battle rifle of most armies for a very long time, before someone finally came up with semi-automatic weaponry.                
The bolt action rifle remains a favorite among sharpshooters, and among hunters and civilians.                
Bolt-Action rifles are state of the art in the Mid-Source Lands, and in Orlais, but are considered the absolute pinnacle of rifle technology at the time of the Source Lands independence wars, found only as prototypes in these locations.                
== Semi-Automatic Rifled Firearms ==
Semi-Automatic weaponry existed as rare prototypes during the Independence Wars, but mainly belongs to the Post-Skylands era, with it becoming State of the Art technology just before the Skylands sunk into the ocean. 
=== Semi-Automatic Pistol ===
The Semi-Automatic Pistol is common in Orlais, hundreds of years after the dark age that followed the collapse of the Skylands. There are many different prototypes, but the most common is basically an attempt at fusing the physiology of the revolver with the mechanics of a semi-automatic handgun. The common army pistol of Orlais, as shown, is loaded using insert-able cylindrical rotary magazines into the pistols side. 
=== Semi-Automatic Pistol Carbine ===
Essentially the same as a Rifle-Carbine, but chambered in a common Pistol Caliber. 
=== Semi-Automatic Rifle ===
The Main-Battle Rifle of the Noveran Empire's military forces, as shown in the picture, is not very different from the one that is currently being replaced in the Orlesian military - with their newest state-of-the-art technology. Appearing quite some time after the fall of the Skylands, the idea of adding an external magazine to a bolt-action rifle, and then later making the same rifle semi-automatic, completely changed the pace of warfare. 
== Automatic Rifled Firearms ==
Automatic weapons appeared as experimental weapons during the Source Land independence wars, and they had much success, and despite positive publishing by Orlesian Officers, the war was generally not remembered favorably, and neither were the war-time experiments. Automatic Weaponry didn't truly find a niche in military use, permanently, until after the fall of the Skylands. 
=== Machine Pistol ===
A Machine Pistol is a pistol that allows for fully automatic fire. Many of them have optional stock-attachments, and often, the stock is the holster of the pistol. Quite a few have magazines that load in in front of the trigger, as with a typical Sub-Machine Gun. 
=== Micro Sub-Machine Gun ===
A Sub-Machine gun, but without a stock, and typically dramatically reduced in size - designed for concealment. A pre-courser to the Personal Defense Weapon. 
=== Sub-Machine Gun ===
A Sub-Machine Gun is a Pistol Carbine, with a stock, that is capable of firing fully automatic. They always use Pistol rounds, though typically work best with special high-velocity rounds. 
The Sub-Machine Gun is given to unit commanders, starting from Squad Leaders, no matter the unit type. They are also given to various shock-troops, such as airborne infantry, and mechanized infantry as well. It's not uncommon to find distinguished infantry units using such weapons in general. 
The weapon proves excellent for offensive "blitz-krieg" style warfare, which some units are well suited for, but less effective in more conventional trench warfare, aside from being a fine personal defense weapon.
In the Orlesian Military, any Officer, regardless of their function or actual rank (be they petty Officers or Senior Commanding Officers) can requisition a Sub-Machine gun for personal defense, if they are going into the field or being deployed. 
=== Personal Defense Weapon ===
Firing special rounds that are actually redesigned rifle rounds, made for "pistol use", the Personal Defense Weapons are otherwise typically closely resembling Sub-Machine Guns, featuring stocks and the ability for to fire fully automatically. With the spread of the Assault Rifle-Carbine, the Personal Defense Weapon fell out of fashion with its target group - the Logistical troops behind the front-line, and vehicle crews, but it found a new lease on life with Special Forces and Recon Troops who would often carry it as a back-up Weapon. 
=== Assault Rifle ===
The Assault Rifle is essentially just a Sub-Machine gun on steroids, firing low-caliber rifle rounds. The Orlesian military is the only place these weapons are found, and even then, only in the hands of shock-troopers and other high-tempo infantry. 
The Assault Rifle has the same effective range as a normal infantry rifle, but with the added firepower of a fully-automatic weapon. The price one pays, is slightly less firepower, but the 30 round magazine and the full-auto capability makes up for this. 
It's clear that the Orlesian Military intends to replace both Sub-Machine Guns and Rifles with the Assault Rifle as a military primary weapon within the next few decades. 
=== Support Gun ===
The Support Gun is an assault rifle, chambered in normal rifle rounds, not the weaker ones normally used by Assault Rifles, with a drum magazine and a thicker barrel, designed for constant bursts of automatic fire. It comes with bi-pods and is an experimental idea. 
Considerably more accurate than a Light Machine Gun, much longer range than the assault rifle or sub-machine gun and more mobile than the Light Machine Gun, the idea is that the Support Weapon is ready to fire earlier than the Light Machine Gun, and can cover while the Light Machine Gunner moves and re-deploys, and when the Light Machine Gun is back up and running, the Support Gun can resume normal firing patterns, functioning as a semi-marksman unit. 
=== Marksman Rifle ===
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Similar to the Support Gun, but with a 20 round magazine instead of a drum magazine, and a scope. 
Given to the Scout in a specialized infantry unit, this weapon has the exact same capabilities as the assault rifle, with the added bonus that it can double as a sniper rifle, and the rifle-mounted optics are a very handy tool that the soldier always has at hand, instead of having to constantly bring up binoculars. 
Not a true Sniper Rifle, the scope only offers mild optics, and is on purpose off-set a bit to the right, allowing the shooter to use the normal iron-sights in normal situations. The scope is intended as a tool allowing the shooter to take out key targets during a field confrontation with an enemy unit - an example could be shooting the enemy machine-gunner. 
Interestingly, most Marksman are not particularly thrilled with this new experimental idea - the Assault Rifle platform is fairly good - considering that most infantry troopers aren't dead-eye shots anyway, and the autofire combined with low-recoil helps make up for that, but most marksman would prefer a semi-automatic high-caliber rifle with a scope instead - it's just more accurate. 
=== Light Machine Gun ===
The Light Machine Gun is a weapon that brings to mind; relativity. In comparison to the Heavy Machine Gun, it is light, but otherwise, the word "light" is not particularly appropriate to use about this weapon. 
A mobile infantry machine gun, that can be used to set up an improvised emplacement, using the bi-pods, in practically no time, thus allowing the soldier to do so, while moving with an infantry unit of riflemen. 
No infantry unit is ever found without these weapons, in the time after the fall of the Skylands. Without such a weapon, an infantry unit is practically handicapped, as the LMG can lay down cover fire for much longer than any other infantry weapon, and is essential to modern infantry maneuvers.