UESP Forums

I know I'm going to be ripped apart for this, but while casually browsing this discussion a question came up in my mind. Deep breath now.

Would guns be a bad thing to have in Elder Scrolls?

Skyrim is set at a time when aggression and war seems to have spiraled out of control all over Tamriel, now the empire has crumbled everyone seems to be at each others throats. Since the arms race is the main struggle when it comes to war I can seriously see that in this period of time a race would look at munitions as a good advantage to have, the Imperials for example as a means to get the empire under control. Skooma is already smuggled all over the place, wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see weapons too.

Another reason, based on the first point, is that as far as I can see the whole Elder Scrolls universe seems to be stuck in the same time period - events happen but no real progression in magic, social or technology advancement (which is the point I know, but just saying.)

A more simple reason would simply be the fact that we can tolerate shooting arrows, fireballs and god knows what else at enemies - would having a musket or hand cannon thing really be that bad? It would be handy for melee based characters with no ranged skills, but still needs to pick off the odd few at a distance.

Personally I'd love it because you can combine all kinds of skills - Alchemy to make gunpowder or oil, Armorer to maintain your weapon, you'd need a decent amount of strength to handle firing the thing and steady hand (would that be agility or speed?)

You get the idea, I'm talking early firearms like muskets or cannons - not AK47's here.

SO, knowing that most replies would just tell me how wrong I am to ruin the wondrous magical place that is Tamriel with filthy modern things, would you agree with me?

Be gentle now

I have to admit , the alchemy thing would be pretty interesting.As for guns in Skyrim i am neutral with the idea.I would welcome the guns..but in a limited amount,...i dont want to see everyone with a gun on their back.......Maybe the guns could be special artifacts that you receive.Anyway...guns, no guns....it doesnt really matter for me.

Good point mars!

mars wrote:I for one don't want firearms of any sort. Not just for aesthetic reasons mind you but because firearms don't fit into a world where there is magic. No one would bother thinking of firearms. They are unneeded in a world in which a single person can destroy whole armies and control people's minds. That is one point.
Another one is that nords would definitely not want firearms. They fight with their own strength and skill not with a tool of destruction. They would see fighting with a gun as cowardice.

I agree, good points...but...

A single person COULD use magic to destroy armies, if they knew magic, and took the years it would no doubt take to get powerful enough, and not get fried themselves in the process - surely for some just picking up a tool and using it would be far, y'know, easier? Let's not forget the Redguard opinion on magic!

But I can't see Nords using them, they'd probably just laugh if they got shot and charge in regardless. But it's not like Skyrim would have just Nords is it? And I'm reasonably sure a headshot would drop the toughest Nord brute...Sure it's cowardly, but so is stabbing someone in the back.

mars wrote:Magic isn't all that hard to learn on Nirn. Maybe the "destroying whole armies" msort of magic is but basically anyone can learn a bit of magic. Oh and Redguards would also prefer meele weapons. They aren't the best warriors in Tamriel for nothing.

I dunno, if magic was easy to pick up everyone would be using it all of the time. I'd have to maintain that for some using a firearm tool would be easier, I mean a gun would shoot and probably hit it's target by the time someone else cast a spell.

And I mentioned the Redguards because of their stigma toward magic rather than their preference with melee - I'm sure for some they'd rather stick with effective physical weaponry then being quote 'weak or wicked'.

Ironic that I'd use a quote from a Mages Guild mage isn't it?

I would tolerate if a couple of rich nobles owned muskets.
But really, guns just aren't very TES-y.

I'm not sure guns would actually fit into Skyrim for a simple reason:

There has been technological progression of a sort in the games, if the aethsetic changes in the Empire are anything to go by (compare the legionnaries of morrowind with those of Oblvion for example), but the collapse of the empire in the 4th era is sort of like a parallel to the collapse of Rome in real life.

Skyrim, as far as I can tell is set in Tamriel's equivalent of the pre-medieval dark ages - so as a result the development of things like guns seems kind of far-fetched.

Besides, Fable went down the guns route and in my opinion it wasn't very successful. It lost the things that made it unique and turned into a charicature of 18th century England.

I believe that guns won't be that bad, as long as they are not like Fable.

I am sure that if Bethesda was to put guns in Skyrim, they could make them in their own original way.

If guns aren't the way to go, then at least add cannons or something like cosmetic features or being quest-related. Like the Siege Crawler in Oblivion.

JockoBeans wrote:I believe that guns won't be that bad, as long as they are not like Fable.

I am sure that if Bethesda was to put guns in Skyrim, they could make them in their own original way.

If guns aren't the way to go, then at least add cannons or something like cosmetic features or being quest-related. Like the Siege Crawler in Oblivion.

I agree thats my main reason for not wanting guns.
Fable 1- No guns = Good
Fable 2- guns = bad
Guns = bad

I really wouldn't like to see guns, one because there's no need for it and two because in my opinion it would ruin the game. Guns doesn't go along with the theme of the ES or where it is headed.

If they HAD to implement guns in Skyrim for whatever reason, I'd hope it would only be muskets and revolvers, nothing else.

zzfallens wrote:I really wouldn't like to see guns, one because there's no need for it and two because in my opinion it would ruin the game. Guns doesn't go along with the theme of the ES or where it is headed.

If they HAD to implement guns in Skyrim for whatever reason, I'd hope it would only be muskets and revolvers, nothing else.

Well obviously they wouldn't have M16's or Rocket Launchers.


Either way though, it's not going to happen.

Ryuhza wrote:

zzfallens wrote:I really wouldn't like to see guns, one because there's no need for it and two because in my opinion it would ruin the game. Guns doesn't go along with the theme of the ES or where it is headed.

If they HAD to implement guns in Skyrim for whatever reason, I'd hope it would only be muskets and revolvers, nothing else.

Well obviously they wouldn't have M16's or Rocket Launchers.


Either way though, it's not going to happen.

I know that but even in red dead redemption they had those high action repeaters and gatling turrets.

zzfallens wrote:

Ryuhza wrote:

zzfallens wrote:I really wouldn't like to see guns, one because there's no need for it and two because in my opinion it would ruin the game. Guns doesn't go along with the theme of the ES or where it is headed.

If they HAD to implement guns in Skyrim for whatever reason, I'd hope it would only be muskets and revolvers, nothing else.

Well obviously they wouldn't have M16's or Rocket Launchers.


Either way though, it's not going to happen.

I know that but even in red dead redemption they had those high action repeaters and gatling turrets.

Those things existed back then.

Then you could say "they existed in the 4th era, through advancements in technology."

I just don't want any guns in the elder scrolls thats all.

You make good points. But do we need guns? We already have a balistic weapon, and may get others such as a crossbow. Try not to think of guns as something different than bows. They both fire deadly projectiles. However, one of them looks goofy and could spoil the game for some people and be detrimental to the image of the ES universe in everyone's mind. If you're into ranged attacks then why not settle for a bow?

But remember the Siege Crawler(thanks for bringing it up Jacko)? Were you all that horrified when you saw it? Were you roaring "What the hell? This isn't ES kind of stuff. It's a war machine, a tank. It belongs in the 20th century."? Because that's what it was; a piece of equipment that could be considered fairly modern. So I think that if they bring in guns they should be masked in "Daedric" like the Siege Crawler,if you get me. A gunpowder operated crossbow would not bother me. Guns that any bit resemble Fable's would get on my nipples. Bethesda should originialize guns if they decide to implement them.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind some very- VERY, mind you- primitive firearms. Not even muskets or flintlocks, more like hand cannons. Either way they should be rare and expensive, and inaccurate though powerful. THIS i could live with.

About the most I'd be willing to accept without complaint would be a prototype matchlock from the dwemer, or a daedric artifact of some sort. For the most part, though, I'm with mars; even though there are certainly people who would benefit from firearms, the nature of magic is such that the people with the resources and knowledge to develop them would be the mages, who have no need thanks to their penchant for fireballs.

To mention the Siege Crawler, I thought of it more like a big daedric battering ram than a tank and its to say its not a machine its powered by magic.

To the gun topic again, if they were really realistic implemented than you can shoot one time and reload two minutes. Not a very appealing idea, rather I would like the return of crossbows. Also is to say that the first guns wasn't for a man against man fight they were for big battles against hundreds of enemies, as is was rather hard to hit the target you aimed at. And the first uses of black powder were for cannons not guns.

Cannons? Maybe.
Guns? No.
For purely aesthetic reasons. In the viking raids, they didn't use guns. Axes, swords, bows. Not guns.

Ha, I found a perfect example on why guns shouldn't be included in Skyrim.

Watch and learn, children.

Oblivion had elevators, tanks, mines, and essentially sentry turrets, i hear no one complaining at all. It simple they had a lore background and presented in a medieval fashion, no one is complaining about that. And as for the whole magic>guns thing, its retarded, sorry for language but clearly you guys must be bad at shooters for hating guns so much. Guns are illogical and weak in TES? So than how come the "almighty" magic isn't used by everyone in the world. If a guy holding a hunk of metal can charge a mage and hack him to pieces despite the other using "magic" against him, i see no way that magic is better than guns.

What's so bad about it being in the game anyway, all it does is create another option, its been 200(400? i dont really care anyway) years obviously magic is not the ultimate power if you still have warriors so why not add it in, this isnt online play, no one is rushing you with a gun, don't want it don't pick it up. Its like when a five year old wants everyone to watch his movie and no one else's. I hate bows, am i using them, no, am i gonna go on the boards and cry for them being removed from skyrim, no. Honestly i don't care if they're in or not.

It would be fun to have and cool, not groundbreaking, just trying to understand why you all hate it so much, besides who says you can't enchant a gun, and in case you haven't noticed this is bethseda. If you've so much as picked up the latest fallouts you'll know just how unrealistic they're approach with guns are,you still have a boss rushing you with a sword even though you'll trying to put him down with grenade machine gun. Guns won't make that much of an impact, and one last thing going back to fallout, you do know when guns are given in the havok engine firefights become nothing more than a game of human battleship, so if you think youll be taking cover throwing grenades and spamming nube-toobs, you're wrong.