Shotgun
At a Glance
- Weapon: Shotgun
- Campaign status: Gnome-advanced
- 5.5e / 2024: 2d8 Piercing; 30/90 ft.; Reload (2); Push
- 5e / 2014: 2d8 Piercing; 30/90 ft.; Reload (2)
- Pathfinder 1e: Advanced scatter firearm; 30-foot pellet cone
- D&D 3.5e: Modern shotgun; 2d8 Medium damage
The shotgun is an advanced development of the scatter-gun idea represented by the blunderbuss. It can fire pellets across a broad cone or load a single bullet for a more focused shot.
The metal-cartridge shotgun is exceptional technology. It is most closely associated with precision gnome workshops and copied frontier mechanisms, not ordinary human military manufacture.
Shotgun in the Campaign
At close range the shotgun is brutally flexible: pellets threaten an area while a slug offers a single-target option. Its weakness is the same as other advanced firearms—specialised ammunition and parts can be much harder to replace than loose powder and shot.
Shotgun Rules by Edition
Shotgun — D&D 5.5e / 2024
| Category | Damage | Range | Weight | Properties | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firearms Ranged Weapon | 2d8 Piercing | 30/90 ft. | 7 lb. | Ammunition (Firearms), Reload (2 shots), Two-Handed | Push |
Push mastery. On a hit, a Large or smaller target can be pushed up to 10 feet straight away from the attacker.
Campaign availability. This uses the modern-shotgun rules profile while the weapon itself remains Gnome-advanced in the setting.
Shotgun — D&D 5e / 2014
| Category | Damage | Range | Weight | Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Firearm | 2d8 Piercing | 30/90 ft. | 7 lb. | Ammunition, Reload (2 shots), Two-Handed |
The 2014 DMG shotgun carries two shots before reloading. It uses the optional modern-firearm rules and has no Weapon Mastery property.
Shotgun — Pathfinder 1e
| Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Range | Misfire | Capacity | Weight | Type | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 gp | 1d6 | 1d8 | ×2 | 20 ft. | 1–2 | 1 | 12 lbs. | B and P | scatter |
When loaded with pellets, the shotgun fires in a 30-foot cone. When loaded with a bullet or slug, it has a 20-foot range increment. It uses metal cartridges and the PF1e scatter rules.
Shotgun — D&D 3.5e
| Category | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Range Increment | Weight | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Exotic Firearm | 2d6 | 2d8 | ×2 | 30 ft. | 7 lb. | Piercing |
The 3.5e DMG modern shotgun uses exotic-firearm proficiency. The core DMG profile is a ranged projectile weapon rather than Pathfinder’s cone-based scatter mechanic.
What Changes Between Editions?
- 2024: adds Push mastery to the modern shotgun profile.
- 2014: uses the same two-shot modern firearm without mastery.
- PF1e: explicitly supports pellets as a 30-foot cone and slugs as ranged shots.
- 3.5e: uses the DMG modern shotgun as an exotic ranged weapon.
Related Equipment
Sources and Licensing
Pathfinder firearm statistics and rules material derive from Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Combat, © 2011 Paizo Publishing, LLC; authors Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens and Russ Taylor.
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