The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

Backpack full of explosives, and it goes off??!!
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters -> Backpack full of explosives, and it goes off??!! Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Volar the Healer
Jedi


Joined: 04 Aug 2003
Posts: 664
Location: Arizona, USA

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Common explosives require both concussion and high temperature to detonate. For instance, you can burn C4 and other plastiques as a fuel to heat your coffee. Some specialty explosives can only be set off by one thing - usually an electric charge. A modern hand grenade throws fragments and won't set off anything.

In Star wars, blasters (which I think are particle beams) should set off common explosives. Specialty explosives should be avaialable for ten times the price and require a special microwave/graviton/technojargon/whatever detonator. I would rule if the player (or NPC) carrying the explosives rolls a one on the wild die when he rolls his strength to resist damage, the explosives are hit and detonate. That character dies blown into pieces, nothing he carries can be recovered, no, don't bother rolling. This is the risk all explosive enthusiests run. On any other roll, the man (being!?) is hit, but not the explosives.

I would not apply this rule to characters carrying one grenade / detonator. Only the suicide jockeys who carry - what did you call it - a backpack of explosives. Though I might allow a killing shot to destroy, but not detonate, the explosive/rocket launcher/missile instead - especially if it is essential to the mission. 'cuz I'm nice that way. Rolling Eyes
_________________
Know Jesus, Know Peace.
No Jesus, No Peace
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10435
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2016 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my game, it's extremely unlikely for any character (PC or not) to ever have a "backpack of explosives". In my SWU, even grenades are very uncommon (highly illegal and very rare). Thermal detonators are perhaps more common than grenades but still expensive, rare and very dangerous (I always rule they detonate at point blank range to the thrower if the player rolls a 1 on the wild die to throw one as a grenade). If a character in my game ever would have a backpack of thermal detonators or even grenades, and they got hit by an explosive or perhaps a blaster bolt to the backpack, I would almost certainly rule some explosive goes off, and it would probably be bad for the character.

I agree with womprat about detonite not being volatile, so if it were a backpack full of detonate the character was wearing, I would not be inclined to rule it exploded.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14213
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2016 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Would you give them a dodge roll to 'simulate tossing the backpack away before the boom damages them'?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10435
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2016 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Would you give them a dodge roll to 'simulate tossing the backpack away before the boom damages them'?

Let's back up. If a player told me his character was going to wear a backpack of explosives, I would probably give the player a free meta-warning that that is a bad idea. If I didn't give the warning and later had an explosive that might set off the backpack gets thrown in his direction, he would think I was out to get him. If I had warned him, then he later couldn't say I didn't warn him if he decided to proceed.

Now, back to your question. The dodge would be dodging the explosive being thrown at them in the first place. If they failed that dodge and the resulting explosion is what sets off the backpack, I don't think they should get a second dodge to throw the backpack away. That seems like an action not reaction. But if I wanted to give he player a better chance to live, I might say that the backpack starts fizzing/sparking/beeping whatever and give the PC until the next round to throw it away.

This is all if the character is even still conscious after getting hit by the explosive chucked at him in the first place. If the first explosive incapacitates him, then the question of the character being able to throw away the backpack is moot.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3190

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2016 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would rule no dodge/reaction skill to toss away a backpack.

As Whill mentioned, not getting hit in the first place is the real solution.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14213
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2016 3:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:

This is all if the character is even still conscious after getting hit by the explosive chucked at him in the first place. If the first explosive incapacitates him, then the question of the character being able to throw away the backpack is moot.


Good point.
As to the warning, i have often done that, even when its only a SMALL amount, that if they got hit then the explosives COULD go kaboom on them..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Theodrim
Lieutenant
Lieutenant


Joined: 18 May 2014
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a general rule, I go with "somewhat realistic" as others said: it depends on the type of ordnance in question.

[In the current game I'm running, my PC's carry and toss grenades around like it's a multiplayer match of Modern Warfare 2...but on the other hand, the NPC enemies are more than happy to return the favor. Not to mention my PC's are on the cusp of having to face down Storm Commando fire teams to have a reasonable challenge, so at this point a few grenades per encounter just thin out the small armies of mooks they're up against, and from a metagame perspective speed up fights.]

"Low-tech" munitions and volatiles I'll give that chance, but anything else I don't. Even C-22's have detonite cores, so practically nothing short of a direct-hit blaster bolt is going to cook one off inadvertently. As incompetent and uncaring as the Empire can be, you have to figure they've built some safety mechanisms into their own explosive devices to prevent cook-off, especially when Stormtroopers march and fight in such tight ranks. Otherwise, you'd end up in situations where a stray grenade, shell, or rocket is going to blow up an entire unit in one monstrous, exponentially-growing, domino chain of cooked-off ordnance.

Thermal detonators are miniature nuclear weapons -- supposition based upon what I know of real-life nuclear weapons incoming. Based upon what's been written about them in Legends content, they're implosion-type devices made of the baradium core, surrounded by the explosive shell. That requires very precise geometry in the shell, and instantaneity in the shell's detonation to achieve prompt criticality and the desired nuclear (in this case fusion) reaction. Anything that would damage the explosive shell's geometry, the internal priming charges' wiring, or the circuitry controlling the charges, would cause the thermal detonator to simply fail...well, as a thermal detonator anyhow.

It'd still be something of a weak fragmentation grenade, I suppose (3D damage in a 2m radius, maybe?). Now, that says nothing of a damaged thermal detonator becoming an (accidental) dirty bomb. Make of that what you will.

Anything beyond that -- like damaged rocket or missile ammunition, mortar shells, energy packs, and the whatnot -- I feel is much better-served saved for when the wielder(s) rolls a 1 on the wild die.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tcschenks
Cadet
Cadet


Joined: 21 Jun 2016
Posts: 14
Location: Poplar Bluff, MO

PostPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cracken's Rebel Field Guide indicated that detonite inserted in the tips of slug thrower ammunition could explode via ignition but not via impact. An additional material that ignited upon impact was required to set off the detonite.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14213
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the TD side of house, several spots in the WEG books seem to indicate how unstable they are, so shouldn't they at least have a chance to be set off by the enemy exploding stuff around you?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tcschenks
Cadet
Cadet


Joined: 21 Jun 2016
Posts: 14
Location: Poplar Bluff, MO

PostPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, extremely unstable. There is a Star Wars adventure journal - don't ask me which - that describes how to turn a thermal detonator into a dummy prop and gives a chance for it to blow up in the process. I have no idea why anyone would ever want to do that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
gavin storm
Lieutenant
Lieutenant


Joined: 07 Mar 2014
Posts: 81
Location: Warrington, UK

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Messy...

Something a Darksider could do to an explosives expert. Seen this done before, bit on a smaller scale.
_________________
Gavin Storm
Causing Imperials headaches, one punch at a time, since 2000
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14213
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well if you have a dark sider, he can just use TK to detonate the TD the demo guy is carrying!
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Well if you have a dark sider, he can just use TK to detonate the TD the demo guy is carrying!


With Rifts, I had to work up a system whereby that would be impractical for simple psychic powers to detonate grenades, simply because too many people tried the "I pull the pins with telekinesis" tricks.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14213
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So too many pcs tried using it, so rather than evening the field (have enemy also do it) you just gimped it?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
So too many pcs tried using it, so rather than evening the field (have enemy also do it) you just gimped it?


More, I realized that if common psychic powers could easily pull the pins on grenades, people would either stop using grenades or come up with a method of activating grenades that wasn't as prone to abuse. Why? Because few people are going to carry explosives on their chest when extremely minor (and very common) psychic powers can let them blow them up without detection.

So, rather than use pins, grenades used a push and twist activation (similar to a childproof medicine cap) that is easy to pull off if you're an adult human in possession of both arms and most of your fingers, but is beyond simple telekinesis, and requires more strength than ectoplasm can usually muster... yet is still a physical process, to prevent it from being gamed by Telemechanics. Likewise, ejecting a magazine from an energy weapon requires more than a single, monodirectional switch, because, otherwise, people start popping eclips in the middle of combat.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0