Flamethrowers

[gollummen]

Just wondering...
Why is it that flamethrowers in Star Wars have such a lousy range?
The best one I could find is the "Flame rifle" from "Corporate sector sourcebook" with a maximum range of 10 meters!

In real life handheld flamethrowers have a range of 40-50 meters and vehicle flamethrowers have a range of about 100 meters.


_________________
All stats 2D, except: brawling parry: versus boxing 2D+2, melee combat: swords 3D, melee parry: swords 2D+2, languages: english 2D+1, scolar: history 3D, scolar: social studies 2D+1, brawling: boxing 2D+2, computer programming/repair 2D+1.

[Jedi Skyler]

That might be because we have all these other high-tech gadgets like blasters and shoulder mounted ion cannons and such. They might've just wanted to not short-change the high-tech with the current-tech. But that's just an uneducated guess.

[Ray]

Because the Flamethrowers used by us are huge monstrosities with huge backpacks, and the ones used in the Star Wars Universe are like the ones found in Aliens, which is a Rifle- or Carbine-Sized Unit with a small fuel tank on it.

[Boomer]

Yeah, they are more like the incinerator units, and less like actual flame throwers.

So go ahead and make one, I ain't stopping ya.
_________________
My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[Jedi Skyler]

[gollummen]

So, a "real" flamethrower would have stats like these:

# Flamethrower
Model: Typical flamethrower
Scale: Character
Skill: Flamethrower
Ammo: 10 (?)
Cost: 1,200
Availability: 2, X
Range: 2-4/15/45
Damage: 5D+1 (first round, 3D for next five rounds unless extinguished)

The downside is that it is pretty bulky and has a chance of leaking or exploding is hit by bullets or blaster fire.
I figured it should not have any fire rate because of a flamethrowers ability to hit several targets with one "spray".

[Jedi Skyler]

Yeah, but you have to define "bulky." Those rifles they were carrying in Aliens were kinda big, but I wouldn't necessarily call it bulky. The fuel for it wasn't in a big honking backpack; it was part of the rifle, as was the machine gun AND the grenade launcher. All three in one. If you just have a flamethrower single unit, I'd say it'd be a lot smaller and lighter than the weapons Ripley and company were toting.

Either that, or it'd have a LOT more fuel to equal the same bulk.

[Vartax]

also keep in mind that some aliens are more likely to be flamable ie, wookie, ewok, and others are less likely to have lasting damamge ie trandoshan, duros.

[Boomer]

When it comes to a true flame thrower, the flames are sticky. Having hair or not doesn;t matter when you have the jelly like napalm stuck to your skin and burning away.
_________________
My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[Robert]

I second Boomer. Flame-throwers shoot a burning and sticky liquid, not fire.

We once had an Aliens session. We were around 8 players, and walking through some tunnels, one of those beasts neaked up from behind and attacked the last man. The player of the front-row flame-thrower soldier let his character turn around, shouted "duck!" and shot. At this time the GM dealt damage for all characters between alien and shooter, but the player argued the flames could be shot ballistic above all intervening targets. We were very upset at this time and an argue break loose.

So if using flamethrowers - make your ruling clear before a player kills half the party. I deem the ballistic liquid more realistic, but youre the director.



This shows the Shiawase Blazer, a onehanded flamethrower from Shadowrun, playing in 2060. It has 4 shots in his tank. It has a range of up to 100 m. Hitting at extreme range is extremly difficult in SR, so i would suggest rather 50 meters for use in SWD6. Flamethrowers must be warmed up for one round before shooting is possible and can shoot either at one target, dealing moderate damage or in an arc, dealing less damage and having a lower range (6 meters), but making hitting easier. The Blazer costs a meager 750 credits, one refill costs 20 credits, a new magazine 20. And of course, it can explode right in your hand if hit by a bullet (or blaster).

Maybe some more specific rules can be made up for SWD6. I would transcipt to the following stats:

#Hand-held Flamethrower:
Model: Shiawase Blazer
Scale: Character
Skill: Flamethrower
Ammo: 4
Cost: 750
Availability: 2, X
Range: 2-4/15/50
Damage: 4D

The Blazer can be shot in a 45° fire cone with a maximum range of 6 meters, hitting all models under this template if their dodge roll is lower than twice the flamethrower roll. When shot in cone modus, the blazer only deals 3D+1.

For continual burning i wuld use the following rule. If you get at least wounded by a flamethrower, you (or someone else while you stand still) have to use one action (Perception M) to extinguish the flames or you must resist next round again versus the original amount of damage dice.

[Tahlorn]

What type of flame thrower are you talking about? There are two common types;

Aliens. Hand held with a small tank, it can go for long bursts, but has a short range, as it does not have much propelant or power supply. Shoots flames, not flaming amterial. Meant for taking out groups of individuals, or keeping them at bay out of fear.

World War 2. Bulky thing with a hug pack, two handed torch. Long range and spray, meant for cooking an entire room before you step in it or even look (support kicks in the door and step to the side, flamer points the nozzle in). Quick burst or else it will melt. Longer range due to propellant, shoots flaming fuel that can stick, rather than flames that just toast.


So, the Star Wars one is probably the Alines type. Makes sense so it can be somewhat portable with other gear. And 10 meters? That is still a really long flame! Sure, it doesn't compare much to blasters, but come one, who is going to fight long range with fire?

[Vartax]

It was just an idea. Though it seems kinda funny that it only takes one round to put out the flames.

[Ejacobs]

I personally like the idea of the Aliens style of flamethrower/incinerator. Makes those pesky xenos really take notice! As for the large WWII flamethrower backpack, what is its strength score to resist damage to prevent rupture? And then what will it's blast radius be when (not if) it blows up? What will the damage of that be? How far will the explosion/flames travel? And so on...

I'd rather have an incinerator any day.

E

[garhkal]

[cheshire]

If we're talking a WWII style, I'm wondering if it might be fair to add a
-1D Dex penalty for the bulkyness of the backpack. Also, given the nature of the "sticky gel" I think that 4D for five rounds unless extinguished would be more than fair. However, balance that with a body strength of 3D and if the backpack explodes it does 7D damage for the first round and 4D for the following five rounds unless extinguished.