Explosives
By Jim Hunsinger

"Few of life’s problems can't be solved with a properly placed charge of high explosive."
– Blaster (Uncommon Valor)

Explosives:
Explosives are the big bang that the military uses to blow up bridges, clear landing zones, destroy buildings and in general make loud booms!

Demolitions is the skill used to utilize explosives in the correct manner.

There is a table  below this text with the different explosives, their damage per ounce applied to a target, the blast radius per ounce, whether the explosive type can be tamped, and the stability of the explosive.  There are further tables that have the costs and quantity of explosives, detonators etc.

Listed Below are several different types of explosives to use as an example.

C-8: Plastique explosive: This is the most common sort of explosive. It is the most stable and advanced explosive of its type. C-8 does 1 kill and 1 meter of blast radius per ounce applied to the target. It must be set off by a smaller explosion such as that created by a blasting cap. It will burn but not explode if exposed to an open flame. It may be tamped.

Detcord-A: C-8 formed into a cord that can be wrapped around an object which acts as tamping. It does 2K and one meter of blast radius for each meter used. Just like C-8 it must be detonated with a blasting cap.

Nitrogen Octaiodide: An explosive that is in liquid form. It is very stable if kept out of the air. It becomes very unstable when exposed to oxygen. Even a slight vibration will detonate it after exposure to oxygen. It does 3K and a 2 meter blast radius for every ounce used. It cannot be tamped. It can be detonated in any manner.

TNT: The old standby. The explosive that has lasted through the centuries. TNT is very stable unless it is old. In which case it becomes more unstable the older it gets. TNT is manufactured in sticks. One stick will cause 1K of damage and has a 1 meter blast radius. It must be detonated by blasting cap or fuse. Open flame will cause it to detonate. TNT can be tamped.

Detonators:
Detonators are the items used to set off an explosive. There are several different types of detonators available. From a simple lit fuse to a high tech radio controlled detonation system. They are listed below.

Fuse: Fuses are fast burning threads of flammable material that can actually detonate some explosives or set off a blasting cap to trigger an explosive detonation. Fuses can be bought as either standard or water-proof versions.

Timer: Another type of detonator is a timer. It is basically a small stop watch with a blasting cap wired to it. It can be set anywhere from 5 seconds to 24 hours. It is water-proof.

Blasting Cap: A small explosive device similar to a fire cracker that is used to detonate explosives that require a smaller explosion to set them off. They can be triggered by either a fuse or an electrical current.

Command detonators:
A command detonator is one without a preset timer or a fuse. The detonation of the explosive is entirely up to the person holding the detonation device by pushing a button, shoving down a plunger, or turning a hand crank etc. Different types of command detonators are listed below.

Wire: A wire command detonator consists of a wire with a blasting cap on one end and a charging device on the other such as a plunger or clacker. When the charger is activated it sends an electrical current down the wire which detonates the blasting cap.

Remote control: A remote control detonator is much like a wire command detonator except without the wire. Its done by radio signal. The range of the transmitter and the number of frequencies it is capable of working on varies according to price. The receivers can be set to any frequency the owner wishes.

Stability:
The stability of an explosive is its ability to withstand vibration, shock, or even another explosion without detonating itself.

Very stable: Will not explode if jolted or jarred. May explode if exposed to another explosion on a 1 on 1D10.

Stable: Will not explode when jolted or jarred. May explode if it encounters another explosion on a 1-4 on 1D10.

Fairly stable: Will not explode if jolted or jarred. May explode if exposed to another explosion on a 1-6 on 1D10.

Fairly unstable: May explode if jolted or jarred on a 1-2 on 1D10. May explode if exposed to another explosion on a 1-8 on 1D10.

Unstable: May explode if jolted or jarred on a 1-4 on 1D10. Will explode if it is exposed to another explosion.

Very unstable: May explode if jolted or jarred on a 1-7 on 1D10. Will explode if exposed to another explosion.

Tamping:
Tamping is the process by which a charge is shaped and molded or objects placed over the charge in order to direct more force of the explosion into the target. The game effect of tamping is that the explosion will cause 1.5 times the normal damage to the target. To tamp a charge is an average demolitions skill check. If a charge is tamped, it is no longer considered area effect.

EXPLOSIVES STATISTICS

EXPLOSIVE

DAMAGE PER OUNCE

BLAST RADIUS PER OUNCE

TAMPING?

STABILITY
C-8

1K

1 METER

YES

STABLE
DETCORD-A

2K*

1 METER**

NO*

STABLE
NITROGEN OCTAIODIDE

3K

2 METERS

NO

VERY STABLE*
TNT

1K***

1 METER***

YES

FAIRLY STABLE****

* See description     **Per meter used

*** Per stick          ****Goes down 1 level of stability per year of age.

EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITIONS EQUIPMENT COSTS

ITEM

UNIT SIZE

COST
C-8

1 KG (35 OZ)

300
DETCORD-A

5 METERS

200
NITROGEN OCTAIODIDE

5 OZ BOTTLE

500
TNT

1 STICK

15
FUSES
STANDARD

50

5
WATERPROOF

50

20
TIMER

1

5
BLASTING CAP

10

20
COMMAND DETONATORS
WIRE

500 M SPOOL

100
CHARGER

1

200 (REUSABLE)
RECEIVER

1

200
TRANSMITTER

1

100*

                 * Per 100 meters of range x number of frequencies.

Explosives design:
Any character with a chemistry skill or a demolitions skill of +5 or better may try to create their own explosives. The basic difficulty of this roll is 15.  Charts for determining the difficulty modifiers of creating the desired explosive are provided below. Difficulty modifiers are based on the form the explosive is to be in such as solid, liquid, or gas. The damage per ounce wished. The stability of the explosive and if the typical blast radius of 1 meter per kill is adjusted either up or down.
     Three successful skill rolls must be made in order for the desired explosive to be created. If one skill check is failed then the explosive will not work as it should. It is up to the game master what sort of effect will result. If two of the rolls are failed then there is a 50% chance of an explosion resulting. If all three rolls are failed then an explosion will result. If at any time during the three skill checks a critical failure is rolled then an explosion will result.
     If an explosion occurs during the creation of the explosive then the damage of the explosion will be equal to 1/2 of the intended kill value of one ounce of the explosive.

BASE DIFFICULTY

15

DAMAGE PER OUNCE

+1 DIFFICULTY PER KILL PER OUNCE.

BLAST RADIUS

FOR EVERY METER OF BLAST RADIUS ADDED OR SUBTRACTED, ADD +1 TO THE DIFFICULTY.

BASE FORM MODIFIERS

FORM

DIFFICULTY MODIFIER
SOLID

-2
POWDER

0
LIQUID

+1
GAS

+3

STABILITY MODIFIERS

STABILITY

DIFFICULTY MODIFIER
VERY UNSTABLE

-5
UNSTABLE

-3
FAIRLY UNSTABLE

-1
FAIRLY STABLE

+1
STABLE

+3
VERY STABLE

+5

Well, that’s the rules for using and designing explosives. Happy blasting! FIRE IN THE HOLE!

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