Explosions
Explosives inflict heavy damage over a large area. In
addition to grenades, homemade bombs, and the like, char-
acters can sometimes improvise explosives, such as shooting
a gas tank. Explosives work differently from other weapons,
because they are not often used to attack single targets. All
explosives possess the following traits:
Damage: Damage represents the initial detonation. At ground
zero, this is aggravated damage automatically inflicted on every-
thing in the radius. Objects downgrade a number of levels equal
to their Durability; any remaining aggravated damage bypasses
Durability entirely. Victims caught in the primary blast area suffer
this rating in automatic lethal damage instead. Anyone caught in
the secondary blast area takes this amount in bashing damage.
Blast Area: This is the diameter (in meters or yards) of
the explosion. Explosives have three blast areas: ground
zero, primary, and secondary. The number listed is for the
primary blast area, while the secondary blast area is twice this
range. This trait is listed in three values separated by slashes.
The first number is the ground zero blast area, the second
number is the primary blast area, and the secondary blast
area is twice this range.
Force: All victims hit by an explosion suffer additional damage
based on its Force rating. Roll Force as an attack dice pool. Defense
does not apply to this attack unless bolstered by supernatural
speed. Mundane armor only counts as half its ballistic rating
when protecting against explosions. If the roll is successful, add
the explosive’s Damage rating in automatic successes for additional
damage. The damage type is determined by the blast area.
Explosives also inflict Tilts on their victims. Those that
inflict damage all inflict the Deafened Tilt in addition to any
other tags they possess.
Range: The typical Range of the explosive. Only explosives
capable of being fired or thrown will have ranges. Thrown
explosives use Strength or Dexterity + Athletics to attack, while
fired explosives use Dexterity + Firearms. Lacking a Heavy
Weapons specialty imposes an additional –1 on the attack
roll when firing man-portable artillery. An (A) listed next to
the range denotes that the weapon is considered aerodynamic.
Initiative: The Initiative penalty suffered when wielding
the weapon.
Strength: The minimum Strength necessary to use the
explosive weapon. This trait only applies when wielding an
explosive capable of being fired or thrown.
Availability: The cost in Resources or levels of an appro-
priate Social Merit to obtain the explosive. Note that most
of these weapons have a very high cost, representing the dif-
ficulties associated with their acquisition on the black market.
Effects: This lists any special effects pertinent to the
weapon. Note that any weapons listed as Armor Piercing
only apply their AP values to the primary target, except for
white phosphorous and thermite ordinance. Those weapons
scour through everything in their blast area with equal ease.