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Author Topic: How big an explosion are we talking here?  (Read 2643 times)

obryn

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« on: March 07, 2006, 10:36:23 AM »
OK, the story can come later, but here's the basic setup.

My d20 CoC party looted an armory and then came up against the fruits of a previously-failed mission.  (Basically, a 12'-tall angry, walking orgy.  Like I said, the story will come later.)

One of the PCs ran off and grabbed a big ol' duffel bag they'd filled with 6 grenades and boxes of ammo.  While the abomination was busy tearing one of their companions limb from limb, he pulled a pin on one of the grenades, kicked it into the blast-secured lab where the creature was, and ran like a bitch.

I have absolutely no idea how well this would work, but I gave him a big, satisfying explosion.

So I'm asking you - how well would this work?  How big a boom are we talking?

-O
 

Varaj

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2006, 10:45:38 AM »
I am no expert but the I believe the explosion would be relatively small.  A good amount of shrapnel would fly about.  Grenades kill with shrapnel not with the explosion.  I don't believe it would be likely the other grenades and ammo would explode either.
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Krishnath

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2006, 10:58:10 AM »
Quote from: Varaj
I am no expert but the I believe the explosion would be relatively small.  A good amount of shrapnel would fly about.  Grenades kill with shrapnel not with the explosion.  I don't believe it would be likely the other grenades and ammo would explode either.

Would that not depend on the type of grenade? There are at least three types of grenades I know of, Concussion, Incindiary, and Shrapnel.

Shrapnel grenades would act as you said, not much of an explosion, but lots of shrapnel flying round.

Concussion Grenades on the other hand would create quite an explosion, and would without a doubt cause the other grenades to blow as well.

Incindiary Grenades would create a decent sized explosion and cause lots of flame and fire, they would also trigger the remaining grenades.
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Varaj

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2006, 11:08:19 AM »
Quote from: Krishnath
Would that not depend on the type of grenade? There are at least three types of grenades I know of, Concussion, Incindiary, and Shrapnel.

Shrapnel grenades would act as you said, not much of an explosion, but lots of shrapnel flying round.

Concussion Grenades on the other hand would create quite an explosion, and would without a doubt cause the other grenades to blow as well.

Incendiary Grenades would create a decent sized explosion and cause lots of flame and fire, they would also trigger the remaining grenades.


Again this is just my understanding which could be wrong.
Concussion grenades are meant to stun not kill per se.  So the explosion will be more contained but still not very lethal.  Expect eardrums to be gone.
Incendiary grenades have very little explosive power but scatter burning metal around.  All oxygen consumed and room gets very hot.
  1. A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
   2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
   3. A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

obryn

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2006, 02:06:40 PM »
I had a reply but it died when the board did :)

Anyway, they were all frag grenades.  I guess my story is going to be that earlier frag grenades & general mayhem by the abomination created a gas leak in the lab, and then sparks from the frag grenade ignited the gas.

Hooray for retroactive DMing!

-O
 

Kyle VOltti

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2006, 02:35:11 PM »
Ok... what year is the game set in?  but yeah the unmentione gas leak is the best answer... I could see a few of the grenades going off... but the ammo not so much.... though all that shrapnal in a labe.... not good over all.
 

Reefer Madness

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2006, 03:17:03 PM »
THe ammo will add into the area effect too....its a lot of stuff flying around....it wouldnt turn you into swiss cheese...more like cottage cheese...
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obryn

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2006, 03:17:18 PM »
Quote from: Kyle VOltti
Ok... what year is the game set in?  but yeah the unmentione gas leak is the best answer... I could see a few of the grenades going off... but the ammo not so much.... though all that shrapnal in a labe.... not good over all.

The game's set in 2005 - basically present-day.

I'm thinking that this would probably have been enough to kill off the abomination.  Of course, the spirit possessing the huge walking orgy has likely survived all this.  Again.

-O
 

Kyle VOltti

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« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2006, 11:33:24 PM »
Quote from: obryn
The game's set in 2005 - basically present-day.

I'm thinking that this would probably have been enough to kill off the abomination.  Of course, the spirit possessing the huge walking orgy has likely survived all this.  Again.

-O

Walking orgy eh.... so this games takeing place in San francisco? :)

Yeah.... I'd say the Grenades would have gone off but I have no idea how big the boom would have been.....
 

obryn

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2006, 02:26:08 AM »
Quote from: Kyle VOltti
Walking orgy eh.... so this games takeing place in San francisco? :)


I'll repost the story here...

The investigators were sent to look at a mass murder in a daycare center. Their chief suspects were a Russian family - a father and daughter - named Boris and Irina. Their family were members of a fertility cult devoted to Shub-Niggurath; their founder (Ivan), about 200 years ago, claimed to have found the secrets to immortality. He did this by hopping from worshipper to worshipper. Both the father and the daughter were vessels. He hopped between them at appropriate times, including when the group had Irina cornered and they thought she was basically just a harmless girl.

They tracked Boris (possessed by Ivan) down to the site where he was performing a ritual with the Father's Milk (a substance conjured by worshippers of shub-niggurath to mutate them). He was busily growing extra limbs all over his body. The party didn't want to mess with him, so just chucked a grenade down where he was sitting and blew him apart. This woke up a nearby shoggoth who decapitated the grenade thrower while the rest of the party made a swift getaway.

The party didn't realize that Ivan was still around; he just hopped back over to Irina while they headed up to northern Canada to deal with the main campaign threat. Irina/Ivan was left around to finish up the ritual and transform him/her-self.


So basically Irina mutated into a gigantic collection of limbs, torsos, heads, and genitalia - kind of fitting for a fertility cult. The various body parts were continually fucking and giving birth to foul children.

Since Ivan had a grudge against the PCs, he was able to track them down after they killed one of his children and basically, this is where the story (above) picked up.

-O
 

Kyle VOltti

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2006, 09:41:28 AM »
ewwwwww.... and David Cronenberg would like to option it :)
 

Limper

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2006, 12:36:39 PM »
Ammo going off outside of a chamber isn't all that damaging. It MIGHT do lasting harm but its very doubtful. The projectile damage comes from the released gas of combustion contrained by the barrel of the fire arm.

Outside of the gun it pops and will hurt but very unlikely to kill or maim.

Grenades aren't to likely to set off bullets or other grenades but multiple grenades going off would be pretty nasty.

Even frag grenades put out a decent concusive blast.
 

obryn

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2006, 01:21:19 PM »
I wish I could rep everyone who has been helpful. :)

One of these days - if I drink milk every day and I grow big and strong - I'll remember this thread and rep you.

-O
 

T-Willard

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2006, 07:13:23 PM »
Quote from: Varaj
don't believe it would be likely the other grenades and ammo would explode either.

BUZZ! Sorry, but the ammo would go off. As would the grenades.

A grenade is a powerful enough blast to fragment a grooved steel casing as well as shatter the notched wire inside. It would crush the casings of the bullets, causing the rounds to go off, as well as crack the casings on the other grenades and pressure detonating the blasting cap inside.

BOOM!

As for the "actual" explosion? The concussive force would be pretty serious, and in an enclosed room, the shrapnel bouncing everywhere and richoceting everywhere would tear shit up. The concussive force would be magnified by the enclosed area.

A concussion grenade is basically a grenade simulator, which is basically a grenade without a steel case (cardboard) and no notched wire interior lining (instead more BANG! fun)

Let me think...

OK, you can fuck shit up with a grenade tossed into a room, so we say six grenades going off at once, that's going to be... crap... around 15 lbs net explosive weight. The bullet casings have a good chance of being turned to shrapnel, and the bullets might cook off in random directions. A bullet going off underfoot without a chamber will still blow a hole in your foot.

I'd just say... per 10 bullets, add 1d4, per extra grenade, add an extra 2d6 to the damage. Per grenade extend out the "damage radius" (God I hate how grenades were done in d20 Modern) by 5'

Should work for quick and dirty.

I'm thinking of an accident that I heard of, where a bullet struck a grenade on someone's harness. Yeah, it blew him pretty much in half, and the explosive deonated the ammunition as well as the grenade on the other side of the ammo pouch. The grenades and ammunition on the other side did not sympathetically detonate though.
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T-Willard

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How big an explosion are we talking here?
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2006, 07:15:14 PM »
Quote from: Limper
Outside of the gun it pops and will hurt but very unlikely to kill or maim.


Sorry, Limper, but I gotta disagree. When the humvee burned up one time, the fire caused the rounds in the M-60 bag to go off. A belt of 100, and it blew a shitload of holes in the vehicle. They just aren't dangerous at the same distance, and they do like the same velocity, but the velocity is still pretty good, enough to puncture human flesh or an unarmored vehicle.
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