Explosives

This is the skill of working with
explosives and incendiaries.
You must specialize:
Demolition: The ability to prepare
and set explosives in order to blow
things up. Make a roll whenever you
use explosives in this way. A failure
indicates an error. The gravity of the
error depends on the amount by
which you failed; a badly failed roll in
close quarters can blow you up! Time
required varies – it takes only a cou-
ple of seconds to set a prepared
charge, but it might take hours to
demolish a large bridge or a sky-
scraper. When setting an explosive
trap, use this skill rather than Traps.
Rolls to set a “trap” fuse (e.g., a land
mine) instead of a timed fuse are at
-2. Defaults: Engineer (Combat) or
(Mining) at -3.
Explosive
Ordnance
Disposal
(EOD): The ability to disarm and dis-
pose of bombs and other explosives.
When disarming a trap, roll a Quick
Contest of your Explosives (EOD)
skill vs. the Explosives (Demolition)
skill of the person who created the
device. A failure (or even a critical
failure) does not necessarily mean an
explosion – the GM can be much
more creative than that! Sudden hiss-
ing noises, mysterious parts falling
off, cramps, itches, and alarm bells
are all possible in the right circum-
stances. It is best if the GM rolls the
dice and describes the physical cir-
cumstances to the victim. Fright
Checks are appropriate for the sur-
vivors of a failed EOD attempt!
Prerequisite: DX 12+.
Fireworks: The skill of making
pyrotechnic devices – fireworks,
flares, smoke bombs, flash grenades,
etc. Most of these things can be used
by anyone. Default: Chemistry-3.
Nuclear
Ordnance
Disposal
(NOD): The equivalent of Explosives
(EOD) for nuclear devices. Disarming
a military nuclear weapon is straight-
forward; disarming a homemade ter-
rorist bomb might be more difficult.
Only a critical failure verified by a sec-
ond critical failure will result in a
nuclear detonation. Any lesser failure
will – at worst – detonate the high-
explosive trigger and contaminate the
immediate area with radioactive
material . . . not that this is a great
deal of consolation to those nearby.
Underwater Demolition (UD): The
ability to prepare and set explosives
underwater.
This
is
otherwise
identical to Explosives (Demolition).
You usually need Scuba skill – or at
least Swimming skill – to get into a
position where you can use this skill.
These specialties default to one
another at -4 except for Demolition
and UD, which default to one another
at -2, and EOD and NOD, which also
default to one another at -2.
Modifiers: Equipment modifiers
(p. 345); -1 to -5 for distractions (e.g.,
enemy fire or swarms of biting ants)
or physical motion (e.g., a rocking
boat or speeding bus). The time mod-
ifiers under Time Spent (p. 346) will
often apply.