Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: Ravensong on <10-10-14/2148:15>
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Submitting these ideas to the GM for a Dwarf Merc with specialty of improvised explosives.
Have a few so far, take from SR lore, films, etc. Share your ideas below.
Bouncing Betty:
100 teflon coated steel darts surrounding a brick of c-4. Put in a motion sensor detonator, wrap the whole thing in a layer of rubber, program it to bounce once and detonate 3ft above ground or at complete stop. Can be dropped by drones, or from stairwells. Damage from blast and from armor piercing shards of metal.
Chain Charge:
Plastique rolled around a heavy duty bike chain. Layer of plastic to cover. At either end of chain is a lock with detonator. When the chain is locked, the bomb is active, goes off in 9 seconds. Perfect for a shaped charge or blowing off an armored skull.
Monowire Claymore:
Set up a monowire line across a hallway. Place claymore with weight plate sensor 6inches away. If someone doesn't see the monowire, and gets cut, falls over sets off the claymore. If they do and step over it, they step on the sensor plate. Either way... ouch.
Tripwire grenade kit:
Quick way to set up grenades with a trip wire that, if tripped, pulls the pin out of the grenade, with minimal delay for maximal effect. Great for stair wells, doorways, and hallways. Also can be rigged above closed doors so that when the door is opened the pin gets pulled.
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Better idea for Bouncing Betty, add a gecko layer to the top surface of a piece of explosives. Thing bounces up, attaches itself to the undercarriage of a vehicle, and suddenly the explosive counts as attached and does way more damage.
I'm not so fond of the tripwire grenade kit, since that is possible now but risky at a threshold of 8. Such a kit would take out all the excitement.
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Run & Gun also seem to have a lot of additional rules for explosives, though I'll admit I haven't read them fully yet on account of how extensive that chapter is.
Having skimmed the pages, I will say that I think the atomizer seems like it could cause some havoc.
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Having skimmed the pages, I will say that I think the atomizer seems like it could cause some havoc.
Indeed, atomizer disguised as a perfume bottle can set up an explosion that can deal Grade level of Liquid Explosives x 2 Physical damage with only 1 liter of explosives. That takes 1 combat turn to set up. The only problem is that if you are standing within the blast radius, you will take damage as well, albeit at -2 damage value per meter of distance away from the cloud of explosives.
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Chain Charge:
Plastique rolled around a heavy duty bike chain. Layer of plastic to cover. At either end of chain is a lock with detonator. When the chain is locked, the bomb is active, goes off in 9 seconds. Perfect for a shaped charge or blowing off an armored skull.
I'm not sure I've visualizing this correctly. The chain is covered in explosives and plastic? How is there an other end for the lock with a detonator? Maybe you could explain this one better.
On the topic of the bouncing betty trap - I like it a lot. Like Michael, I'd say you could make an anti-vehicle variation that uses a shaped charge with a magnet and gecko grip tape. The whole thing is then disguised to look like the surroundings (dirt, pavement, whatever) by a cloth, maybe even one with chameleon coating. The charge then attaches to the first metal object to go over it, and the grip tape keeps it in place. A few seconds later, the shaped charge goes through the object.
Here's an example of modern-day magnetic mines that have been designed as IEDs (that is to say no production factory makes these things): http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=3099. Opposition forces have been using these magnetic or limpet mines for decades - I think since World War II actually. I seem to remember that the US and SAS used "sticky bombs" to blow up German tanks - basically the same premise. Anything with an explosive directed in one direction, that you can't remove, and it's easy to apply. You could drive by on a bicycle and toss something like this to a target and blow it sky high. It's scary, but a convoy of soldiers or well-trained bodyguards are going to keep people away for just this reason. Hence why putting it on the ground, covered in cloth that can't be seen, is going to be the desired method of delivery.
I've done some work in IED defeat training for the US Army. One of the things that always struck me as amazing are the physics behind IEDs. The simplest shaped charge is usually just an explosive submerged in water. The water directs the blast toward your objective. For IEDs, the most dangerous types of shaped charges are called Explosively Formed Penetrators, or EFPs. They direct a blast into a metal that is relatively easy to warp - the whole blast ends up forming this spear-like sliver of metal that has an astonishing amount of power behind it. This stuff will easily penetrate tanks, and they're scarily easy to build. The big drawback to them is that it takes some space to actually form the penetrator. If you had a magnetic mine, it would definitely do a lot of damage. However, if you could somehow make an EFP that couldn't be detected (and thus couldn't be avoided) you'd have a REALLY nasty way to take out some bad guys.
If you want to read up on the scariest IED I've ever seen, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_formed_penetrator
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Eh, they're a bit harder to make than that, given the technical skills it takes to make the bowl and to measure/shape the explosives (certainly easier in a world of 3D printers and a Matrix full of nifty plans and the like). Otherwise, it won't form an effective penetrator, and it won't go through most armor at that point. Really, the trick for those is to have them set up in a camouflaged pothole or something, deep enough that the penetrator has time to form (which means you need to know the kind of vehicle you're targeting, as the height of something like a Roadmaster will be a lot different than a Bulldog).
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Yeah generally the EFPs that I've seen are usually placed on the side of the road, at a height just tall enough for a MRAP or something similar, but not so tall that it wouldn't hit a HMHVV effectively. And roadside placement allows for the whole half of the road to be used to give the EFP the distance necessary to form the projectile.
The ones I've seen that have been put together simplistically and effectively are made from a clay pipe and copper plate. It's scarily easy to put together an effective EFD, even if it's not military grade.
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Yeah generally the EFPs that I've seen are usually placed on the side of the road, at a height just tall enough for a MRAP or something similar, but not so tall that it wouldn't hit a HMHVV effectively. And roadside placement allows for the whole half of the road to be used to give the EFP the distance necessary to form the projectile.
The ones I've seen that have been put together simplistically and effectively are made from a clay pipe and copper plate. It's scarily easy to put together an effective EFD, even if it's not military grade.
Let me guess; mostly Iraq? My experience with seeing them (attempted, at least) was the other wonderful sandbox. Their skill-level over there is a bit lower.
By the way; the principle effects of an EFP are pretty much exactly how RPGs function, except emplaced instead of launched. The nose of an RPG has no charge- the tip is a trigger which sets off the explosives in the back, blasting the copper cone into a penetrator.
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<znip> but not so tall that it wouldn't hit a HMHVV effectively.</znip>
You guys drive around in infected vehicles?
Epic HMMWV typo is epic. :D
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<znip> but not so tall that it wouldn't hit a HMHVV effectively.</znip>
You guys drive around in infected vehicles?
Epic HMMWV typo is epic. :D
Being carried around by Mutaqua is quite intimidating, especially with the mounted 7.62mm machine gun on top.
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Let me guess; mostly Iraq?
Well I've run IED defeat training for both regions, and a few others. Iraq was DEFINITELY heavier on the EFD front - the Afghan insurgents just didn't have the know-how to make them. Nasty pieces of work though with RPGs and re-fit mortar warheads. Fortunately, I don't forsee anything like that taking place in your average Shadowrun game. Unless your average Shadowrun game is a mercenary unit slogging through Laos.
<znip> but not so tall that it wouldn't hit a HMHVV effectively.</znip>
You guys drive around in infected vehicles?
Epic HMMWV typo is epic. :D
Nice catch! I must have Shadowrun on the brain. :P
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Well I've run IED defeat training for both regions, and a few others. Iraq was DEFINITELY heavier on the EFD front - the Afghan insurgents just didn't have the know-how to make them. Nasty pieces of work though with RPGs and re-fit mortar warheads. Fortunately, I don't forsee anything like that taking place in your average Shadowrun game. Unless your average Shadowrun game is a mercenary unit slogging through Laos.
Who knows, maybe I read some of your stuff. My experience is pretty much solely with Afghaniland, so I got to see the mixture of sheer MacGuyver-level jury-rigging, with the obtuseness and idiocy of some of the folks over there.
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Who knows, maybe I read some of your stuff.
Nah, I never wrote anything but software for the Army. I built the IED defeat trainer that the Army uses - the virtual stuff. We took real-world scenarios and put them into a virtual environment to give people the experience without any of the ...side effects. It was really quite effective, as we could run a unit through our training probably 20 times to every one time they'd be able to do it downrange. By the time they were done, their downrange training was substantially more valuable as they weren't going into it completely blind.
Part of me writing this software involved doing extensive training in what IEDs were used, insurgency tactics, counter-insurgency tactics, etc. I felt like I learned more just to do my job than I would need to actually make the simulator work. But as a result, the simulator is phenomenal. Actually, if you go to any Army base in the world, you'll find varying degrees of the software I worked on. The basic level is just a bunch of networked laptops that run the simulation with a mouse/keyboard interface. The really good stuff involves full-body immersion in mock-up vehicles, firing real weapons that have been retrofitted to fire lasers instead of bullets. And the REALLY good stuff is over at Fort Riley, where the administrator is a former Green Beret who LOVES to create new mock-ups, like a mock-up Blackhawk for medevacs, simulated flares the soldiers throw, etc.
It's basically all good theater, but in order to make it effective, I had to learn way more about IEDs than I ever wanted to know. It's scary how easy these things are to put together - which is a great segue back to the topic. :) The difficulty for some of the Demolitions tests are a little intense, but it makes sense. You shouldn't be playing with explosives unless you REALLY know what you're doing, at which point the thresholds start to become substantially more attainable. I like the idea of having some more pre-generated explosive options, but I still think the basic limpet mine and drone-with-a-grenade are still my go-to choices in Shadowrun.
A little off-topic though: I wonder what sort of defenses Shadowrun has for preventing IED attacks? I mean, the stuff we have now is pretty damn advanced, so much so that it blows my mind what those DARPA guys crank out. I can't even imagine half the things they've designed in the last 10 years, let alone what would be possible in Shadowrun's timeline. Would it be safe to assume that a VIP's vehicle might have some sort of exterior polarization that demagnetizes attached devices? What about gecko grip?
And to the OP - I know we've been talking a lot about anti-vehicle stuff. Do you want to focus on anti-personnel options, or anti-vehicle, or both? Generally anything that's anti-vehicle will hurt people, but might be less effective (smaller, more nimble target). And the opposite is true if you use anti-personnel munitions on a vehicle (less focused blast, less penetration).
Still, I think nothing beats a good ol' microskimmer drone with a block of C4 on top of it. Land or sea, the target will likely be destroyed.
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One trap I'm working on figuring out the rules for is a low tech shotgun over the door trap. They open the door, string pulls the trigger of a shotgun, shooting whoever is entering it in the face.
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One trap I'm working on figuring out the rules for is a low tech shotgun over the door trap. They open the door, string pulls the trigger of a shotgun, shooting whoever is entering it in the face.
Or in the back? The baddies may not be looking for the trap outside your secret hideout, but the old trapdoor in the ceiling marked 'Utilities' can be rigged to swing down, and the sawed-off going off should alert most people inside that unwanted guests are popping in for coffee ;D
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Wireless Weapon + RFID Sensor Tag with either a Motion Sensor or a Milimeter Wave (aka Cyberware) Scanner; hook the former up to the latter, and make it fire a fraction of a second after movement is detected.
Or, use some of the security features in the books; pressure pads, trip beams, proximity wire, or a good old fashioned security camera linked to the weapon with a pre-programmed setting for when to fire it.
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Im no IED expert, but heres some suggestions anyway
LMC (low metal content, difficult to find with a minesweeper, made of fertilizers and stuff, popular in Afghanistan)
IR often used in conjunction with the EFP Namikaze mentioned
RC (radio controlled, easily handled with hackers or jammers) except Im not sure that you can by RAW jam a wireless signal in SR5 universe
Timed (TB liked to used timed rockets to attack bases/cities etc. they just placed the triggers inside a water filled clay jug, and when the sun had evaporated enough og the water the 2 contacts would be clode enough to trigger an ignition of the rocket that would inshallah go in the right direction)
PR (pressure release, the opposite of IEDS that are triggered when pressure is applied by, say a boot) while this one isnt especially brilliant or anything it would make for a great scene involving the players. Imagine the hacker disabling "all" the explosive devices from the matrix only to find out that he just stepped on an IED, and he has intel on that stepping away from the IED would trigger it. The team now has to disable it while he stands on it or alternatively do an "Indiana Jones move" and replace said hacker with another heavy object.
more shadowrun related
facial/voice/vehicle signature/etc recognition software (either blows up specific persons, or set to not blow up specific persons. Could alternatively be made to recognise symbols or objects like silver skulls of the Nosferatu coven of big bad evil guys foundation.)
alchemical preparations in conjunction with an explosive charge, Im not sure but I suppose street magic has a more indepth use of preparations.
2 compound explosive components - do some runs: implant non-lethal components into the latest Hurgl! rockstar juice and Mental mentos super popperz candy. When in contact with each other and an acid (like stomach acid) the components would cause a lethal internal combustion (or a large belch for the body 11 troll).
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If you're going to have gecko-tape on a grenade, don't set up to bounce up. Set it to drop down. You activate the thing with a delay - 10s, 30s, whatever - and toss it upwards onto the ceiling - because pretty much nobody looks up. When it receives the motion sensor indicator to activate, it doesn't need to bounce up - it just lets go, and a quarter of a second later (9.8m * 0.252 = roughly 0.61m out of a 2.5m hallway = 1.88m detonation height) it goes off. Pretty much right at head height, too. If you want it a bit lower on the same height ceiling (2.5m = 8' 1.5") - say, 1.3m, get the dwarves in the face while everyone else gets it in the gut - then make it a third of a second delay between release and detonation. And if you're feeling REALLY ugly, make it re-engage the gecko-grip tape a tenth of a second after letting go (when it gets just a bit of distance), so that if some damn fool manages to react and grab it, he then has a grenade stuck to his hand.
... no, actually, I haven't thought about this.
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Now there's a twisted and horrible trap to throw at people!
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Other simple traps are good - but a lot of this other stuff can't be just done on the spot. It requires preparation. And usually it requires a 'kill-house'.
- Balsa-wood covering up a bed of rusty nails; step on it, your feet go through, and you get a rusty nail in you. Got armor on your foot - or your tetanus up to date?
- So-called 'reaper' traps, steel bars with heavy springs to snap them out (across, or even straight out - especially if it's sharp) of a wall when a UV laser or other tripwire goes 'ping', doing some serious damage at X height.
- An apparent grenade-under-a-board trap (you know, remove pin, use loose board to hold down spoon, someone moves the board the spoon goes 'ping' and the grenade goes 'boom') but when a person goes to one or two of the best places to disarm it, THOSE are the place(s) that are trapped.
- Claymores in the walls with tripwires all over the place - but only one of them (or a UV laser tripwire, or a weighted floor trap) trips the detonation sequence, which starts at either end and cascades towards the middle.
- Floor traps on two or three stairs in the entire flight, which pops grenades from up top down into the stairwell.
- For survivors of the above, same thing - but the floor traps are more obvious. The real trap is when a certain amount of weight is on the entire flight, and then grenades drop. Even worse, FAKE grenades drop, causing everyone to pack into the hallway down below - and then the claymores in the walls (on a delayed trigger for when all or most of the weight is back OFF the stairs) go off.
- For the tough trolls, a column of rooms which, when you see them enter the one on the top floor, you can trigger to blow the floors. ALL the floors. "Yeah, yeah - can your legs survive a five-story drop onto a busted-up uneven and sometimes jagged concrete surface?'
- If you're in a taller building, a la skyscraper, set the room to blow three sides - make a ramp out of it. Just make sure the slide goes out the window. Five stories, sure, but thirty?
Really, get inventive. You have technology, various sorts of triggers, and a building. Limitless imagination.
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If you're in a taller building, a la skyscraper, set the room to blow three sides - make a ramp out of it. Just make sure the slide goes out the window. Five stories, sure, but thirty?
This is just messed up!
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Clearly you need to watch more movies. Gwen Stacy, Spiderman 3 - sliding out of an office building.
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Hm. Fred Perry is releasing issues 1-199 of Gold Digger for free, which reminded me of the ever-lovin' Peebos, which made me wonder ... did 4e have gecko-tape wheels for vehicles, even small ones? Hm. Well, the microdrones might have the stuff on their feet; the waspy drone does, doesn't it? A microdrone with a single-shot short-range grenade launcher, or even just the capacity to carry and detonate a grenade ... muahahahaha.
Time to 'invent' more grenade/mine types for Shadowrun. BL23C, here I come again. The real trick lies in finding a cost-effective way to make them, you know?
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Why hasn't anyone mentioned Lethal Weapon 2 yet? Bomb behind the toilet on a pressure switch.
Also, if they smoke, then switching their lighter for an identical copy filled with explosives rather than lighter fluid will be enough to ruin their whole day when they go to light up.
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Bugs Bunny for the win.