SR5:Explosives Rules

Basic Rules

Explosives are primarily used to damage structures. You can use the Demolitions skill to prepare explosives, identify key or weak structural points, and focus the blast. Each hit on a Demolitions + Logic [Mental] Test adds 1 to the explosive’s effective rating. See barriers for calculating an explosive’s effect on a barrier.

An explosive’s Damage Value is calculated as its Rating (modified by the Demolitions Test, if you made one) times the square root of the number of kilograms used (rounded down). The Blast value for a circular explosion is –2 per meter, while the Blast value for a directional explosion (up to 60 degrees in a specific direction) is –1 per meter. When explosives are attached directly to a target, the target’s armor is halved; otherwise the explosive has an AP value of –2. If an explosion destroys a barrier, it creates a cloud of deadly shrapnel that threatens an area far bigger than the actual blast-—the shrapnel blast has a DV equal to the explosive’s DV minus the Structure rating of the barrier, with a Blast of –1/m.

Commercial and Homemade Grades

All explosives are available in commercial or homemade variants. Commercial explosives are reliable and consistent, but may carry a higher risk of being traceable; homemade explosives are cheaper, but prone to mistakes in mixing them, making them more unreliable.

All stats presented for explosives are for commercial explosives. Homemade explosives reduce are available at -3 Availability and -50% the cost, but the damage can vary up to + or - 15 (applied by the gamemaster in secret). If this reduces the damage to 0, then they fail to explode. Sometimes there is no change in damage, but using homemade explosives is always a gamble.

Explosives bought on the black market are also prone to troubles of their own. Explosives sales are the most prone to sting operations, and commercial explosives are often stolen. If commercial explosives are sold cheaply or in large quantities, then that is a good indicator that somebody is looking for them. Homemade explosives are sometimes fraudulently presented as being commercial explosives, and sold at the higher rate.

Advanced Rules

Legal Consequences

If a character is caught on the job or as part of a sting operation, here's what they can expect to face legally.

Prison time and fines for illegal possession of explosives Rating of Explosives Prison Term Monetary Fine 1-5 5 years 50,000¥ 6–10 15 years 100,000¥ 11–20 25 years 250,000¥ 20+ 50 years 500,000¥ Buying explosives Most explosives are bought through a fence. However, most fences will be selling hot or defective merchandise when it comes to explosives. It's often recommended to use a fixer to search out a trustworthy fence, or to have a face as an intermediary to make sure the buyer doesn't get burned, and to personally randomly select a sample of merchandise to make sure they aren't being sold a batch that's padded with false explosives, as the fence can cherry pick the actual merchandise out of the padding. If a fence is selling a high amount of explosives for cheap, then it's a sign that they may be trying to offload a batch of hot merchandise that the authorities are actively trying to track down. If a deal is sounds too good to be true, it probably is, as the authorities will even resort to hiring other runners to track down stolen explosives lest they be used against them. Even if a runner is trying to buy explosives for a future occasion, it should be kept in mind that most explosives have a solid shelf life, and that there's a reasonable chance that they can be traked down, leaving the runner to face legal penalites. A verified batch of commercial explosives are more reliable in their strength, and do not change in availability or strength. All commercial explosives are also available as homecooked explosives, which are cheaper, more unreliable, and less traceable; if a runner team is buying home-cooked explosives, reduce availability by 3, price by 50 percent, and, depending on the skill of the cook, may be modified in strength by as much as + or - 15 (rolled by the gamemaster in secret), which may mean the homemade explosives may fail to detonate. If homemade explosives are fraudulently sold as commercial explosives, then do not reduce the cost, as the homemade explosives are fraudulently being sold as commercial explosives. Explosions and Background Count Most explosives are too weak to cause a background count, let alone a permanent background count. If an explosive causes 35P damage, than it causes +1 background count, which increases by +1 for every additional full 20P points of damage (+2 for 55P of explosives, +3 for 75P of explosives), up to a +3 increase for background count. If this causes no fatalities, then the increased background count fades by 1 point per hour; if it causes metahuman fatalities, then the increased background count becomes permanent. Background counts of +4 are possible, but only with the bomb dispersing exotic materials such as chemical, biological, or radioactive materials, or Fluorescing Astral Bacteria (FAB). If these criteria are met, the background count increases with the above rules, meaning it needs a minimum of 95P damage for a background count of 4 or higher. All background counts of 4+ or higher are permanent, even if there were no fatalities. If an area already has a background count, then use of explosives will not change it unless the use of explosives would increase the background count. If temporary, then the area will return to its normal background count as the new, higher background count fades (as described above). Permanent increases to background count due to explosives do not factor in the preexisting background count, and act as normally. Background count radiates out from the epicenter of the explosion within a circle, in a radius equal to the damage rating (a 40P explosive would cause a background count increase in 40 meters from the center). This occurs regardless of a circular or directional explosive.