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.

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.