[X] My Assistant

[Ki Ryn]

My team needs to get through the exterior wall of a brick building - preferably quietly and quickly. What's a good way to do that in SR4?

It looks like an AV rocket is the quickets and least skill-intensive. But it is also very restricted and loud.

Plastic explosives seem readily available but I'm hesitant to use it with no Demoltions skills. Is it feasible to use that stuff untrained (in game)?

Isn't there some sort of thermite paste in real life that you can outline a hole with and then blow up (or burn through)? The thermite bar in the rules seems like a primitive version of that - but the stats for it don't look like they'd get though a good exterior wall.

I thought maybe an earth spirit could do something (the building being brick) but nothing there. I'm not familar with spells, and am not sure if the team would be able to get hold of a spell our shamman does not already have with her - but if there is the perfect spell out there, we'll certainly try :).

Anyway, there may not be any good way to do this - but I figured I would ask.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[Butterblume]

Give your troll a chisel :rotfl: .

And yes, this post ist serious.

[mfb]

Move Earth spell should work. failing that, can you create a loud distraction that would cover your less-loud entry? blow up a few vehicles out front, use a breaching charge on the wall?

[Rooks]

or you could just go to a window and use glass cutters and sneak in that way

[hobgoblin]

hmm, is the silence spell available? that and foam explosives (demolitions isnt realy needed in SR4 i think, but it helps) should be nice and effective.

[Jhaiisiin]

Problem with Move Earth is that most modern walls are going to be a combination of synthetic concrete and steel. Your spell is likely to look at you with a WTF expression when you try to use it on that wall.

Silence spell won't stop the sound on the other side of the wall, will it?

Honestly, a thermite ring might be the least loud. I think we need a little more background.. Why are you trying to go through an external wall quietly? The very idea doesn't seem to imply stealth or silence in any way....

[Aaron]

Miniwelder? It's got a DV of 15 against barriers.

Failing that, how about a monofilament chainsaw? It's got a DV of 10 against barriers, with -2 AP.

Couple that with a silence spell (or heck, even heavy traffic noise) and you should have a decent chance.

[Ki Ryn]

Its a building that we need to get into (prisoner retrieval) with no windows on the uguarded sides. The closer to the target we can get before all hell breaks loose, the better our chance of success.

We'll probably just go with a big, loud, explosion, but it would be nice if there were a Passwall spell or lightsaber handy :)

I would have thought that a monofiliment chainsaw would have been just the thing. But looking at the numbers, it would be ineffective.

[ronin3338]

How about Turn to Goo? You could Goo the wall and scrape away at it... It's not quick, but it's quiet.

I have a short story/novella that I'm working on that uses this idea, but you can borrow it :D

Edit:
OK, maybe this will be too slow for your needs... but what about tunneling up from underneath?

[hobgoblin]

have a rigger drive a big van filled with explosives up to the main gate. detonate. at same time, blow up the wall. their attention should be focused on the main gate, expecting a frontal assault...

[Backgammon]

Just drill it. That's not very loud and brick is soft, it'll do the trick very easily.

[ronin3338]

Or you can get one of those mine-tunneling things, with the big whirly drill head.

Heh.

:wobble:

[Jhaiisiin]

Okay, this is a prison you're trying to get through? Expect the walls to be much more dense and thus harder to penetrate than your average building wall. So the idea of creating a massive earshattering distraction at the front gate as you detonate a small, shaped charge hole in the back wall would likely be your best option. It's not quiet, but it'll minimize the chance that you're going to get hosed.

And I thought Turn to Goo only worked on organic stuff....

[ronin3338]

[Nikoli]

A few weeks prior to the job (or days if necessary) create a diversion and scrape a sample, analyze the materials and find a solvent for the plascrete binder. Then engineer an enzyme that eats it, and spray the walls, using drills to get it in deep. Then you can use signifigantly smaller mining charges to finish the job, little longer to do, more work, more skill intensive, but quieter.

Honestly, it would help if you gave us a rough description of the skills the characters involved have.

[James McMurray]

What's the threshold and interval for engineering a plascrete eating enzyme?

[ronin3338]

How about engineering nanites that eat the plascrete and use it to make more nanites? That way they're self sustaining, and you don't have to do any drilling.

Of course, when there are enough of them that they create a hive mind and try to take over the world, it'll be your fault, but hey, those things happen.

[Paul]

[hobgoblin]

[ronin3338]

Well poop. That kills the opening to my story...

[Kremlin KOA]

silence spell
no noise escapes the area

AV rocket + silence spell on rocket = silent wall boomage

[mfb]

the rocket itself won't make a noise, nor would the explosion itself. you'd have a pretty loud noise when all those wall pieces smack into other walls, the floor, etcetera. compared to the sound of the rocket actually exploding, though, yeah--pretty quiet.

[Nikoli]

Cast it on the wall and it's general area, then it shouldn't make a peep when the rocket wangs it

[TBRMInsanity]

I like the idea of using a spirit to do the dirty work (and fail that use a troll).