Explosives crazyness. Options

[tim]

Alright, I want to make the most powerful explosive I can manage with a starting character. My plan so far is to use a GM approved radio transmitter hooked up to a vitals monitor set to go off if I die, or it is taken off of me without me putting a code in.

I tried doing the math, and it came out to some crazy number like 285 damage, is that about right if I got 10 hits to up the damage v barriers? Is there any way I can add anything to help this level buildings? I want to make this thing as deadly as possible so that if I die, so does everything else.

[Critias]

I want to make this thing as deadly as possible so that if I die, so does everything else.

I'm sure all your fellow runners will appreciate that.

[tim]

I'm sure all your fellow runners will appreciate that.

Im sure there wont be enough left of them for that to matter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smokin.gif)

Joking aside, I dont plan on ever getting dying to set this off. This thing is both an experiment to see whats the deadliest thing possible with explosives, and to have a last resort incase shit hits the fan and I am going to die for whatever reason. I plan to give the team warning, and give them time to escape, or I hope they manage to escape, if not, well they knew what I had on me.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

And exactly HOW many Kilograms of Explosives are you going to be strapping to your body? These will not be inobvious, to say the least. Good luck actually going anywhere...

[CanRay]

So... He's got a nuke in the sidecar of his motorcycle and "Low Impulse Control" tattooed on his forehead?

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

So... He's got a nuke in the sidecar of his motorcycle and "Low Impulse Control" tattooed on his forehead?

Apparently...

[BishopMcQ]

Tim--can you layout the plan for us as you have already calculated it? That will make it easier to provide concise feedback to maximize the blast.

[Fortinbras]

Since this exercise is entirely academic, let's see what we can do.
Let's presume that each kilo of explosives must be bought separately, so a Rating 12 Availability is the max. Next let's presume space isn't an issue, as it isn't clear what this kid is trying to detonate. Lastly, we'll go out on a limb and say this cat has a Logic 6, Demolitions 6, a Specialization in whatever type of explosives he's using, either Aptitude or Exceptional Attribute and Adept powers to raise them as well, giving him 21 dice with which to roll for the stat.
Next, we're going to need the Born Rich Quality to buy as much explosives as we can. The highest rating explosive we can get for Availability 12 is Explosive Foam at Rating 15 for 1,500 per kilo. We're going to take away 40 nuyen for the radio detonator and 300 for the biomonitor. That means we have 299,660 to buy explosives, or 199 kilos.

So 7 average hits on 21 dice + 15 for the rating equals 22. The square root of 199 is 14(rounded down). 22 multiplied by 14 is... 308P damage.

This is presuming he wants to blow up a warehouse or someplace he can store 199 cans of explosive foam and presuming he doesn't want this character to be able to do much else. But as an academic exercise, there it is.

[Socinus]

Why not just go for broke and build a nuclear device?

It really isnt that complicated.
http
://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...ly_methods.svg

An implosion assembly device would take a little while, but all you need is enough cash to pay for the precisely machined housing for the device, some of the best HE you can lay your hands on. At that point you just have to dope yourself up with enough anti-rads to keep your DNA from leaking out your nose while you assemble the device and rig a button.

This would not be a very portable device, but if you want devastation...

[Fortinbras]

Yeah, I'm sure it's just that easy. That's why I've got like five in my back yard. These weird middle eastern guys and Christopher Lloyd keep asking to borrow some, but nuclear devices are like a dime a dozen.

[CanRay]

E-Bay!

[Socinus]

Yeah, I'm sure it's just that easy. That's why I've got like five in my back yard. These weird middle eastern guys and Christopher Lloyd keep asking to borrow some, but nuclear devices are like a dime a dozen.

Erm, it actually IS pretty easy. What makes it difficult is you need VERY precisely machined parts and the nuclear material needs to be incredibly pure, something that is difficult to do without the resources of countries. If a shadowrunner has enough cash to throw around, he could acquire both.

This is a diagram of a more complete "gun" design device
http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/How-To...mic-Bomb-2.jpg/

Step-by-step instructions, if you're interested
http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-To-Make...omb-53392.shtml

It REALLY is not as complicated as everybody thinks.

[CanRay]

Yeah? You try doing it from scratch like the people in the Manhattan Project had to. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Explosives period aren't as complicated as most people think. Which is quite scary when you think about it.

[Tyro]

Yeah? You try doing it from scratch like the people in the Manhattan Project had to. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Explosives period aren't as complicated as most people think. Which is quite scary when you think about it.

They're easy to work with... and incredibly dangerous if you slip up or work with impure materials. That's why I never got into them - easy & boring to make, fun at the end product... but way too dangerous.

[Faraday]

This would not be a very portable device, but if you want devastation...

I bet you'd find it quite portable in the back of a truck. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[CanRay]

They're easy to work with... and incredibly dangerous if you slip up or work with impure materials. That's why I never got into them - easy & boring to make, fun at the end product... but way too dangerous.

Yeah, that's why I was never allowed to have fun with them, despite prospecting being a common hobby back home.

Legally buy dynamite before you could drive, back home!

[Socinus]

Yeah? You try doing it from scratch like the people in the Manhattan Project had to. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Oh definitely I think that would be out of the reach of almost any shadowrunner, but if you have enough money you CAN buy the materials required to assemble the device.

[Fortinbras]

The ease with which to make a nuclear weapon has been a running gag since the Manhattan Project. Time(I think) actually published the specs on how to make it back in the '60s. Some folks freaked out, thinking we'd given away national security secrets, but the difficulty is always a few advanced pieces of tech and... PLUTONIUM!
You will occasionally hear some fear monger claiming terrorists have all they need for a nuclear weapon, except for the plutonium. Which is sort of like saying I have all I need to make a car, I just need an engine.

It is insanely difficult to acquire and weaponize, no matter how easy wikipedia and whatever fear of the week news show tells you. There have been factions attempting to do so since the 40's, and so far only North Korea was able to do it 50 years after they started. There are entire nations, some of them quite developed, like Iran, who are devoting tremendous resources to attaining nuclear capability, all with little to show for it. Lets not count the number of terrorist organizations with nearly unlimited resources who have been trying since the fall of the iron curtain to "go all out" and build a bomb, only to fall back on box cutters and shoes.
Claiming you, or even your Shadowrunner, can build a nuclear device in the Barrens or your back yard is just so much posturing.

If you want to claim your guy can build his nuclear device at character gen, then I'm going to need to see an Availability on plutonium. War! lists all such comparable devices well above the 20F marker.
If you want to claim you can do it during play, then I wish your GM the best of luck.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

I bet you'd find it quite portable in the back of a truck. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Sure, and 437.8 pounds of explosives, is so very inconspicuous as to be inconsequential too, Right? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

[CanRay]

Depends on what's written on the side of the truck.

[tim]

Yeah, this was mainly intended to be a "Lets see what stupidly powerful thing I can make right out of the door" exercise.
Considering the amount of cash needed for this, the availability ratings, and the sheer size of this lump of explosives, I dont think this has much of a chance of happening. Not to mention the whole leveling city blocks thing, and how the cops likely wont take to well to that. Oh well, a man can dream....

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Legally buy dynamite before you could drive, back home!

Even drinking, I take it...

I find this funny, really, teenagers drink alcohol when they become teens, since, I don't know, alcohol was invented and 40-50 years from now, people go all the way to "oh my god we must protect the children" when, in the end, it should be for the parents, to, well, parent and then you get stuff like that, where a kid, can buy and handle dynamite, but god help him if he drinks a pint...

[Fortinbras]

So you want them to be able to drink and buy dynamite?
The temperance movement started long ago. Way before 40 to 50 years from now, whenever that is. Puritans and chicks with axes.
The more things change, chummer. The more things change.

[Kyoto Kid]

...I'd go for an FAE. While not very "metahuman portable" it is one that packs a lot of punch and can be made by a character with good demolitions and chemistry skills.

In a 3rd ed campaign, Leela set one up (rating 8, 320 kilo device) in our team's junkyard as a trap for Yak soldiers who were sent to take us out after a "misunderstanding". The yard and about a half city block radius around surrounding it were leveled and the Yak squad was incinerated in the blast. Lit up the sky in the UCAS sector of Denver pretty well.

[CanRay]

Also made sure any evidence that could have been used against you was vaporized as well...