Howdy.

I recently started playing Shadowyun (3rd edition) and I've run into a few problems with regards to grenades and explosions. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me out. I realize that the answer to some of these questions may be "RTFM", but if so I'd appreciate a "RTFM page XX" answer. If there's no official rule, house rules are also welcome.

I'm sorry if some of these questions are hard to understand. I'm hoping to avoid detailed descriptions and examples. Let me know if I can't.

1. Is there a way to have grenades explode on impact?

2. How do the barrier rules handle stun damage? Same as regular damage? (Commonly comes up with concussion grenades.)

3. Are there specific examples of the Barrier Ratings of walls and doors somewhere? The Barrier Rating Table on page 124 uses generic terms like "Average Material" and "Hardened Material" and I have no idea what that means in-game. What is the barrier rating of a typical door (inside an office or house)? A wall? The floor? A solid front door?

4. Which barriers "count" when determining a blast's power in a specific spot. I assume the floor/ground doesn't count - what about the ceiling? Does an explosion do less damage to airborne targets?

5. Any rules-of-thumb for determining the added power from a "diagonal" rebound in a confined space? (If you understand what I mean by that.)

6. Am I right in assuming that the power of a blast in a confined space keeps building until a barrier breaks or the explosion runs out of juice? So, if a barrier holds on the "first attempt" the blast will rebound and possibly return from another barrier to "try again" with more power? Do you lower the barrier rating after each rebound?

That's it for now, I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

as for number 1. use a minigrenade launcher,

having thrown grenades explode on impact is a bad idea, because if you pull the pin, then fumble it you're in a world of hurt.

Impact grenades have been tried many times and discontinued. There were problems like dropping them, hitting something too close by when thrown and having it explode with the thrower in the danger zone and exposed, and not hitting a hard enough surface to set it off. The Italians in WWII they had a red impact grenade that failed to explode very often but remained armed and could be set off at a touch by the unwary. The US had one in WWII which resulted in many accidental deaths when the demonstrator would pull the pin arming the grenade and absentmindedly flip it up and catch it, like you might flip a baseball in your hand. Got the British a few times too.

2. Stun grenades wouldn't have much effect on anything harder than glass. The blast might blow out regular windows if close enough, but it wouldn't do much of anything to walls. A concussion grenade is different in that it is meant to cause damage by using a deadlier explosive. Those grenades probably would do some damage to a wall, though if it not laid as a demolition charge, doubling the barrier rating would probably be ok. (Don't have my 3rd Ed. book handy so I can't look up the stats on the different grenades.)

4. Yes, a ceiling would count. Having a ceiling really should be a requirement for full rebound blast effect. If there is no ceiling, then most of the pressure wave will be lost going up. Now, I'm not sure about the actual dynamics of that kind of thing, but the rules read like the assumption is that the grenade detonates inside a room. For outdoor use, you might halve the rebound value.

As for the other part, a barrier would count as its weakest point. For example: a grenade would blow out a window or out through and open door which would lower the pressure and lessen the chance that the building would be damaged.

6. If the place is completely sealed, the blast will build up and try to break its way out. That is to say, the different rebounds across the walls could add up and try to force a breach. Once it does, that additive effect would be canceled. So, if the blast blew open a door, the pressure would be released and the damage to the structure would lessen and stop.

Now, the second part of 4 and all of 6 are very general and referring to grenades. Put a larger explosive in there and the situation changes. Throw in a satchel charge of several pounds of military grade explosive, and you are going to tear the place apart open windows and doors or not, depending on the material of the structure. But basically grenades are antipersonal weapons and won't to too much damage to structures.

Airborne targets would be hit by the blast if they are in range. However, they probably won't be subject to rebounds unless they were hovering near a ceiling rather than outside flitting about.

3. Average would cover common construction materials. Residential home, non-secure store, etc. You can make openable objects one or two weaker than the walls, but should still be close.

4. For convenience, SR3 only applies a 2 dimensional blast calculation plan. Just talk with your group and decide if you want to adjust things down on the assumption that SR assumes both a cieling and floor, come up with a full three dimensional blast calculation modeling utility, or some other standard for unexpected grenade usage.

5. Related to 4, the SR rules simplify internal architecture for blast calculations to be a collection of straight walls and right angles. Discuss with your group and decide on a standard.

6. The time involved is pretty fast, and the rebound calculations can stage up very quickly in enclosed spaces. Do what you want, but I think last time I had such an issue, I just determined if any barriers would shatter and then which would fail first to cap the damage calculations.