So there's a mention about molotov cocktails in the Halloween Ganger stat block (SR4A 282) and Arsenal (83 and 20). They differ in damage (4P vs 5P), but everything else is basically the same. They deal fire damage, are resisted with half Impact armor, and act like a throwing weapon with ranges based on your Strength.

Do they affect a single target, or multiple targets (like a grenade blast)? If multiple, what's the radius of the explosion look like? Do they scatter? Does distance from the blast point reduce DV or not?

(I don't think there's a definitive answer, but I'm curious to see how everyone else handles molotovs)

I would call it a single target weapon. Assuming it's a traditional cocktail, that is.

If it has napalm in it, then all bets are off. @=)

When you consider what a molotov *is*, it's a single target weapon. It has a bit of splash to it, but the main force of it goes on whoever you hit with the bottle full of accelerant.

Maybe you could get 2 targets if they were hugging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaJgFCH2YCI

Okay, I could see how a molotov might only hit one guy... does it still count as an "area-effect" weapon though? -2 Defense according to the Ranged Modifier tables?

I'd say you have 2 options if you want to light someone on fire its single target. You can get an area if you throw in at the ground in front of them but reduce the DV to like 3 or something.(go with 2 meter radius maybe) But that is just my quick improv answer if I were the DM.

Yeah, I'm going with a single target. If you miss the target, the Molotov won't splash until it hits something else. In Veggiesama's video, you can see how confined the splash was. If anything, I might give it -1AP, maybe on a glitched dodge roll.

I don't know that I'd allow a Molotov to target a person at all It's not easy to break a bottle against flesh. Molotov Cocktails aren't anti-personnel weapons; they're meant to light things on fire, not people.

That's true - it's easy enough to smash a glass bottle on someone when wielded as a club but when throwing over a distance it's much more likely to bounce off I reckon, what with flesh being nice and squidgey to absorb the impact. Headshot should do it though. A troll's dermal armour would probably be hard enough too.

Assuming you're using regular bottles and not flimsy glass tailor specifically to break on any kind of impact, I'd agree with the "no person" target. On the other hand, there is such a thing as throwing it at the person's feet and it still catching the person on fire when it breaks against the ground and splashes all over their boots. Which is how I'd RP the cocktail.

"Yeah, that Yak guy over there? He's my target. I want him to burn, so I throw it right at the toe of his wingtips."

Brandie rolls dice. Critical glitches. Catches herself on fire when she drops the cocktail at her feet instead.

"Whoops."

Ever done it? It doesn't work like in the movies. Wielding liquor bottles as cudgels results in cracked skulls and intact liquor bottles more often than not. Granted, Dermal Plating and other types of armor with a great deal of rigidity would make the glass more likely to break.

Depends on the bottle honestly and where you hit someone. Some bottles are built to withstand a lot of pressure due to heavy carbonation like champagne bottles others not so much. Also how hard do you swing, if you want it to break you got to muscle it. If you put half of your effort into it it wont break. But heck even in the movies they usually break them on the counter first then use it as a stabby.

Ummm. The movies use bottles made out of sugar. No joke. You can ~safely smash them on people's heads or bars, they look like real bottles, and with a good foley artist you can make them sound like the classic "glass shattering on bone" noise we've all come to expect and to love.

Mesh

Well yeah, because the movies don't want to hurt there actors. This does not change the detail that you can break bottles on people. It still cause a crap load of blunt trauma though.

It's also Shadowrun, which is closer to movie magic than real life. It's on the weapon chart and deals Physical damage, so molotovs can hurt other characters just fine. And who is to say that alcohol bottles aren't made with a cheaper, flimsier material in 2070?

(Also, look for Mythbusters. Bottles can indeed be smashed on a skull, as long as the target's not wearing an impact-resistant football helmet!)

You haven't seen the Gods Must Be Crazy then. Bottles are useful and much stronger than people but ultimately evil. If they are so easy to break then why must they be thrown off the edge of the world to be destroyed?

Mesh

You know, my sister has a squirrel fetish that sounds exactly like that line. @=)

Wait. The world has an edge? You mean Terry Pratchett was telling the truth??? YIKES!

I have a better idea for the molotov. Serve it up at a party and see how many people actually drink them. Area effect damage! @=)

Man, I'd forgotten that movie...

I might let someone hit multiple targets along the lines of the autofire or shotgun rules (as long as they're within a meter of each other) but that's about it. They're not explosives, that's for sure.