I'm running a game that starts at street level. The PCs are going to face a lot of gangers who are not extremely well supplied. I was hoping to outfit them with some homemade weapons and explosives. I found some decent low-grade weapons in run and gun, but I was hoping to find some rules for molotov cocktails specifically.

Has anyone cooked up decent stats for a homemade firebomb?

is there no incendiary grenade in SR5?
If so, just take those stats and tone them down a bit to make it clear that it's not actually mil-tech but everything in the kitchen-sink?

Well arsenal pg 20 dealt with Molotov so we can extrapolate something equivalent for 5th.


Thrown Weapon Range: Short 0-Str*2 / Medium: up to Str*3 / Long: up to Str*4 / Extreme: up to Str*5
(same as original as range tables have not changed much since 4th. Okay heft to get out there but not as much as a solid grenade would get)
Edit:
Thrown as grenade at a location, breaking on impact and doing fire damage so as to avoid the double dipping argument of intentionally hitting someone in the face with a thrown incendiary device.
If it does hit a body, apply damage and treat the location at their feet as the center point for the pool of fire (see below)
For misses, Scatter is (1d6 - hits)meters
Damage: 7P(f) (Fire Damage, damage from bottle itself incidental)
(originally 5P so gave it a +2DV in keeping with upgrade in weapon damage in general for 5th)
AP: -6 (as per fire based weaponsSR5 pg 171.. originally thinking going with the -2 for open flame but this can be debated since originally it was half armor)
May create Light Smoke condition in an area around the fire at the GM's discretion (heavily oil laced fuels burn smokier)
No explosion to deal with, it's really not an explosive in the classic sense, more just a fire transport system.
Covers 1m diamter area in pool of flames.
Ongoing Damage: Each Combat Turn the base DV of the pool of flames is decreased by 1 and damage is applied to anything in contact with it. (representing the initial fuel in the cocktail burning out).
Possibly igniting materials caught in it's area, follow Fire Damage pg 171 for more on igniting things and putting said fires out.

Stahlseele, Sendaz,
thanks for the help. That's a pretty elegant solution; my players will hate you for it.

Eh, it's what we do ^^

Remember since the gang will probably know their turf better than the players something like the cocktails can be very effective.

Since the cocktail leaves a pretty fire burning for a short while at least, the gangers can use it to deny access through chokepoints like doorways or otherwise change the face of the battlefield.

Piles of rubbish scattered in an alley that the players may ignore can be lit up real easy into raging bonfires, messing with vision as the light conditions rapidly change as well as potentially separating players or forcing them to go around the burning obstacles.

Going after the player's ride is also an option, at the very least it's going to ruin their paintjob and potentially force them from it while trying to put it out unless they want to try and ride it out inside a cooker as it heats up.

However one has to be careful as street level budget means loss of the vehicle could be a big setuback finance wise and it's always a touchy subject to wreck a players main toys.

Drones get beat up all the time, but decks and rides less so, though that does not mean never.

Don't forget that a molotov cocktail has +1 accuracy and +1 DV if you enable the wireless on it.

Very Important Tip... Thanks for the reminder.

Sooo... if I brick a Wireless On Molotov Cocktail, does that make it catch fire while still in the thrower's backpack?

Only if they are dumb enough to have wireless enabled in their backpack.

Well if they are buying off the rack MCs at the local TerroMart™ and not making their own throwbacks, they get what they deserve eh?

Very True Indeed.

no, no, don't be ridiculous. sparks all over a highly flammable substance doesn't start fires! it just makes the wireless stuff stop working. [/sarcasm]

that said, i was rooting for "wireless bonus: you can throw the molotov cocktail as a free action."

i mean, if we're going to poke fun at stupid wireless bonuses, why go in half measures?

Oh.. Right! A Bricked Molotov would just shatter and do nothing. I forgot.

Hmm... if CFD nanites can climb shoes and such, maybe I need to incorporate some hard nanites into the cocktail so when it breaks and catches fire, the nanites can help direct where the splash spreads or help it climb a target.

Ahhh!!! Thy're in my brain but can't stop me from burning myself and then - everything else!!! A-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!