Hey,

I was wondering, how do you judge a sympathetic detonation of ammo, grenades, and the like. I have heard alot of people have been using them and I was wondering what rules are out there for them... keep in mind the fact that I only have the basic SR3 rulebook. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

Peace,

Konphujun

Check out the rules on cooking off ammo with elemental manipulation spell side effects. That's probably what you're looking for.

If you aren't using those rules already, keep up the good work and don't. Elemental manipulation spells cooking off ammo, let alone explosives, is pretty silly if it doesn't burn the actual target into a crisp. Consider how long it takes for a cartridge to go off after being thrown into the middle of an open flame, compared to how long it takes for a human to stop screaming in the same conditions.

Same thing for explosions, usually. Most explosives (certainly all commercial ones, and nearly all military explosives) are so stable that you'd basically have to be lying on a bunch of TNT sticks for any explosives or grenades carried to go off. A flashbang or similar device might be different, but those don't exist in canon SR AFAIK.

They might be good for a comedic effect every now and then, or if you want to make your game cartoony, but otherwise a bit weird. If you plan to do this, the rules are found on pp. 196-197 in SR3.

I prefer to just use the elemental effects selectively. A few of them are perfect, a few aren't relevant at all. Like much of the canon, a mixed bag.