In my game minigrenades, explode on impact. But thrown grenades doesnt untill the throwers next ini phase.

My players are beginning to have problems with the npc's starting to throw the nades back at them now. Obviously they wanna work around that by timing it so that doesnt happen.
Any suggestions on that?
(I make the npc-s make a Quickness [8] test to grab the nade to return to sender)

A fast samurai can Delay Action till late in an initiative pass, and then throw the grenade. It'll go off on his action (early, because he's fast) of the next pass. The opponents will have less time to toss it back unless they too have Delayed Action.

A slow character can Delay Action till the last initiative pass. It'll detonate at the end of the Combat Turn.

If you want, you can let your players figure these out. They'll be proud of themselves when they do.

Get a BF capable GL that fires air timed grenades and lay some real smackdown.

There's no reason thrown grenades (or any other type) would not have a variable timer, as well as a switch to choose between timed and impact detonation. If not as standard, surely some company (read Ares) would develop such tech for their own use, if not for general consumption.

Actually, Cannon Companion already has rules for picking up a bouncing thrown grenade, on pg. 107. It's Quickness ( 8 ) for mini-grenades, Quickness ( 6 ) for standard sized grenades. If the fool...err, brave soul attempting it fails to get a success, they're at Ground Zero. If they get it, they still have to throw it...

It also says that grenades detonate on the character's next Initiative Pass, not at the end of turn. My crew has taken to throwing grenades on their second-to-last pass, hoping that the enemy has run out of passes...although anyone can still move (walk or run) on any Initiative Pass, so they may only just flush them out of cover. Still, that's not entirely disappointing...

For damaging grenades we seem to almost exclusively use air-timed minigrenades. Regular ones just allow people too much time to move out of the way or throw them back, and it's more often at the start of a combat turn you want to lay them out rather than at the end. BF air-timed minigrenade launchers akimbo is just too much destructive power to be missing out on. However, if you are using regular ones..

As well as setting them to detonate on impact or running the timer down first, a few other tricks you could try are:

Throw an IR smoke grenade at the same time or just before. If they can't find the grenade they can't throw it back!

When you're already being stealthy, particularly in dark areas, it might occasionally be worth casting Stealth on the grenade and then throwing it among your targets. Then they won't hear it bouncing around until it's too late.

Throw a WHOLE bunch of grenades at once, Fulltime Killer stylee. Either have all of them primed when you do, or just one.

Attach them securly to something big and heavy, like a metahuman body, then prime and drop it on your victims.

Grenades can be set to explode on impact. BBB p.282

Just don't drop them when they're primed!

BBB ?

Big Black Book. It's what some people call the main rulebook for Shadowrun.

oh... <----n00b

slightly off-topic. where does the term 'nades come from? for some reason it always annoys me, but for no good reason.

thrown grenades can be timed, radio detonated or explode on impact, by the BBB as far as i know

Grenades. If you mean who was the person that shortened the name, I haven't got a clue.

unless you're running around with a primed grenade in your hand, that's pretty unlikely.

Sorta related to the topic, does anyone have rules for rolling a grenade as opposed to throwing one? Or how one handles other setups like chucking a grenade backhand around a doorframe, or dunking it into a window, for example?

Technically, for a little extra nuyen, grenades should be available that will prime/alter settings via the Smartlink Induction Pad. This is not to say that any sort of bonus to the to-hit TN would be granted (a case can be mad both for and against this), but the technological knowhow would be available for this to be done relatively cheaply.

That's when Complementary Skill: Baseball(Pitching) comes in real useful

i usually allow people to toss grenades less than a meter with no roll, by using the 'drop object' free action.

Then use "frag" for fragmenting handgrenades.

Unless "nade" is actually in common use in the military. I guess it's pretty much their right to choose the monosyllabic nickname for grenades.

True enough. Heh, though on some level, I start thinking, "Just how lazy have we gotten with language anyway?" At what point do you go, "Yknow what? Its way too long for me to say 'grenade'. How about we just call it a nade?"

Horseless carraige, automobile carraige, automobile, auto, motor car, car...

"ya know dave, I am just to damn lazy to spell "at". I wish someone would just shorten it man. Does nobody care about my plight!"

what about some texan that needs one

"jim bob I nade a 'nade"

on topic again, i'd allow smartlinking the timer and the like, for a small fee.

what about them aerodynamic grenades. they have those IRL?

well, there goes my plan to end the tyranny of frisbee players

Don't forget about the hair removal product that goes by the same name.

If a mk67 explodes near your head, I think you'll lose some hair.....

Nuts don't explode...

Note that the 'stick' type grenades can be thrown much farther than the 'baseball' type grenades. So you might want to count them as aerodynamic grenades...

I was going to mentiong Panzerwürfmine and similar throwing explosives which fly head-first, but decided against it since SR Aerodynamic Grenades are always Frisbees of Doom.

Eep, you're right. Sorry

~J

oddly, i've always envisioned aerodynamic grenades as explosive lawn darts.