Demolitions

This broad skill provides a character with training in the basics of

setting explosive charges to demolish a specific target. A skilled

character has a working knowledge of handling explosives, using

primers and timing devices, and placing charges for maximum effect.

Prepared charges come in several forms—satchel bombs, mines, and

objects using plastic explosive, to name some typical ones. A prepared

charge inflicts a specific type and amount of damage on objects within

its explosive radius, as detailed in “Prepared Explosives” on page 180

in Chapter 11: Weapons & Armor.

Setting a prepared charge can be a simple activity, requiring only one

skill check if a character merely wants to place an explosive in a

readily accessible area. A Failure result on this skill check means

the device is a dud and won’’t explode as planned. (This is a case when

the Gamemaster might elect to roll a skill check secretly, to prevent

a player from knowing something that his character would not have

found out.) A Critical Failure result could mean that the device

explodes prematurely, depending on the type of explosive being used.

If a character wants to set a charge so that it won’’t be easily

discovered, a complex skill check (see page 62) is necessary. The

complexity of that check (how many successes are needed) is related to

how well the character wants the device to be hidden: If he attempts

and succeeds at a task of Marginal complexity, the explosive charge is

hidden well enough that any opponents’’ Awareness checks to spot the

device are made at a +1 penalty. That penalty increases for each

succeeding level of complexity, up to a +4 penalty at the Amazing

level.

In addition, completing a complex skill check of Good complexity

indicates that the charge has been set in a spot that’’s not only well

concealed but vulnerable—when the explosive is detonated, it causes

damage of one grade better than normal (Ordinary damage becomes Good

damage, for example). For a successful complex skill check of Amazing

complexity, the damage done by the blast improves by two grades (from

Ordinary to Amazing). More information about grades of damage appears

on page 174 in Chapter 11: Weapons & Armor and also in the Gamemaster

Guide.

Disarm

The disarm skill lets a character attempt to render bombs, mines,

and other demolition packages inoperative before they explode. A

character does not need to make a skill check to disarm his own

work or any common explosives. A skill check is required when time

is of the essence, if the explosive is of unusual make, or if it

has been rigged with security devices or booby traps. Except in

the very simplest of cases, a complex skill check (see page 62) is

involved.

---

Scratch-Built Explosives

This skill lets a character attempt to build a demolition package

from scratch, or tamper with military ordnance such as a mortar

shell to make it usable as a demolition charge. The use of the

skill assumes that the character has the proper materials and

tools on hand; the skill check receives a +2 penalty if the

character is forced to use common items (such as things found

around a house).

Making a scratch-built explosive device takes some time—at least a

few minutes and perhaps as long as several hours, depending on the

working conditions and the amount of time a character wants to

invest in the process. When the maker of a device declares his job

to be finished, the Gamemaster will assign a situation die

modifier to the upcoming skill check, ranging from a substantial

bonus if the character spent a lot of time on the job to a sizable

penalty if the job was done in extreme haste.

A skill check is then made to determine the degree of success,

which is directly related to the potency of the charge. **TABLE

P23** lists the three types of scratch-built explosive devices and

the amount of damage each one causes. On a Critical Failure, the

bomb explodes right at the end of the creation process, injuring

the maker. A skill check result of Ordinary, Good, or Amazing also

defines the complexity of the explosive for any subsequent disarm

checks by other characters. (The character who built a device can

always disarm it without needing a skill check.)

TABLE P23: SCRATCH-BUILT EXPLOSIVES

| Skill Check Result | Concussive | Type of Device: Fragmentation | Incendiary |

| :— | :— | :— | :— |

| Crit. Failure | d4w | Dud | Dud |

| Failure | Dud | d4+3m | d6+2w |

| Ordinary | d6+2s | Dud | Dud |

| Good | d8+2s | d4+2w | d4w |

| Amazing | d4w | d6+3w | d4+2w |

| | | d4+3m | d6+2w |

---

Set explosives

This specialty skill allows a character to improve his ability to

set manufactured explosive charges. See the description of the

Demolitions broad skill for information on how this

skill is employed.

---