| From: | shadowrn@*********.com (James Zealey) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | contradictions (was RE: D100) |
| Date: | Sun Dec 9 17:50:01 2001 |
Very true but the point was that you'd STILL get quite a an actual
explosion and if it was inside the person well....unless you hit
something near the edge the person's dead....that's our whole problem,
the rounds don't go BOOM they go pfft and then they (correct me if I'm
wrong, not that I need to say it since you all will anyway) stage the
damage and power up just like a regular explosive bullet would. That's
just not likely...you can take an aluminum arrowshaft and fill it with
blackpowder and superglue a percussion cap onto the end and when you
shoot someone that whole thing is going BOOM and even without a
broadhead or a target point it'll still go into flesh unless you're
shooting a bow with low draw weight (directly causing the arrow to fly
slower)
----end of original message----
1. If you fill the shaft of an arrow with blackpowder, it probably won't fly, or at least
won't fly straight - you're seriously meesing with it's balance.
2. It's not going to fly nearly as far or as fast as normal because it's heavier.
3. If you pack the blackpowder such that it will explode (tightly that is) chances are it
will detonate when the arrow flexes as it is fired.
4. I have no idea whether this will actually be more or less effective than just shooting
someone with the arrow - it'll detonate before it penetrates any distance (unless the cap
has a timer or something). If it detonates, it probably has an equal chance of fragmenting
(the blast goes outwards from the arrow shaft), backfiring(the blast goes out the rear of
the arrow) and firing forwards. Given that black powder isn't the fastest burning
explosive, it's quite possible that the explosive will act like a short-duration rocket
engine (given that it's in a long narrow column which was detonated from one end) and not
add a huge amount to the damage potential of the arrow...
In short, this (most likely) isn't what an explosive arrow is. I'd say that an explosive
arrow is either going to be
a) A small charge designed to fragment the head after penetration.
b) a small shaped charge designed to act as a HEAT round does.
The second option would make the arrow armor piercing rather than increase the damage code
in any way.
The first option SHOULD(like explosive ammo should) increase the wound level and decrease
the power. In SR the designers chose the alternative route of increasing power and leaving
would level the same.
Bear in mind that anything with a power of about 5 or 6 will tend to do it's whole wound
level to the average unarmored human being, plus anything gained from the firers skill -
an average skill of 3, aimed properly against an unaware target, plus combat pool, at
medium range by an average firer will be doing about 5D.
"Your gun has 'replica'
written down the side, mine
has 'Ares HVAR'..."
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