RE: [DL] Dyn-o-mite!

["Matthew Hanson" <deviantsevant@msn.com>]

>From: Marguerite Frey <natasha_corey@yahoo.com>
>*sigh*  TOO fast!  *laugh*  If I remember correctly
>from our last painful run-in with the stuff, our
>Marshall ruled it would go off on a certain card after
>it was lit.  In other words, I don't think there's any
>specific mechanic for how fast fuse burns, although it
>is listed as a Speed 2 (for first edition) weapon,
>meanign it takes two action cards to light and throw
>the stuff.
>
>Marguerite

Having a limited exposure to demolitions, the question of how long it takes 
the fuse to burn is, roughly, however long the demolitionists wants it to! 
I'm sure that current fuse media is very different from what was used back 
then, but also that it is unnecessary to know all the real world info in 
order to use it in the game.

For the purposes of simplicity you could simply rule that if someone 
chuckin' dynamite at his foes, they go off when they hit thier target, 
unless they botch, which would be bad.


For the sake of complexity, and a little more realism, we in my posse assume 
1 foot of fuse burn in roughly on round, so a stick with a 1 foot fuse goes 
off on the card it was lit in the next round, give or take 1d4 cards (no 
open end). The Marshal makes this roll and a 50-50 roll to determine + or - 
and keeps track of when it goes boom. A savvy demolitionists will realize he 
should probably sleeve that second card for use a little later, else his 
intended target may have time to skedaddle, or maybe even pick it up and 
toss it back. Fuses shorter than 1 foot are highly unreccomended, but 
possible. Any demolitionist with even a lick of common sense would avoid 
them, but for some reason, in Deadlands dynamite and crazy seem to go 
together like peas and corn. For incriments less than a foot, or not evenly 
divisible by one foot, like a 2 second fuse, I use this semi-chart:

Length   Number of action cards after lighting (+/- 1d4 for all)
1 foot   13
11 inch  12
10 inch  11
9  inch  10 (4 seconds)
8  inch   9
7  inch   8
6  inch   7 (3 seconds)
5  inch   6
4  inch   5 (2 seconds)
3  inch   4
2  inch   3
1  inch   2

Now the reason to avoid shorter fuses should be apparent. +/- 1d4 means that 
the player can't really be sure the instant it's going off and in the 3" or 
less category it may well go off in your hand! By the way that's action 
cards in toto, not actions in the players hand.

To make it easy on the posse they can as a free action look a the progress 
of the burn and determine roughly how long they have left. This requires a 
Fair(5) Demolitions/Cognition check. On a success they know within Three 
Cards when it will go off, One raise Two Cards, Two Raises the exact card.

Example:
The Crazy Injun Brave "Runs from Burning String" is being chased across the 
Salt Flats by a Rattler. He has 3 cards Jack, Nine, and Three. On the Jack 
he lights a stick o' dynamite with a 1 foot fuse. The Marshal rolls a d4 
twice (once for number o rounds and once for +/-) and determines that the 
stick will go off 3 cards early, on the Ace of the next round. Runs from 
Burning String sleeves his next action card to toss the dynamite at a more 
dangerous (for the Rattler) moment. The Rattler takes and action on the Five 
and Runs vamooses with his Three. Since Runs can check the status of his 
dynamite with a free action, a Fair(5) Demolitions check with no raises 
later he sees hes quickly running out of fuse, Quicker than he thought. The 
Marshal tells him it will go off between the Two and the King. On the two, 
no wanting to take chances, he tosses out his held card and chucks the 
dynamite. Just after everyone draws cards for the next round, BOOM!


The length of the fuse determines when it goes off. Part of the Demolitions 
skill is knowing how long that is supposed to be. A couple of things to 
consider:

1) Rarely can one walk into a general store and purchase dynamite that is 
already capped and fused. You buy the sticks, caps, and fuse seperately and 
set them up as you want.

2) If you are lucky enough to find someone outside your posse in the 
business of demolitions, they will probably prep the dynamite for you, at an 
extra expense. And they will probably ask the posse how long of a burn they 
want.

3) Players setting up dynamite for use should have the Marshal make a 
Demolitions roll for them. No fun letting them know just how good thier work 
is when it should be used to harm them later =] A Fair(5) Demolitions roll 
will let you prep up to six sticks of equal fuse length and give the player 
a rough estimation how long they will burn (I usually give a number of 
seconds AND a number of action cards). for each raise they get subtract 1 
from the d4 for +/- up to a maximum of three. Yeah this is a paperwork 
headache, but getting complex with the rules always is. I just make a little 
note next to thier info behind my screen telling me how "good" thier fuse 
is.

Oh well, hope that helps. I am by no means an expert on the subject. These 
house rules came from play and from my insane roomate who knows far more 
about explosives than one probably should. If anybody has a less complex way 
of determining when dynamite goes off without tipping your hand to the 
players I'd love to hear about it.


Just a quick bit of trivia: A standard unfiltered cigarrette is a very good 
makeshift 10 minute fuse. =]

xxoo
Matt the Drifter


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