Re: [HoE] Flamethrowers in HOE?

[Doug Stalker <dougs@technologist.com>]

Darrin Bright wrote:

> At 01:58 PM 1/22/00 -0800, you wrote:
> >Or they find the remains of a toy store, get a Super
> >Squirter, go to a Hardware store, get some lighter
> >fluid and a cigarette lighter, fill the Super Squirter
> >with lighter fluid, put the lighter in front of it,
> >light the lighter, pull the trigger on the
> >'squirter...
>
> Sounds too much like a RIFTS campaign. Several problems with this: lighter
> fluid has a fancier chemical name that ends with something like "-cohol" or
> "-thanol" (which I can't remember). These kinds of solvents can dissolve
> certain kinds of plastic. But let's just say the supersoaker is pretty
> sturdy and this isn't an issue. Ever tried to aim a gun while trying to
> keep a lighter lit in front of the nozzle? What happens if you drip lighter
> fluid on your hand? What happens if the flame melts the tip of the nozzle,
> or worse, what happens if the flame goes up the nozzle and ignites the
> pressurized bottle of fuel?

Speaking as someone who has made several homemade flamethrowers, it *is*
possible to hold a lighter in front of the weapon, since you dont need to aim
that well... but I wouldn't like to try it in combat.  A better solution is to
fix some sort of electrical sparking device there, but I don't think that would
work too well with a lighter-fluid powered flamethrower. so assume you use
duct-tape and scrap metal to fix the lighter in place.

The simplest home-made flamethrower is to use a butane gas lighter refil (with
a metal nozlze) and a bent fork to push the nozzle in... easy to hold, and once
it starts so long as you keep it aimed slightly down the flame maintains itself
a few inches from the nozzle.  The flame gets out to about 2 metres long.


For hell on earth, you probably want something a bit more powerful.  This is
also pretty easy to jury-rig:  you need a cylinder of compressed gas, with
feeds into one end of a cylinder of flamable liguid.  the other end of this
feeds into the weapon barel.  When the valve between the cylinders is opened,
the liquid is forced out of the gun, where it contacts some sort of pilot light
(like a zippo) which sets it on fire.  No, I havn't made a flamethrower like
this (too risky for real life IMO) but PC's should be able to knock one
together without too much trouble.

Options would include doing something to the fuel to make it stick to the
target (easy to do, given my theoretical knowledge of the more dangerous
aspects of backyard pyrotechnics)


Disclaimer:  Don't try any of this for real.  And if you feel you have to, take
lots of safety precautions.



And remember, in Hoe there are lots of   powers that have a good chance of
causing big problems for a flamethrower weilding character.  Arson springs
immediatly to mind, so does detonate.  Though from a style point of view it
would be rather cool.

 - Doug "Ex Pyromaniac" Stalker