Tear Gas

[Edsel]

The Dark Champions book lists the effects of tear gas as a simple 8d6 Sight Flash. I want to model something a little more realistic that this. From what I have read the effects of exposure to CS gas are:
Within a few seconds of exposure the victim experiences severe pain and burning in the eyes and the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat. Stinging and buring of the skin also begins to occur. After continued exposure of 30 to 60 seconds, sneezing, dripping of the nose, coughing and tightness of the chest take place. Prolonged exposure only worsens the symptoms but by then most Hero system battles will be concluded. Once a person escapes exposure the symptions will clear up within 5 to 10 minutes. Perhaps someone can shed a little more light on this. I have only read about CS, I have never experienced it.

So how would you go about modeling these effects in Hero system? The typical CS grenade (for instance the M7A3) will burn for about 30 seconds. However a person exposed may suffer the effects for up to 5 minutes. A flash is going to have to be tremendous to blind a person for that long so I am thinking some more like a supress or negative perception levels for the effects to eyes. And what about all of this burning and pain? Is that Stun damage or should it be acomplished with a DEX and/or STR drain? Point cost is not really a consideration here (it will probably be very expensive) I am going for realism.

[Bloodstone]

Continuous, Uncontrolled AOE Flash with a minor NND component?

Perhaps some type of change environment effect with penalties to perception on sight and taste/smell group or similar effects?

[Ura-Maru]

I’d do a (smallish) Constant AOE NND, with a linked ‘Change Environment’ that would force constant Perception rolls at a –3 or –4 penalty, instead of the flash.

A drain of some kind might be better than the NND to get the ‘even after you leave the cloud, you’re still @#$!!ed up for a few minutes,’ but I’m not sure of what. Stun or Con, maybe?

---
“Oh no! I’d better release a cloud of noxious amnesia gas!”
“It’s not amnesia gas.”
“But it sure is noxious. You gotta give me that!”

[Edsel]

I had thought the same thing about the Change Environment. I'm thinking about making it a -4 penalty, since that is the same penalty a dark night is supposed to impose.

I think maybe a Drain against DEX since the pain and discomfort ought to mess-up your coordination and it should definately hurt your combat values. Perhaps STR as well since I doubt you'd feel up to straining yourself. I can buy down the recovery rate to simulate the lingering effect.

Years ago we used to just give a -4 PER roll penalty and a -8 EGO roll penalty to allow you to concentrate enough to do anything other than suffer. However that was all a GM's fiat and we simply didn't bother working it up as an actual power. Now I am trying to do something that I can put in a Hero Designer Prefab so it needs to be something within the rules.

[SSJ Archon]

I have some friends who told me what its like, something about a training program and testing to join the OSI, I'll ask when I talk to them next.

[Sean Waters]

Opaque NND entangle?

[Tiree]

The Dark Champions book lists the effects of tear gas as a simple 8d6 Sight Flash. I want to model something a little more realistic that this. From what I have read the effects of exposure to CS gas are: Prolonged exposure only worsens the symptoms but by then most Hero system battles will be concluded. Once a person escapes exposure the symptions will clear up within 5 to 10 minutes. Perhaps someone can shed a little more light on this. I have only read about CS, I have never experienced it.

I don't recall the tightening of the chest. But I do recall not being able to breathe. I do know, if you have enough prolong exposure to CS Gas you can drown (Dry Land Drowning). Once you get out of the exposed area, the symptoms clear up pretty quickly (within 5 minutes, less depending on exposure. If you take a deep breath, you will need to get it out of your lungs). But it sticks to your clothing, so if more people who have been exposed get together (within 3 to 5 feet) the effects will kick off again

How, I would build it in Hero... possibly a Flash NND Explosive with maybe a change environment for the smoke like effect against perception. It will act like a smoke grenade with debilitating effects.

[mudpyr8]

The problem with CE is that it doesn't follow the character.

I think the reason for sight flash is the end effect of being "blind". I think that sums up the combat effects pretty well.

I usually handle this as a Sight/Smell/Taste Flash NND vs. Air Filtration & goggles. The problem is duration. It does take about 5 minutes to recover.

You can hold your breath against the debilitating effects. If someone drops the gas and you hold your breath and get out of the area before your next one, your eyes will burn but that's about it.

If you take a deep breath, you are hosed.

I have experienced CS gas first hand. While in the chamber we had one guy who refused to breath and actually passed out.

There is definitely a DEX drain component as a result of the intense pain. When I took that first breath it felt like thousands of red hot needles poking my lungs from the inside. I had mucous nearly streaming from my nose and excessive, uncontrollable drooling, as well as tears and blurred vision. I don't think there was any affect on my STR or movement.

I would say I was at -3 to Agility Based Skills & DEX Rolls, 1/2 OCV & DCV. Perhaps -1 to other skill rolls for being distracted by the pain, but I felt very aware. I kinda felt like I had to move carefully, but I could run, so it's almost like anything over a 1/2 move required a DEX roll to avoid falling (which some of the guys did). There were also a couple who vomited. After 1 minute or so I would say I was at a -1 penalty and after about 5 I was fine.

How's that for a start?

[Zeropoint]

When I went through boot camp, they put us throught the euphemistically named "confidence chamber" and exposed us to tear gas; I'm not sure exactly what variety.

I have no way of judging what the concentration was, but I didn't find it to be all that bad.

We went into the chamber with our MCU-2P gas masks on. In theory, this was to demonstrate to us that they worked. Mine leaked at the temple, and my eyes were getting irritated. It kept it out of my nose and throught for the most part, though.

Eventually, we had to take the masks off. The briefing video they showed us indicated that the gas would affect eyes, nose, and throat, but not lungs. Based on that, the first thing I did when I took my mask off was take a deep breath and note the effects.

That wasn't much fun, but I confirmed that I couldn't feel any effects from the gas in my lungs. My throat, though, was another story. It set off a coughing fit. I got that under control, and while it was definitely painful, with my eyes and breathing passages burning, the pain stopped increasing fairly soon at an entirely bearable level. I've had headaches that were far worse.

My eyes were watering, and as I stayed in the gas chamber, the irritation in my throat seemed to build up, and I started to cough more. I got really lucky in that my nose and sinuses were pretty much completely dry when I went in, and I didn't really have anything come out until we were leaving the chamber, and it wasn't much then.

Fresh air cleared up the effects pretty fast, but it DOES get into your clothes, and we all smelled like tear gas all day. For a few hours after getting out, we were giving off enough fumes to continue causing mild irritation.

Others in the group were more strongly affected. Most of them experienced copious nasal discharge. Some of them vomited. Some of them looked like they were about to pass out. Many exhibited signs of physical or emotional distress, which I attributed to fear rather than the physiological effects of the gas.

So, what does this mean in game terms? For the effects as I felt them, a change environment giving penalties to vision (watery eyes) and DEX (coughing) with an attached drain or suppress REC (coughing again; hard to breathe properly). Appropriate life support should block these effects, naturally.

Maybe a low-level Mind Control based on CON, set effect: "Get out of the gas!"

Some of the others looked like they were experiencing a STR and DEX drain, maybe.

Zeropoint