Flame Thrower

[Monday Knights]

I would like some suggestions on how to make a normal flame thrower, and how to determine if an object has caught on fire.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I'd buy it as an Energy Blast or RKA vs ED, Area Effect Cone, No Range. If anything takes BODY damage from it, it's caught on fire.

[BNakagawa]

Building flamethrowers is real tricky.

 

One of the primary complications is that they are typically capable of shooting fuel onto a target without igniting it, making it possible to saturate a target or an area with fuel and then ignite it once enemies have entered the kill zone, or the hatch has opened or whatever.

[Arthur]

Originally posted by BNakagawa

Building flamethrowers is real tricky.

 

FRED, page 175. Firelords "Immolation" attack.

 

If you want to make it a real flamethrower rather than a superpower, then use fuel charges.

 

Uncontrolled was pretty much originally introduced to simulate napalm.

[BNakagawa]

not quite that simple.

 

You also need to account for the possibility that somebody other than yourself can light off fuel you sprayed onto a target, including actions of your target.

 

Also your range is limited by height relative to target and wind conditions.

 

Obviously using one underwater is a bit problematic.

 

Also, once you've saturated ground with fuel, it isn't entirely obvious that's what's happened. Obviously nobody would walk into a field that's been set on fire, but with ground clutter or plant growth, it wouldn't be immediately obvious that an area has been doused with flamethrower fuel. Until of course you walked into it and smelled it. Then it's probably too late.

 

You're probably also going to want to link it to some darkness for the smoke, some flash vs sight, maybe smell. (hard to smell anything other than the flamethrower and maybe burning bodies or hair - ugh)

[st barbara]

Didn't one of the old Villain cuplements have a character whose sole weapon was a flame thrower? (he may even have been CALLED "Flamethrower") How did they handle it in that, does anyone remember ?

[lemming]

Originally posted by st barbara

Didn't one of the old Villain cuplements have a character whose sole weapon was a flame thrower? (he may even have been CALLED "Flamethrower") How did they handle it in that, does anyone remember ?

Blowtorch from Classic Enemies had a Multipower

• 
  9d6 EB Autofire
  10d6 EB Explosion
  2d6+1 RKA Uncontrolled Continious
  

[Zaratustra]

Spraying an area or person with fuel could be a Delayed Attack (until set on fire), visible to Smell.

[death tribble]

Blowtorch is in the latest versions in CKC if I recall correctly. Sorry book at home.

[AlHazred]

I have the RW statistics for the USMC Portable Flamethrower M2-2: Weight=32 kg, Fuel=18L, Range=25-40m, Duration=10sec.

 

Translating to Hero, I could see it as a:

RKA 1½d6, Area of Effect (20" Line; +1), Continuous (+1) (75 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1), 1 Fuel Charge (1 Turn; -1¼), No Range (-½). Real Cost: 20.

 

'Course, I'm at work, so the Advantage and Limitation values could be off. Also, I'm assuming that the damage looks right to you - I have no statistics on the survival rate among the... uh... flamethrown... so I can't say how damaging it should be. A 1½d6 Continuing Attack should do it, though, for your average 8 BODY soldiers in a "gritty" campaign, especially if you're using the Impairing rules.

 

[Edited to add "No Range".]

[AlHazred]

I thought about this at lunch. Another way to do it that takes advantage of new rules in 5th Edition is to give the flamethrower Boostable Charges as opposed to a single Fuel Charge (Boostable Fuel Charges? Wouldn't like to do the math on that one!) The Boosting effect could reflect taking the time to "hose down" an area with flame.

[sbarron]

Originally posted by BNakagawa

not quite that simple.

 

You also need to account for the possibility that somebody other than yourself can light off fuel you sprayed onto a target, including actions of your target.

 

Also your range is limited by height relative to target and wind conditions.

 

Obviously using one underwater is a bit problematic.

 

Also, once you've saturated ground with fuel, it isn't entirely obvious that's what's happened. Obviously nobody would walk into a field that's been set on fire, but with ground clutter or plant growth, it wouldn't be immediately obvious that an area has been doused with flamethrower fuel. Until of course you walked into it and smelled it. Then it's probably too late.

 

You're probably also going to want to link it to some darkness for the smoke, some flash vs sight, maybe smell. (hard to smell anything other than the flamethrower and maybe burning bodies or hair - ugh)

 

I think a lot of these should be handled just by taking the limitation: real weapon (-0). Particularly if it is supposed to be a "normal" flamethrower.

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by BNakagawa

You also need to account for the possibility that somebody other than yourself can light off fuel you sprayed onto a target, including actions of your target.

[sNIP]

Also, once you've saturated ground with fuel, it isn't entirely obvious that's what's happened. Obviously nobody would walk into a field that's been set on fire, but with ground clutter or plant growth, it wouldn't be immediately obvious that an area has been doused with flamethrower fuel. Until of course you walked into it and smelled it. Then it's probably too late.

 

You can handle this by making it a multipower. Something like this:

Multipower, 75 point pool (75 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1½), 1 Fuel Charge lasting an 1 Turn (-1¼), Real Weapon (-¼), 2 Handed (½), 10 STR Min (Extra STR Doesn't Add to Damage; -½). Real Cost: 25.

Slot 1: RKA 1½d6, Area of Effect (20" Line; +1), Continuous (+1) (75 Active Points); Limited Power (Not In Wet Conditions; -¼), No Range (-½). Real Cost: 4u.

Slot 2: RKA 1½d6, Area Of Effect (Any 32 Hex Area; +1¾), Trigger (+¼) (75 Active Points); Limited Power (Not In Wet Conditions; -¼), No Range (-½). Real Cost: 4u.

Total Cost: 33 points.

 

For the Champions version, remove the STR Min and Real Weapon limitations.