10kT nuclear bomb

[Gnaskar]

Digital HERO has a very complete build of a 1MT (mega ton) nuke, but it is very difficult to scale it down to create smaller bombs. I've run the data through every simulation and search program I know of, but it doesn't help as I have no way of comparing damage at ground zero; all I get is the radius.

 

For example (thermal blast): I know that both second-degree burns (2 or 3d6 RKA) and third-degree burns (3 or 4d6 RKA) happen at about 1/8 of the range. But does a 10kT do the same damage (20d6) at GZ? Does it vaporize or just melt metal? How do the temperatures compare?

 

Has anyone tried anything similar? Has anyone managed?

 

Theoretical data from:

 

• http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Science/Nuke.html
  
• http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/nuclear-low-yield-weapons-impact.htm
  
• Digital HERO 10, May 2003
  

[Captain Obvious]

Re: 10kT nuclear bomb

 

I'm not a nuclear physicist, but I would expect the damage at ground zero to drop at about the same rate. Nuclear reactions occur at a controlled rate in nuclear reactors (Whoa! Who'da thunk, huh?) but the temperature doesn't get high enough to vaporize metal. It stands to reason that an uncontrolled reaction of a smaller amount of material, releasing less overall energy, would release less energy at ground zero.

 

Although, if you have the radius for the 1Mton bomb where metal is vaporized, it probably drops at the same rate as the second and third degree burns for the 10Kton bomb. You might end up with less than a hex of metal vaporization, and it might be worth adding in some extra damage without the Explosion Advantage.

[RadeFox]

Re: 10kT nuclear bomb

 

From my understanding of nuclear weaponry, size doesnt really do anything more then increase the destructive radius of the blast.

 

In most cases, Id follow a simple rule of thumb where every doubling of damage increases the radius multiplier. So in this case, 1mt=as described, 2mt= x2 radius, 4mt x3 radius, 8mt= x4 radius from the 1 mt blast. ( I am unfamiliar with the digital hero write-up, so no hard numbers)

 

More insterstingly, in a low powered Digital or Dark style campaign, Im dying to know "Why" you want to know such things! Being at ground zero is pretty much death to anyone outside a 4 color supers game, and even then, many of them would perish as well!

[Curufea]

Re: 10kT nuclear bomb

 

Damage in Hero is probably too abstract to be accurately expressed as a subset of newtons of force or celsius of heat or gray of absorbed radiation or volts of EMP - let alone the combination that changes at different distances from the initial blast.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 10kT nuclear bomb

 

Damage in Hero is probably too abstract to be accurately expressed as a subset of newtons of force or celsius of heat or gray of absorbed radiation or volts of EMP - let alone the combination that changes at different distances from the initial blast.

 

Of course that hasn't stopped some HEROphiles from trying.

 

I'm Attaching to this post a Damage Class conversion chart that our long-lost board colleague Bartman wrote up. It might provide some rough guidelines when compared to Steve Long's DH design.

[Tigereye]

Re: 10kT nuclear bomb

 

Hope you're not actually thinking of using one in a Dark Champions game- the mere threat of using one should be enough...

 

After paging through some books and looking up some websites on atomic weapons, you might lose about 1-2 dice of killing damage (18 or 19d6 vs. 20d6 Killing EB, Explosive) with a reduced Megascale effect.

 

The statistics, even for a 10 kt weapon, are chilling enough:

 

The fireball radius is 323 feet. Radius of fireball when the shock front breaks away 312 feet. As shock front breaks away a second thermal pulse begins. Distance to 1 psi overpressure (moderate structural damage) 4.57 miles. Distance to second degree burns to exposed skin 1.45 miles

 

(Link: http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/nuclear-low-yield-weapons-impact.htm )

 

The first radius can substituted with the "Metals Melt" part of the Equipment Guide chart on Page 133, with the last one of course substituted with the "Second Degree Burns" part of the chart. The radius of the others can then be extrapolated.

 

It would probably be better to describe what it would do in abstract, rather than what it would do specifically to the characters. In any Dark Champions game- heck, in anything but a cosmically powerful Champions game- the only real immunity to a nuclear weapon is being as far away from the fireball as possible, and upwind.

 

Only two humans are known to have survived within 150-300 meters of the hypocenter of the Hiroshima bombing (where the center of the blast hit the ground). One was in a basement of a government building at the time. (He later still suffered severe radiation sickness before recuperating to tell his tale.) The other was in a sturdy concrete bank. She also did not did not escape unscathed (she suffered lacerations, burns and radiation poisoning, largely from drinking the infamous "black rain"), but she was still alive 60 years later. We may be able to attribute each of these individuals Luck which mitigated their damage.

 

Detonated in a high-density population city (like many Asian cities) will magnify the effect to near-Hiroshima levels. The urban sprawl of many American cities may actually serve to reduce casualties. Terrain must also be accounted for - the bomb that fell on Nagasaki was at least half again as powerful as the one that fell on Hiroshima, yet many people were saved just by the presence of surrounding hills and the number of people who died was therefore somewhat less. The time of day is also important- detonating a bomb at midnight in a large downtown American city is likely to cause fewer casualties as many Americans commute to their places of work. Blowing it up at 10 am would be ideal.

 

Taking the link's example of Washington, DC, we can assume that on the average about 200,000 people would die within a few weeks. About half of these would die within seconds.

 

If we detonate it in anywhere more or less densely populated (Washington's population density is about 3,700 people per square kilometer on average) we can assume more or fewer people die. Assume that, at most, a bit less than twice the dead are surviving wounded- medical assistance will be hard to come by, what's left will be hard-pressed to treat the tsunami of injured, and the injuries will often be severe and hard to treat.

 

Fires could create a firestorm (winds carrying heat to other objects, magnifying the effect) if detonated in a particularly flammable piece of terrain.

 

And of course, there are all the wonderful eight effects of a nuclear weapon, including radiation either directly or from fallout, one of the ultimate NND Drain attacks... Surviving characters will probably want to go into a basement for at least two weeks, if there is no way to easily escape... pleasant dreams...