Smart Grenades

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Here are a couple of smart grenades that my GM (Jeremy Borogard) and I came up with:



Arisaka M-20 "Grabber" Grenades

Tired of opponents wearing mil-spec armor and your trusty grenade just doesn’t work? Always ruining your day when your boss needs that job done? Look no further, Arisaka has the answer: M-20 "Grabber" grenades. Launched from standard minigrenade launchers, this round will improve your effectiveness vs. Armored opponents. Using a modified mini-grenade body, the grenade consists of three main components, the acid tip, the fan out hooks to allow it to attach itself to armor, and of course the warhead. The grenade tip itself consists of a breakable shell that when broken, releases a fast acting acid to weaken the armor structure (WARNING!!! In order for best use of our product and safety, extreme caution must be exercised when handling this munition) of your opponent. Then the chemically timed shaped charge activates, and uses explosive force to severely damage the opponents skin. The grenade attaches itself to the armor through the use of memory metal Dikoted claws that can attach itself to any armor currently on the market, including the Esprit line of mil-spec armor. The claws are mounted on four petals that fold out upon launch of the round, which may be a concern in windy environments, reducing accuracy. There is an in-built spring that spreads out the petals to an optimally tested degree, then when it impacts against the target, they snap forward, allowing the hooks to dig into the target armor, much like a Venus flytrap in operation. Then the shell is broken, the acid compound eats through the armor, and engages your target successfully. Buy the M-20, for when armor is a problem, it won’t be.

Conceal	Damage	Weight	Avail.	Cost	Street Index
8	7S*	.5	12/1 week	2,000¥	3

*Attacked character only benefits from layered impact armor, as well as any dermal sheathing, as well as any bone lacing present.

Game Notes: The M-20 follows special rules when fired. When fired from a grenade launcher of any type, conduct the attack as a normal ranged attack, with all normal modifiers. However, to successfully attach the round to the target, the character must achieve a minimum of two successes, follow normal staging rules for any successes gained, this is to reflect the angle and all that other jazz. If the targeted character wants to pull it off, he/she requires a minimum Strength of 10, to reflect the Dikote tips involved. Additionally, per GM’s discretion, he or she may add a modifier of +1 at Long range and +2 at Extreme range if any wind is present. This however can be negated through the use of a rangefinder, which will compensate for the wind when fired. Standard sighting devices may be used for this system. For round effects, upon impact, the round will release a 3 second duration triethylaluminium (TriAl by my call), to ensure a hole is made in the armor. Permanently reduce both armor values by 1, as the TriAl is optimally designed to simply make a hole and then dissolve. There really won’t be any effects on the wearer, as the most he or she would get is a simple burn, nothing worth damaging. However, after that, the shaped charge goes off, and as mentioned before, only the above types will protect against the charge, per standard explosive rules, except there is no blast radius. Despite the launching and other methods, the grenade follows both SR2 and SR3 grenade rules. Note that the targeted character does not have to make a Perception Test if wearing Light to Medium armor, as I feel that it’s still thin to notice something hit you. However, the Heavy armors should require a Perception Test (other than the fact that they’ve been shot with the grenade) to actually feel the grenade impact. This is of course up to GM’s discretion. Additionally, the grenade may be used as a hand weapon, much like an injector. The attacking character simply has to grab the grenade by the body, then get a successful attack on his/her Armed Combat/Club roll, and he/she successfully attacks. Note the claws won’t open, but all other effects are the same, excepting that the acid itself will do 8S damage, all modifiers and GM’s discretion still applies in this situation.

Note that when inserted into a standard mini-grenade launcher, characters can only put half the amount (say for instance, the Combatgun can put in eight standard minigrenades, while it can only fit four M-20s. Note that the standard MGL-6 and -12 cannot have this inserted, as the grenade is longer than normal. Modifying the grenade launcher costs +50% normal cost.

Thanks Nils, for the chemical advice.



Arisaka M-45 Smart Grenade

Your opponent just ran away from you, what are you going to do? Follow him? Bad idea. Instead of following, possibly getting ambushed and killed, you pull out an Arisaka M-45 Smart Grenade. You activate it, and you throw it, and it immediately starts to hunt for your target. Using a suite of sensors, the grenade finds your target and neutralizes it before you get neutralized. To accomplish this, the M-45 has a sensor head that incorporates a lot of technologies, including a smart brain to make it follow around corners. However, it must be noted that the M-45 is in actuality a small mini vectored thrust drone that has a maximum range of 120 meters. It can follow the heat trails of the target, see in the darkness, hear the target in both low and high frequencies, and can see like a bat if need be, to expose an invisible target that needs to be neutralized. The method of operation is simple: the user simply picks up the grenade, hits the Activate button, then throws the grenade. Miniature gyro compensators orient the grenade in the appropriate direction of throw, i.e. away from the thrower. It must be noted that you do not have to be skilled in the use of throwing weapons to use this to be effective. Once righted, the grenade will use it’s sensors to actively find the target. If required, voice commands can be used to orient the grenade. It is also compact and lightweight, with the size being that of a standard heavy pistol, with a low weight of 2 kilos. Of course, we can’t call it a grenade unless it has some explosive power behind it. The warhead of the grenade is equivalent to the blast of an IPE Defensive minigrenade, to ensure that your target doesn’t walk away uninjured from you.

Damage	Intelligence*	Sig**	Economy	Weight	Avail.	Cost	Street Index
15S(-1/.5m)	5	10	***	2	10/2 weeks	5,000¥	4

*Sensors include Thermographic, Low-Light, Ultrasound, and Low and High Frequency Hearing.
**Use this as a target number for attacks against it, per standard modifiers.
***It effectively has enough fuel for six seconds of flight.
Game Notes: Naturally, this is going to present some problems. If the grenade hits a corner, divide the corners by 1D6 (or of course some other method) to determine the direction of the grenade. If the target is visible or the drone is determined (GM’s discretion of course) to sense the target, it will naturally follow the target until it either makes the intercept, or runs out of fuel. Should the latter case happen, it will self destruct, attacking friend or foe alike, like any grenade. If it makes the intercept, roll it’s Intelligence in dice against a target number of 4, including any modifiers needed. It only requires one success for it to hit the target, no successes and roll the grenade chart in the main rulebook. It has a scatter of 2D6 for these tests, and standard rules apply. Note that the throwing character does not have to have the skill Throwing Weapons for this to be effective. If necessary, simple verbal commands may be used to direct the drone in the direction necessary.

And yes, it's the grenade from Space: Above and Beyond


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Comments?

Me.
1998, with help from Jeremy Borogard with GM's advice in developing both these systems and Nils for chemical effects advice! The items on this page are purely fictional, and should not be considered real. Any relation to any real life item is purely coincedental, and should not be construed as fact.