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Old 11-04-2015, 02:30 PM   #12
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Re: Dust Explosion - Grain, flour, wheat

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Bear in mind that all realistic options amount to "and the 30-50 guys get killed while causing modest damage to the enemy". The normal use for a force that small is to do popup attacks that distract the enemy and get them off going on sniper hunts instead of something more useful. If you want a result other than that, you're going off on cinematic tangents and realism may be moot.
If each of the 30-50 guys were flying a F-35 Lightning II, I'm not all that sure this would be true. If the 30-50 guys are combat engineers setting off several days' worth of mines and explosive traps where the enemy is trying to get through, I'm sure it isn't. Powerful devices of war which require only a few humans to operate are not only realistic, they are real. In this case, the setting is a fantasy one, with most positions of political and military power occupied by what amounts to superheroes.

The 30-50 guys in this case are mages who will be flying. That's not realistic, I admit, but it doesn't have to be cinematic. Most of the 30-50 guys are not really superheroes, but are instead fairly realistic humans, other than having Magery 1-2 and a few spells. That, in turn, makes them able to use magical objects that allow them flight at up to Move 40 for less than twenty minutes a day, while carrying up to Heavy encumbrance (which, however, slows them). They also carry at least one magical weapon each, with most of them having something like a Wand of Fireballs (6d burn ex/2, Range 75/150; 5-15 charges left).

I realise that this is a far cry from a modern fighter jet. But if we treat their supernatural abililities in a realistic fashion in the setting, they still might be able to have an impact on the battlefield that is only marginally related to their small number. It doesn't require cinematic rules, only the fact that they have a capability that the other side can't match.

The enemy can arrange for flying opposition, but did not expect to have to do so and do not have much tactical expertise at directing summoned flying creatures to secure the air above the battlefield. So far, anything flying that the enemy has brought has succumbed to PC-related injuries. I realise that this might change, but the PCs are planning for air supremacy*, at least for a brief window of 15-20 minutes.

If the flying mages fly low enough to cast spells at the enemy, they will be in arrow, sling and spell range from the other side and will quickly die. At 500+ yards, survival becomes theoretically possible. At 1,000+ yards and not lingering long enough for an organised response of summoned creatures to emerge, the risks might even be tolerable. At least enough so that the PCs have decided to risk a flying sortie shortly before or during the enemy evening assault on the city.

The flying mages can carry up to 2 tons of weight while still being able to fly at a reasonable rate and maintain control fairly well. Bulk considerations might lead to a much lower load, of course. I know that 2 tons of Alchemist's Fire would be very effective as an air-to-ground weapon, but there isn't that much available of it. And in any case, it already comes in artillery shell form, which means that what the PCs have of it will be deployed on the enemy anyway.

The PC in command suggested trying to use some of the massive amount of grain there to cause a dust explosion among the enemy army. It seemed the best source of finely ground powder and a TL3 port city didn't seem to offer anything more destructive per weight to drop from a height of 1,000 yards on an army. Now, the flour obviously won't be destructive at all unless he can create perfect conditions for a dust explosion in a given area. So I'm looking for guidelines on how much flour you'd need to have a chance of a dust explosion inside, say, a 10'-30' high cloud of flour that is at least 50 yards in radius.

The character in question has TL4 versions of Alchemy; Engineering (Combat); Explosives (Demolitons); Explosives (Fireworks); Expert Skill (Natural Philosophy); Intelligence Analysis; Mathematics (Applied); Mathematics (Surveying); Naturalist; Tactics (Air-to-Ground); Weather Sense at skill levels 13+. His Scrounging skill is 17. He has spells such as Measurement, Tell Position and Predict Weather.

A djinn ally can be a great help in spreading the flour around, with the ability to turn into a magical tornado and generally a fairly precise control over the atmosphere around him. He can't do all the work himself, but if 2 tons of flour were haphazardly thrown to the ground from 1,000 yards in the air, he could probably undertake to move things along a lot closer to ideal distribution of flour to air. Under combat conditions, of course, it won't be anywhere near ideal, but that just means that less of the flour actually burns/explodes.

Under imaginary perfect conditions, how many pounds of flour do we need to distribute in a low-hanging cloud that is at least 50 yards in radius for it to be explosive? I have to admit that I have no idea. Are we talking 100 lbs. or 100 tons? More?

*Because if they don't manage to secure it, the odds are pretty good that the army with the far larger number of people and the much higher Troop Strength will win.
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