Blackpowder questions

[Major_Blackhart]

Ok, here are a few questions regarding references I've seen made to blackpowder. Now, as we all know, Blackpowder (BP for short) is a highly unstable substance that ignites when heated properly (or improperly) and often has a highly explosive chemical reaction with heat. This has allowed it to act for hundreds of years as an explosive and propellant for primitive weapons.

My questions are as follows: Are there varying levels of power we can add for a blackpoweder bomb? (I.E. You don't want a massive explosion in a small corridor or prison cell, just enough to kill a man if thrown like a grenade, or blow a heavy door, and then, sometimes you just don't give a shit about Collateral damage, i.e. property, plant, equipment, assets, and civilians)

Also, is it possible for, let's say a skilled individual, to create crossbow bolts and arrows that are tipped with such an arrowhead that could explode (possibly) after a few seconds (due to a fuse) embedded in a man's chest or even better on impact?

Final question: Extreme rudimentary firearms similar to the Wheel Lock pistol (similar to the ones built by DaVinci and Kiefuss) or even more primitive matchlock or Firelance to add some damage to a spear or pole weapon?

Also, is it possible to add chemicals like salt-peter to black powder to increase it's explosive strength?

 

[Morbus]

I want C4 arrows please

 

[Vault Dweller]

Here is how our alchemy system works. You can learn 10 useful techniques. Black Powder is one of them. There are no skill level requirements, but the quality of each item is tied to your skill level. For example, at slvl 50 you can make black powder that burns weakly, while at slvl 250 you can make a bomb that would vaporize a score of opponents. Same with anything else. At slvl 25 you can make poison that does 1 point of damage per turn and lasts 1 turn (poison's potency is a different technique). A slvl 200 you can make poison that deals 8 points of damage per turn and lasts 5 turns - enough to kill an average man.

It's done automatically, i.e. you can't make a weaker item if your skill is higher. You can't make explosive arrows/bolts. You can only apply poison/liquid fire to them.

 

[cardtrick]

Dear god, not until VD responded did I realize that this was in the AoD subforum. I saw this when it was first posted, and I thought it was in General Discussion. I clicked refresh half a dozen times over the period of half an hour or so, just waiting for the inevitable babble about this post . . . and it never happened. I was shocked; I couldn't understand why no one had anything to say. Only now do I realize that it's because no one else thought he was talking about building real life black powder bombs.

 

[Morbus]

VDweller, you say 8x5 is enough to kill an average person... How are hit points balanced? Is it similar to Fallout's values?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Hit points are static. Once your character is created, HP are never increased. They are tied to Con. The range is 25 (Con 4) - 50 (Con 10).

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Cool. It all sounds deliciously tempting to me, VD. The liquid fire tho, what's that, something akin to oil that's sparked when the weapon is drawn or something?

 

[Radech]

Cool. It all sounds deliciously tempting to me, VD. The liquid fire tho, what's that, something akin to oil that's sparked when the weapon is drawn or something?

historically it's oldschool napalm used by greeks(methinks) to burn ships in naval combat(think molotov cocktail in a clay pot) not sure how you would strap that on an arrow and have any kind of accuracy with a decent effect - hollow arrowhead with a lampoil/tar(methinks) mix and a fuse wouldn't yeild much of an effect

ps. don't take any of this as fact it's pieced together from late night staring blankly at discovery/nat geo - ah the happy life of an insomniac

edit: wikipedia to the rescue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_fire - now this should probably neither be taken as facts as it's most likely composed of random insomniacs knowledge gathered from several late nights staring blankly at discovery/nat geo

 

[Elhoim]

A fire arrow should be possible, but not at the close range the combat occurs.

 

[Lumpy]

How about a flaming sword?

 

[Jora]

Too high fantasy.

 

[KazikluBey]

Not for Fallout 3...

 

[Jora]

Wait, there will be flaming swords in Fallout 3?

?

What?

 

[Greatatlantic]

Fire arrows are easy. Take a normal arrow, wrap the tip in cloth, dunk it oil, light, and fire. Historically, its more used to ignite structures then hurt people. Pointy ends do that just fine.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Wait, there will be flaming swords in Fallout 3?

?

What?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=20370

"We have one called the shish-ka-bob, it's a sort of a flaming sword you know using like you know using a you know using sort of a you know imagine like a motorcycle gasoline tank and stuff like that."

"We don't allow you to modify existing guns to customize them. For example, you can't take a pistol you've been using and add a scope to it. It's more like finding an old motorcycle gas can and an old sword blade and creating an entirely new weapon."

I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to find an old sword blade somewhere.

 

[Elhoim]

Wait, there will be flaming swords in Fallout 3?

?

What?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=20370

"We have one called the shish-ka-bob, it's a sort of a flaming sword you know using like you know using a you know using sort of a you know imagine like a motorcycle gasoline tank and stuff like that."

"We don't allow you to modify existing guns to customize them. For example, you can't take a pistol you've been using and add a scope to it. It's more like finding an old motorcycle gas can and an old sword blade and creating an entirely new weapon."

I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to find an old sword blade somewhere.

Every emo boy has a katana in his room. Everybody knows that.

 

[Jora]

I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to find an old sword blade somewhere

No, but then you have to consider the fact that it just doesn't fit the style of the game. It might have a place in Thundarr the Barbarian, or... well, in Thundarr:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhAobPugvsk

 

[Vault Dweller]

I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to find an old sword blade somewhere

No, but then you have to consider the fact that it just doesn't fit the style of the game. It might have a place in Thundarr the Barbarian, or... well, in Thundarr:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhAobPugvsk

Sarcasm, Jora. I complained about it on the ESF, but they deleted a bunch of my posts, stripped me of my RPG Codex avatar, and suspended my account for a few days. Nice people.

 

[Jora]

Instead of FO3, Beth should work with Flagship on a Hellgate title. It would suit their...vision... better.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Have you heard about Feral Ghouls? Horrible creatures, apparently.

 

[Cassidy]

Just some interesting quotes about black powder from this article, hope they can serve as basis for some good ideas.

The prevailing academic consensus is that gunpowder was discovered in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality

there is strong evidence of the use of saltpetre and sulfur in various largely medicinal combinations.

The years 904–906 saw the use of incendiary projectiles called 'flying fires' (fei-huo)

gunpowder was first used in warfare in China in 919 as a fuse for the ignition of another incendiary, Greek fire

The earliest depiction of a gunpowder weapon is a mid-10th century silk banner from Dunhuang that shows a fire lance, precursor of the gun.

Now this is what I consider the most interesting of all:

The earliest surviving recipes for gunpowder can be found in the Wujing Zongyao[3] of 1044, which contains three: two for use in incendiary bombs to be thrown by siege engines (48.5% saltpetre, 25.5% sulfur, 21.5% others; 50% saltpetre, 25% sulfur, 6.5% charcoal and 18.75% others) and one intended as fuel for poisonous-smoke bombs (38.5% saltpetre, 19% sulfur, 6.4% charcoal and 35.85% others).[16][17] Many early mixtures of Chinese gunpowder contained toxic substances such as mercury and arsenic compounds.