Hand Grenades (Ultra-Tech)
Hand Grenades
Traditional hand grenades are convenient and deadly weapons in close combat – and a powered suit or robotic body can throw them much further than humanly possible!
There are three standard grenade sizes:
Hand Grenade: This is the standard grenade, about the size of a baseball. It has the same effect as a 64mm warhead. $40, 1 lb.
Mini Hand Grenade: An easy-to-conceal grenade the size of a golf ball. It has the effect of a 40mm warhead. $10, 0.25 lbs.
Thimble Grenade: A tiny grenade one inch in diameter. It has the same effect as a 25mm warhead. $2.5, 0.06 lbs.
The effect of a grenade, its TL, and its LC depends on the grenade's warhead. See Warheads and Ammunition. The cost given is the base cost for a high explosive fragmentation grenade. Other warhead types may have a multiple to cost, e.g., a stasis grenade is 500 times normal cost.
Standard ultra-tech grenades have an activator handle and a two-second delay. To use the grenade, take one second to "pull the pin" and arm the grenade. The grenade will explode two seconds after the user releases the grenade (usually by throwing it).
Smart Grenades (TL9)
These grenades incorporate a computer chip and micro-communicator. A smart grenade can be controlled by any computer terminal, usually a wearable system. To activate them, the user must first press an arming switch on the grenade (this is manual, to prevent unauthorized remote activation). The grenade sends out a signal, and if the user is in range, a grenade arming display pops up on the user's interface. He can then select any menu option for the grenade.
The options are: a specified time delay (up to two weeks), command detonation (detonates by radio command; each grenade carried has its own frequency), impact fusing (goes off if struck, dropped, or thrown against a hard surface), or anti-tamper fusing (as per command or delay, but goes off if touched). The user can reprogram the grenade if he uses its unique code, or he can lock the grenade so that its commands cannot be changed.
It takes three Ready maneuvers to program a smart grenade. Smart grenades also have a conventional pin that can be pulled, turning the grenade into an ordinary grenade that will go off two seconds after the grip is released. Sometimes a regular fuse is enough, especially when there's no time to mess around with computer menus!
At TL9, a smart grenade option adds $100 to the grenade’s cost, after all modifiers for the type of warhead. At TL10+ the cost is trivial – all hand grenades can be smart at no additional expense.
Smart grenades may have a message option – see Message Bombs.
Saucer Grenades (TL9)
These grenades come in a aerodynamic disk shape, and are sheathed in a flexible rubberized plastic. They are armed the same way as other grenades, and come in both ordinary and smart versions. Their effect is the same as a mini-grenade, but they're bulkier due to their shape; only one can fit in a large pocket.
Use Throwing skill to hurl them, but instead of using the throwing rules, treat them as a thrown weapon with the statistics shown below. The rubberized sheath allows them to be bounced around corners: roll at -3 to get the grenade to do this. If a saucer grenade misses and scatters, and an obstacle blocks it before it travels the full scatter distance, the grenade will bounce back the remaining yards in the opposite direction.
Saucer Grenade Table
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Acc | Range | Weight | RoF | Shots | Cost | ST | Bulk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Saucer Grenade | 40mm warhead | 2 | ×3/×5 | 0.5 | 1 | T(1) | $40 | 5 | -1 |
Limpet Mines (TL9)
Limpets are similar to hand grenades, but are not balanced for throwing. Instead, they can stick (or unstick) to almost any surface upon receiving the correct communicator pulse. They can also be used as handheld weapons (with any preset delay) by slapping them on a target, from a human to a starship.
Limpets may be worn on armor as defensive decoys: e.g., limpets filled with prismatic smoke can be set to trigger instantly if laser sensors detect a laser beam. To remove a limpet without the proper code, roll vs. ST-5,one try per second. Pulling one off of flesh does one point of damage. Otherwise, limpet mines have the same statistics as smart grenades.