So I wanna give my players magical fantasy C4. Just to see what they do with it really. Maybe they have to maintain concentration (like a spell) or it explodes? How would y'all do this mechanically?
I'm picturing something like a bottle of nitroglycerin - although to prevent the party from exploding prematurely, I might make this something that detonates on contact with air, not just with shock ( yeah, it's not great chemistry, but it's probably better game mechanical balance ); set up the flask, have someone shoot it with an arrow, and BOOM.
Then just treat it as a fireball spell - although you might scale it up, or down, depending on how powerful you want the "C4" to be. You might want to change the damage type to Force or Thunder as well.
I think in terms of game balance, this should be a pretty rare acquisition - unless you have a lot of steampunk/techno-magic in your campaign setting
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Just reskin the beads of force magic item. Dunno how to hyperlink, but that more or less fits. Remove the bubble effect and make it so it can be planted and blown up through an action with a 'trigger' and you're good to go.
I liked the reskin of the bead of force idea so this is what I did:
Spikes of breaching: once these spikes are placed they can be attuned to a user at a range of touch. Once attuned the user can maintain concentration on up to 3 spikes. The spikes can be triggered mentally at a range up to 150 feet. If concentration is lost, all spikes must be reattuned at a range of touch. They deal 5d4 force damage in a 10 foot radius, deals critical damage to structures.
Is this too weak or too strong? I want it to be more of a tool than a weapon. I imagine players scaling a tower beaching a hole, and storming in.
As I understand it thunder damage would be the equivalent of a modern high explosive. Alchemical base NPCs should in theory make the equivalent in any game setting. As some of the others have posted. Reskinning fireball would be the easiest way. Thunder and fire would make the most sense for game rule interpretation.
I'm picturing something like a bottle of nitroglycerin - although to prevent the party from exploding prematurely, I might make this something that detonates on contact with air, not just with shock ( yeah, it's not great chemistry, but it's probably better game mechanical balance ); set up the flask, have someone shoot it with an arrow, and BOOM.
Then just treat it as a fireball spell - although you might scale it up, or down, depending on how powerful you want the "C4" to be. You might want to change the damage type to Force or Thunder as well.
I think in terms of game balance, this should be a pretty rare acquisition - unless you have a lot of steampunk/techno-magic in your campaign setting
Honestly, I'd treat it is a Shatter more than Fireball, since C4 is often used in small scales for breaching doors.
Make it an Intelligence check DC 15 to properly prepare the C4. A character can add their proficiency bonus if they make a good argument for it. If a user fails by 5 or more it explodes right there.
The C4 can be set to either triggered remotely using a bonus action or by motion as soon as someone moves within the blast radius.
The blast radius can either be a 15 foot cone or a 10 foot radius. Disarming the C4 is a DC 15 Sleight of Hand check, with any failures triggering the C4.
Honestly, I think this is getting way too mechanically complex.
if I was going to introduce magical C4, after I decided what it looks like, and how much of there is, I'd have to decide in my head "how stable is this?". This would give a rough idea on how to adjudicate how explosive will react to events that happen as the party is adventuring ( the Bard falls down a cliff carrying the stuff, or the backpack with it catches on fire, etc. )
Then I'd figure out how this is triggered: Fire, Shock? Impact? Telepathy? Codeword? Creative Dance?
Then I'd figure out "how powerful is this stuff"? Does a handful make a loud noise? Blow out a door? Kill everyone in the room? Level a farmhouse?
That's all you really need.
Bard: I stick a handful of the putty on the door, move back 30' and telepathically attempt to trigger the explosive.
Me: There is a satisfying deep WHUMPof the explosive detonating, and the door shatters inwards into a cloud of spliters and debris *makes a perception check for the bad guys on the next level of the keep to see if they heard the explosion*
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So I wanna give my players magical fantasy C4. Just to see what they do with it really. Maybe they have to maintain concentration (like a spell) or it explodes? How would y'all do this mechanically?
Give it an explosions radius, damage, and a save.
I'm picturing something like a bottle of nitroglycerin - although to prevent the party from exploding prematurely, I might make this something that detonates on contact with air, not just with shock ( yeah, it's not great chemistry, but it's probably better game mechanical balance ); set up the flask, have someone shoot it with an arrow, and BOOM.
Then just treat it as a fireball spell - although you might scale it up, or down, depending on how powerful you want the "C4" to be. You might want to change the damage type to Force or Thunder as well.
I think in terms of game balance, this should be a pretty rare acquisition - unless you have a lot of steampunk/techno-magic in your campaign setting
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Just reskin the beads of force magic item. Dunno how to hyperlink, but that more or less fits. Remove the bubble effect and make it so it can be planted and blown up through an action with a 'trigger' and you're good to go.
I liked the reskin of the bead of force idea so this is what I did:
Spikes of breaching: once these spikes are placed they can be attuned to a user at a range of touch. Once attuned the user can maintain concentration on up to 3 spikes. The spikes can be triggered mentally at a range up to 150 feet. If concentration is lost, all spikes must be reattuned at a range of touch. They deal 5d4 force damage in a 10 foot radius, deals critical damage to structures.
Is this too weak or too strong? I want it to be more of a tool than a weapon. I imagine players scaling a tower beaching a hole, and storming in.
As I understand it thunder damage would be the equivalent of a modern high explosive. Alchemical base NPCs should in theory make the equivalent in any game setting. As some of the others have posted. Reskinning fireball would be the easiest way. Thunder and fire would make the most sense for game rule interpretation.
Honestly, I'd treat it is a Shatter more than Fireball, since C4 is often used in small scales for breaching doors.
Make it an Intelligence check DC 15 to properly prepare the C4. A character can add their proficiency bonus if they make a good argument for it. If a user fails by 5 or more it explodes right there.
The C4 can be set to either triggered remotely using a bonus action or by motion as soon as someone moves within the blast radius.
The blast radius can either be a 15 foot cone or a 10 foot radius. Disarming the C4 is a DC 15 Sleight of Hand check, with any failures triggering the C4.
Honestly, I think this is getting way too mechanically complex.
if I was going to introduce magical C4, after I decided what it looks like, and how much of there is, I'd have to decide in my head "how stable is this?". This would give a rough idea on how to adjudicate how explosive will react to events that happen as the party is adventuring ( the Bard falls down a cliff carrying the stuff, or the backpack with it catches on fire, etc. )
Then I'd figure out how this is triggered: Fire, Shock? Impact? Telepathy? Codeword? Creative Dance?
Then I'd figure out "how powerful is this stuff"? Does a handful make a loud noise? Blow out a door? Kill everyone in the room? Level a farmhouse?
That's all you really need.
Bard: I stick a handful of the putty on the door, move back 30' and telepathically attempt to trigger the explosive.
Me: There is a satisfying deep WHUMP of the explosive detonating, and the door shatters inwards into a cloud of spliters and debris *makes a perception check for the bad guys on the next level of the keep to see if they heard the explosion*
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.