Explosive Weapon Tricks

Invest skill points in Weapons Explosives for +1% to hit per point. You may also spend skill points to purchase the following tricks.

Tactical

Danger Close:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Any weapon with a Blast Radius or Cone property
Duration: Passive
Effect: You've trained to place area-effect ordnance uncomfortably close to friendly positions. When you fire a weapon with a Blast Radius or Cone that overlaps allied squares, allies in the blast zone gain Advantage on their EF roll against your attack. Doesn't make it safe; makes it survivable. The phrase "danger close" over comms still makes everyone clench.

Backblast Clear:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Tactical Training, Rocket/RPG weapon
Duration: Passive
Effect: You know how to position and fire tube-launched ordnance without killing the person behind you. When firing an RPG or rocket launcher, the backblast zone (2 squares directly behind you) does not deal damage to allies, provided they are prone or behind cover. Additionally, you can fire RPGs from enclosed spaces without suffering the reflected backblast damage. Everyone else in the room will hate you, but they'll be alive to complain about it.

Ordnance Awareness:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Tactical Training, Weapons Explosives
Duration: Passive
Effect: You know blast patterns the way a chef knows knife angles, instinct honed through repetition and near misses. When any explosive detonates (yours or otherwise), you can immediately identify the exact blast radius and which squares are affected before EF rolls are made. Additionally, when you throw a grenade or fire an explosive weapon, you may designate one square within the blast radius as a "safe pocket", that square is excluded from the blast entirely. One pocket per detonation. Choose wisely.

Det Cord:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, two thrown explosives, det-cord coil
Duration: 1 use
Effect: Link two thrown explosives with a length of detonation cord. The pair detonates simultaneously from a single throw; both grenades land in the target square (or your designated pair of squares within 2 of each other) and explode together. Resolve each blast independently; overlap zones take both blasts' Hits.

Sapper's Eye:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Tactical Training, Weapons Explosives
Duration: Passive
Effect: You spot mines, IEDs, and concealed charges from up to 5 squares away, Perception checks vs Mission TL to detect them gain Boon(1). When you attempt to disarm an explosive, your Engineering checks gain Boon(1). The trick is in knowing what wrongness looks like in a room, wires, scorch marks, the wrong amount of dust around a panel.

Expert

Cook the Grenade:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Expert Training, Thrown Explosive (grenade, flashbang, gas canister)
Duration: Passive
Effect: You hold the grenade after pulling the pin, letting the fuse burn down before throwing. The detonation window on arrival is near-zero; the target cannot kick it away, throw it back, or dive clear in time.

• Roll d100 vs Mission TL to time it right. On success, the grenade detonates on impact; targets in the blast radius have their EF result reduced by one band (Clear becomes Partial, Partial becomes Caught, Caught becomes Direct Hit)
• On failure, the grenade detonates in your hand. Your squad will talk about it for years
• If you are Staggered or Stunned while cooking, it also detonates in your hand. No roll. No debate.

Shaped Charge:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Expert Training, Rocket/RPG weapon or any weapon with Blast Radius
Duration: Passive
Effect: You can angle explosive ordnance to concentrate the blast in a specific direction. When firing a weapon with a Blast Radius, you may reduce the radius by half (round down, minimum 1 square) and increase the Hits dealt by +2. The blast becomes directional; a cone originating from the point of impact in a direction you choose. Useful for breaching, for channelling explosions down corridors, and for the kind of precision demolition work that makes Breachers nod approvingly.

Sympathetic Detonation:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Expert Training, Two thrown Explosive weapons with matching or overlapping damage types
Duration: 1 use
Effect: You rig two explosive devices to detonate in sequence from a single throw. Throw both at the same target square as one Action. Resolve the first explosion normally. Creatures caught in the first blast have their DR against the overlapping damage type(s) degraded by 1 before the second explosion resolves (this is in addition to any DR degradation from the first blast's absorbed hits). Consumes both devices regardless of whether the second triggers. A Frag + Incendiary pair becomes devastating; the overpressure of the first makes the thermal hit of the second punch through.

Daisy Chain:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action per device + 1 Action to rig trigger
Requires: Expert Training, 2+ placed explosives (mines, charges, or grenades set as traps)
Duration: Until triggered or disarmed
Effect: You link multiple explosive devices to detonate in sequence on a single trigger. The first detonation's blast radius extends into the second device's trigger zone, setting it off; and so on down the line. Damage in overlap zones stacks. Setting the chain requires 1 Action per device plus 1 Action to wire the trigger. The chain can be disarmed by cutting any link (Engineering check vs your attack roll). Cutting the wrong link is between you and your life insurance provider.

Master

Payload Delivery:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Master Training, Rocket/RPG weapon
Duration: Passive
Effect: You've mastered the art of putting a warhead exactly where it needs to go. When firing an RPG or rocket launcher, you gain Boon(2) to the attack roll and may choose one of the following on a hit:

• Bunker Buster: The warhead bypasses Hardness. Fortified positions, powered armour, and reinforced structures take full Hits with no Hardness reduction
• Airburst: The warhead detonates above the target area. Creatures in the blast radius cannot benefit from cover (the explosion comes from above). Only full cover provides protection if appropriate.
• Penetrator: The warhead punches through the first target and continues. If the initial Hits exceed the first target's DR, roll a second attack against the next creature in the projectile's path at Bane(1)

Cluster Yield:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Thrown Explosive (grenade, flashbang, gas canister), Daisy Chain
Duration: 1 use
Effect: Your thrown grenade splits mid-flight into 2 sub-munitions. Each sub-munition has half the original Blast Radius (round down, minimum 1) and lands one square apart in a direction you designate. Resolve each sub-blast independently. Targets in both blasts roll EF separately for each. The split costs no extra ammo; the grenade is consumed once.

Pinpoint Detonation:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Ordnance Awareness, Shaped Charge
Duration: 1 use
Effect: Declare a single-square detonation point within the explosive's normal Blast Radius. The blast resolves only in that square plus a 1-square exclusion radius around the detonation point; friendly creatures within 1 square of the detonation take no damage, while the target square takes the full Hits. Useful when the demolitions question is can you do this without killing the people we came to rescue.

Frag Cascade:

Cost: 6 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Sympathetic Detonation, Daisy Chain
Duration: Encounter
Effect: When you trigger 3 or more explosions within 3 consecutive rounds, the third (and any subsequent) explosion gains Boon(1) on the attack roll and deals +1 Hit. The cascade resets if a round passes without an explosion of yours. The fragmentation field develops a momentum of its own; the cumulative pressure makes each subsequent shell hit harder than the last.

Airburst Master:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Cook the Grenade
Duration: 1 use
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Once per encounter, declare any explosive you fire or throw an Airburst; it detonates above the target area instead of on impact. Creatures in the blast radius cannot benefit from cover (the explosion arrives from above). Only full overhead cover provides protection. The Airburst is automatic; no Mission TL roll required.

Dead Man's Drop:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action (setup)
Requires: Master Training, Any explosive device
Duration: Until triggered or disarmed
Effect: You rig a dead-man switch connected to your vitals. If you are reduced to 0 HP, knocked Unconscious, or killed, the device detonates at the end of that turn centred on your position. The device uses its normal blast radius and Hits. Alternatively, you can manually trigger the detonation as an Extra Action on your turn. Disarming the switch while you're conscious requires your consent or a successful Engineering check vs Mission Severity +10. Your squad will develop strong opinions about standing near you.