Shrapnel limitations

[filo_clarke]

Having recently started running a Heroes game, I am presented with a strange set of questions regarding the very poorly worded "Shrapnel" power from PU3.

First, the power does not indicate any limitations to what can be used as ammunition for this ability, only "any solid object"... This leaves me puzzled. Does this mean "solid" as opposed to liquid, at which point a kitchen sponge or styrofoam packing could be used to create lethal shrapnel? Does this mean that the object must be "solid" all the way through, and cannot be composed of multiple substances, so a rock is fine, but a baseball is not? Also, it does not make any differentiation between biological material and non-biological, so could the hero grab a villain by the head and "blow-his-mind" so to speak with a one-hit kill?

Secondly, the 180 degree arc is a little confusing to me. Is this a mostly flat plane that extends outward like a knife-edge, but 180 degrees around the front of the hero, or is it a hemisphere, and explodes above the character's head, and down past his feet as well?

Lastly, this is just nit-picking, but the sentence "The character can hold in his hands and explode any solid object..." is a terribly constructed piece of writing. By the rules of this sentence the character can explode any solid object and also hold any solid object in his hand. Does this mean that anything he CAN hold is fodder for being exploded, or does this mean that ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING HE HOLDS CAN BE TURNED TO SHRAPNEL? The first limits the size of the object to those he can physically pick up with his hands. The second suggests that anything he can get a grip on (like a building, a bus, the planet earth...) can then be destroyed in a 30 foot blast of shrapnel inflicting 1D6 damage.

I'm not really worried about the PC trying to get away with any of this stuff, but it did bring up some questions in my mind that I would like to put to rest.

[Glistam]

I just ignore the power and don't let anyone take it. It too poorly worded for my tastes.

[Severus Snape]

Keep in mind that everything I am about to say is from my point of view on this power. None of this is canon, and individual results may vary.

First, the power does not indicate any limitations to what can be used as ammunition for this ability, only "any solid object"... This leaves me puzzled. Does this mean "solid" as opposed to liquid, at which point a kitchen sponge or styrofoam packing could be used to create lethal shrapnel? Does this mean that the object must be "solid" all the way through, and cannot be composed of multiple substances, so a rock is fine, but a baseball is not? Also, it does not make any differentiation between biological material and non-biological, so could the hero grab a villain by the head and "blow-his-mind" so to speak with a one-hit kill?

The object must be solid, which means liquids and semi-solid substances like gels and putties are out of the question and cannot be exploded with this power.

Solid objects made up of several substances are allowed, but only those substances that are truly solid - and not liquids or gels - will explode. So if you have a ball of iron, inside of which is a pool of jello, with a stone core (like earth, for example), the iron shell and the stone core would explode, but not the jello.

And I would never allow a one-hit kill, either by a villain or a PC. So while I would be ok with some biological materials - wood and plant matter, for example - the human body is composed of far too much water to use this on. Not to mention that a hero character should never think of using a power to instantly kill someone, even if that someone is a super villain.

Secondly, the 180 degree arc is a little confusing to me. Is this a mostly flat plane that extends outward like a knife-edge, but 180 degrees around the front of the hero, or is it a hemisphere, and explodes above the character's head, and down past his feet as well?

Yeah, this power has some terrible wording, doesn't it?

It's a 180 degree hemisphere, radiating outward from the target location the hero specifies.

Lastly, this is just nit-picking, but the sentence "The character can hold in his hands and explode any solid object..." is a terribly constructed piece of writing. By the rules of this sentence the character can explode any solid object and also hold any solid object in his hand. Does this mean that anything he CAN hold is fodder for being exploded, or does this mean that ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING HE HOLDS CAN BE TURNED TO SHRAPNEL? The first limits the size of the object to those he can physically pick up with his hands. The second suggests that anything he can get a grip on (like a building, a bus, the planet earth...) can then be destroyed in a 30 foot blast of shrapnel inflicting 1D6 damage.

The hero has to be able to pick up and hold the object in his hands. I know that's a bit vague in and of itself, what with every PC apparently needing some form of super strength. But if you cannot pick it up, you cannot explode it. If you open that door, you'll find heroes that can explode holes in walls to bypass the front door.

[Stone Gargoyle]

The power definitely needs size and weight limits to the objects as well as what types of matter can be exploded. I've never used the power personally, so this never came up.

[Razorwing]

The hero has to be able to pick up and hold the object in his hands. I know that's a bit vague in and of itself, what with every PC apparently needing some form of super strength. But if you cannot pick it up, you cannot explode it. If you open that door, you'll find heroes that can explode holes in walls to bypass the front door.

To be honest... I would find this a rather creative use of the power... but realistically that sounds more like the Detonation Power than Shrapnel... it is the particles that do most of the damage with this power... not the explosion itself (even though it launches the shrapnel).

I would probably rule that the character can affect an object weigh no more than 1 pound per level of experience to create the shrapnel and that the object needs to be hard and inorganic material (I know this excludes wood as a viable, but it does prevent abuse of using this on people).

I would allow them to place their hand on a large object and convert their weight limit into shrapnel, but this would do two things. 1) Much of the damage will be absorbed (takes half the damage to the rest of the structure, possibly puncturing some holes into things like walls and such) by what remains of the object that was converted as the shrapnel is forced towards the rest of it. 2) It would also cause a ricochet effect where a lot of the shrapnel is bounced back towards the character and those behind him (half the range of the normal forward blast due to the reduction in velocity; most of the energy was dissipated with the ricochet)... probably doing half damage in his direction (though his resistance to shrapnel would reduce the damage he takes to 1/4th). Needless to say, this isn't the wisest use of this power (but it might still have a use at some point... players can be very creative when using their powers in unexpected ways).

just some thoughts on the subject.