GURPS Fourth Edition Flamethrowers Contents Basic Set: Characters

GURPS Fourth Edition Flamethrowers Contents Basic Set: Characters: Skills (Chapter Four): Skill List: Liquid Projector/TL Ultra-Tech: Weaponry (Chapter Six): Beam Weapons: Plasma Weapons: Flamers Flamer Weapons Plasma Flamer Table High-Tech: Weaponry (Chapter Five): Liquid Projectors: Flamethrowers Flamethrowers Table Dirty Tech: Improvised Flamethrowers Dungeon Fantasy: Clerics (7): Sacred Artifacts (Chapter Three): Other Clerical Gear Low-Tech Flamethrower Clerical Gear Low-Tech: Weapons (Chapter Five): Combustion-Based Weapons Incendiaries: Delivery Systems Black Powder: Flamethrowers Flamethrowers Table Basic Set Characters Skills (Chapter Four) Skill List Liquid Projector/TL DX/Easy Requires specialization Default DX − 4 This is the ability to use a weapon that projects a stream of liquid or gas. Roll against Liquid Projector skill to hit your target. Make an IQ-based Liquid Projector roll to take immediate action (e. g., patch a leak), should your weapon fail. You must specialize by weapon type: Flamethrower Any weapon that projects burning liquid or gas. (This does not include plasma weapons, which often are called “flamers”; use Beam Weapons skill for those.) Sprayer Any weapon that emits a gas or atomized liquid (nerve gas, sleeping gas, etc.), including an ordinary spray can used as an improvised weapon. Squirt Gun Any weapon that fires a low-pressure stream of liquid at the rate of one squirt per pull of the trigger. Water Cannon Any weapon that fires a continuous jet of high-pressure liquid, usually but not always water, with the intent of causing knockback. These specialties default to one another at −4. The weapons covered by each specialty vary by TL; e. g., Liquid Projector (Flamethrower) covers fire-siphons loaded with Greek fire at TL4, while at TL6 it covers backpack tanks that project thickened fuel. Modifiers • All applicable ranged combat modifiers • −2 for heavy weapons when you are used to portable weapons (e. g., a flamethrower mounted on a tank when you are used to a backpack model), or for an unfamiliar weapon of a known type • −4 or more for a weapon in bad repair Ultra-Tech Weaponry (Chapter Six) Beam Weapons Plasma Weapons Flamers TL9^ These weapons fire a low-velocity jet of high temperature plasma. Hydrogen fuel is fed into a magnetic containment chamber, heated and compressed to form a plasma, and then released as a continuous stream. Flamers are effective incendiary and terror weapons, with a role similar to that of the flamethrower. They're also useful for disposing of vermin or microbot swarms. Flamers inflict burning damage, but not tight-beam burning damage. Flamer Weapons Assault Flamer TL9^ This rifle-sized plasma weapon is often used by armored infantry involved in spaceship boarding actions and house-to-house fighting. Hand Flamer TL9^ This large pistol is used as a military sidearm or a terror weapon. Heavy Flamer TL9^ An energy-based flamethrower with a backpack power supply. Semi-Portable Flamer TL9^ Also called a tripod flamer, this heavy, semi-portable infantry weapon can be terrifying even to a fighter in heavy armor. A semi-portable flamer can be mounted on a tripod or carried by a soldier in powered battlesuit. They also are popular in combat engineering and urban assault vehicles. Plasma Flamer Table Cost Skill Weapon TL Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl LC ($) Assault flamer 9^ 5d burn Jet 50/150 5.6/2C 1 28(3) 5† −3 1 2 300 2 Beam Weapons Hand flamer 9^ 4d burn Jet 30/90 3.3/2C 1 56(3) 6 −2 1 1 200 3 (Projector) Heavy flamer 9^ 8d burn Jet 130/390 20/Dp 1 35(5) 10† −5 1 10 000 1 Semi-portable 6d×3 Gunner (Beams) 9^ Jet 150/450 70/Ep 1 31(5) 18M −8 1 35 000 1 flamer burn Notes Beam Weapons (Projector) Defaults to DX − 4 or other Beam Weapons − 4. Gunner (Beams) Defaults to DX − 4 or other Gunner − 4. High-Tech Weaponry (Chapter Five) Liquid Projectors Flamethrowers At TL6 appear flamethrowers that use a compressed gas such as nitrogen to propel an oil-based liquid through a tube. Normally, the fuel is ignited as it leaves the weapon—although many models can also fire “cold shots”, drenching an area in unlighted fuel that can be set aflame later. Flamethrowers soon become popular for bunker-clearing and house-to- house fighting (and for battling sci-fi and horror creatures that are immune to firearms!). At TL7, flamethrowers employ thickened fuel for increased range. They can use unthickened fuel—e. g., plain gasoline—but this halves Range. At TL8, incendiary-projectile launchers like the Buck HAFLA (High-Tech p. 142) and RPO-Z (see KBP RPO-A Shmel, High-Tech p. 149) supplant flamethrowers, offering superior range and fewer drawbacks. Effects Anyone hit by a flamethrower suffers large-area injury (Basic Set p. 400). The fuel continues to burn for 2d × 5 seconds (or 1d × 5 if beyond 1/2D), inflicting 1d burn per second. Unsealed DR protects at 1/5 value; sealed armor protects completely. See also Catching Fire (Basic Set p. 434). A flamethrower can be played over an area up to three yards wide as an All-Out Attack. Roll separately to hit each target. Divide damage and burn duration by the width of the area (round down). For instance, an All-Out Attack (Jet) on two men in a three-yard area requires two attack rolls. Each victim suffers 1/3 damage, and then 1d burn per second for ⌊(2d × 5) ÷ 3⌋ seconds. If a vehicle with an air-breathing engine is hit in a vital area (Basic Set p. 554), it must make a HT roll to avoid a breakdown. It may also catch fire. Roll again every three seconds until the fuel burns out. Flamethrowers often strike fear into their intended targets. The GM may require a Fright Check (Basic Set p. 360)— or penalize one made for other reasons—for those who face these weapons. Drawbacks Flamethrower damage has almost no penetrating power on cover; even a sheet of plywood will deflect the burning fuel. If the stream is kept on the cover, it might catch fire—but those behind it will have time to retreat or shoot back. One can bounce the jet off obstacles to reach behind cover, however. If using Malfunctions (Basic Set p. 407), roll 3d when a malfunction occurs: 3–5 No ignition. The target is sprayed with fuel, which can be ignited later, but there's no flame. Each attempt to solve the problem requires 10 seconds and an Armoury (Small Arms) or IQ-based Liquid Projector roll. Success returns the weapon to action, failure allows another attempt, and critical failure means an explosion, as 18. 6–17 No fuel is sprayed. To solve the problem, use the rules given for 3–5. 18 Explosion! Everything within two yards of the firer suffers the equivalent of one second's damage. Flamethrowers may also explode if struck by a bullet or a fragment… and they do tend to attract enemy fire. An attack on an exposed weapon is at no penalty, but an attack on a backpack model is at −4 if the carrier is facing the attacker. If any damage penetrates the flamethrower's DR 2, roll 1d. On a 1, the device explodes, as above. Any other result means it's simply disabled. Fiedler Kleif Germany, 1912–1917 The Kleinflammenwerfer (“small flamethrower”) was the first modern flamethrower, and ideal for taking out strongpoints in trenches. By 1916, most WWI combatants had similar weapons. The Kleif had a single ignition cap, and fired its entire 4.2 gallons of unthickened fuel in one 20-second stream. TOZ ROKS-2 Russia, 1941–1942 During WWII, the Red Army used the Rantseviy Ognemyot Klyueva-Sergeeva-2 (“Klyuev's and Sergeev's backpack flamethrower”). Its flame-gun looked like a rifle and its rectangular tank resembled a backpack. This was to deceive the enemy into letting it into range (make a Vision roll to identify it)… even though most soldiers don't allow any hostile within 40 yards, regardless of his armament! The tank held 2.6 gallons and the flame-gun used 7.62×25mm blanks in a revolving 10-round cylinder for ignition, giving 10 one-second bursts. Beattie M2-2 USA, 1942–1945 This flamethrower was standard for the US military until the 1950s. Some 25 000 were made. Most nations had something similar during WWII. The tank held 4.75 gallons of thickened fuel and the flame-gun used blank cartridges in a revolving five-round cylinder for ignition, giving five twosecond bursts or one 10-second stream. The similar GE M9A1-7 (1956–1969) superseded the M2-2 and saw use in the Vietnam War: Range 35/55, weight 52 lb. Two of these appear as part of the armory of the Antarctica Research Station in The Thing. The US removed all flamethrowers from service in 1978. The POA-CWS M3-4-3 (1944–1945) had the same performance as the M2-2, but was installed in some M4 Sherman tanks (High-Tech p. 239) in the place of the bow MG (and 12 main gun rounds). It fed from a 25-gallon tank—enough for a 45-second stream or 10 five-second bursts. Some 1 784 were made and used in WWII and the Korean War. DWM FmW46 Germany, 1944–1945 The Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (“single-burst flamethrower model 46”) was a disposable weapon resembling a fire extinguisher with a pistol grip. The operator tucked the bottle under one arm, pointed it at the enemy, and unleashed a single burst of flame.

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