Accessory - Dragon Magazine #111.pdf - Index of

individual hand-grenade costs and weight.
All grenades may be bought as a thrown
bomb or a 40mm launched round.
Grenade descriptions
Fragmentation (FR): A standard “frag”
grenade is usually round and smooth with a
serrated body. Upon detonation of the filler
(usually a high explosive), the body and
fuse assembly are hurled in all directions,
becoming lethal projectiles. As per the rules
in the TOP SECRET rule book, fragmentation
grenades do 12 points of damage to
anyone within 10’ of the explosion, 3 points
to anyone 11-20’ away, and 1 point to
characters 21-40’ away. This may seem
rather weak, but is perfectly realistic. Holding
an exploding frag grenade causes 24
points of damage. Jumping on a live grenade
results in the shielding character taking
the full 24 points. This grenade is based
on the M26A1 and M67 hand grenades,
both used by the United States Armed
Forces.
White phosphorus (WP): The WP grenade
is cylindrical, tapering toward the
bottom. The body, like that of the frag
grenade, is serrated for easy break-up.
Upon detonation, it throws particles of
burning phosphorus an average distance of
50’, though some pieces may go as far as
60’. Damage from WP grenades does not
decrease with range, since damage depends
not upon velocity (as in the frag grenade),
but upon the burning of the chemical.
Damage can be calculated using the “Z”
HTH combat table found on page 29 of the
TOP SECRET rule book. A WP grenade
also produces a white screen of smoke (treat
as a smoke capsule). This grenade is equivalent
to the 40mm incendiary shell in the,
TOP SECRET Companion.
Concussion (HE): This grenade is the
equivalent of the “blast” grenade found on
page 35 of the rule book (and clarified in
DRAGON issue #67, page 13) or the highexplosive
shell found in the Companion. It
is based on the Mk3A2 and is a prepackaged
high-explosive charge in a fibreboard
casing. The casing does not cause
fragmentation damage, but “blast” does
occur (i.e., enormous shock waves which
stun and knock characters to the ground).
The damage is calculated as in the rule
book, but the damage is considered nonlethal,
as this grenade is meant to incapacitate,
not kill.
[It is assumed that the concussion grenade
is not the same sort as the stun grenade
described below. If desired, referees
may combine the statistics of these two
grenades, using the additional effects noted
for the stun grenade (deafness, paralysis,
and loss of Coordination) for the concussion
grenades. — Editor]
Thermite (TH or INCEN): This is an
example of a specialized grenade. It is cylindrical
and made of sheet metal. When the
delay element ignites the filler or magnesium
oxide, the mixture burns for about
eight turns (40 seconds), reaching-a peak
temperature of 4,300°F. This molten ther-
68 JULY 1986
mite flows from emission holes on the top of
the grenade; it does not explode. The mixture
will melt through a half-inch of steel as
well as asbestos walls and safes, setting the
contents of a safe afire. It will weld machinery
parts together as it flows between them.
Any character unfortunate enough to come
into contact with the thermite while it is
burning suffers 10 points of damage per
phase for up to five phases, or until he is no
longer in contact with the mixture. If a
character is within 5’ of the mixture, he will
suffer five points of heat damage per phase
for up to five phases or until he is a safe
distance away.
Hexachloroethane smoke (HC): These
grenades are cylindrical and contain colored
smokes used primarily for signaling. Available
colors are red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, purple, violet, white, and black. No
smoke appears during the turn that the
grenade lands; in the next five turns, a
cloud of smoke will appear, extending
downwind. The cloud will disappear over a
period of two to three minutes.
Gas (GAS): These grenades contain
anesthetic, tear gas, mace, sleeping gas, or
poison. These five types of gas will all take
the form of a 15’ x 15’ cloud. Anesthetic,
tear gas, mace, and sleeping gas are colorless.
All but sleeping gas have an odor.
Their effects and durations are found on
page 39 of the TOP SECRET rule book.
Poison-gas grenades come in all six types
listed in the rule book and cost the same as
one dose of the appropriate type of poison;
all other gas grenades cost $20 each.
Illumination flare (IF): This grenade, as
do the rest in this article, comes in two
types: a hand-held grenade and a 40mm
round. In this case, the round is much more
effective. The flare grenade is not usually
thrown, but is dropped or rolled. After the
delay element has finished burning, the
base of the grenade is blown off. This reveals
the burning filler which produces a
very bright light over a 50‘-radius area,
lasting 30 seconds. Looking directly at the
light causes temporary blindness for 1-6
turns, reducing Coordination by 1-100%
until the effect wears off.
The 40mm launched rounds are fired
from one of the launchers described in this
article. The round is shot into the air and
slowly descends on a small parachute.
While descending, it casts a light over a 30yard
radius, but is visible for 3 miles over
still water and slightly less over land. A flare
at the maximum height of 600’ is visible up
to as far away as 33 miles over a calm body
of water. These flares come in red, yellow,
green, and white, and they are used for
both signaling and illumination.
Stun (ST): So far, no official statistics are
available on this type of grenade. The description
below was drawn from fictional
accounts found in numerous espionage and
adventure novels. This is, however, a real
grenade, and an excellent reference to it is
found on page 295 of The Devil’s Alternative,
by Frederick Forsyth. Readers are also
directed to recent James Bond novels by
John Gardner for other descriptions of the
grenade.
This is a very sophisticated and expensive
device. It has found its greatest use in antiterrorist
operations, particularly by the
British Special Boat Service (SBS) and its
sister organization, the Special Air Service
(SAS). Almost immediately after these
grenades are thrown, they explode with a
blinding flash. For game purposes, this
results in temporary blindness lasting for
5d10 turns. The grenade also gives off a
tremendous “bang” at the same time. This
“bang” has a 90% chance of blowing out
the eardrums of an unprotected human
target (eardrums will heal over a period of
1-6 months) and will automatically cause an
instant loss of concentration and partial
hearing loss. In all, the flash and bang
reduce the Coordination of a character by
1-100 + 50% for 1-5 minutes. In addition,
if a victim’s eardrums are blown, a tonal
sound (the “crash”) enters the middle ear
and causes a lo-second paralysis of one’s
muscles. Because this grenade is quite powerful,
the Administrator may wish to make
it difficult for agents to obtain.
All grenades are marked according to
their type and are lettered to indicate their
fillers. These letters are shown in parentheses
beside the titles of the grenades in the
above descriptions. Body and letter colors
are as follows:
Concussion and fragmentation — olive
drab with yellow markings
Gas and chemical — gray or light green
with black markings
Dummy (training) — black with white
markings, or blue with black markings
Smoke (HC) grenades have a colored
band around their middles, depicting the
color of the smoke they produce.
Grenade launchers
Grenade launchers obviously have no
place in true espionage. However, the TOP
SECRET game also encompasses short,
commando-style raids, such as in module
TS 002, Operation: Rapidstrike! Therefore,
agencies have made three types of grenade
launchers available to agents participating
in such assaults: the M-79, the M-203, and
the Mark-19.
The M-79 is a hand-held 40mm launcher.
It takes grenade rounds as well as the 40mm
ammunition given in the TOP SECRET
Companion. It is a break-open, single-shot
launcher with a wooden stock.
The M-203 is a weapon-mounted grenade
launcher and uses the same statistics
as the M-79, because they are essentially
the same weapon but carried in a different
fashion. The M-203 is designed to fit the
M-16 assault rifle in the standard underover
configuration, although it will fit any
assault rifle with some minor modifications.
It is a single-shot, breech-loaded, pumpaction
launcher that comes with a quadrant
sight assembly that must be attached to the
rifle.
The Mk-19 is an infantry-support
weapon, generally vehicle mounted, though