On 5/24/2011 10:14 PM, HK Piter wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Zan Lynx<mailto:[email protected]>
> *All* high explosives contain the oxidant or other chemicals needed for > a complete reaction. No exceptions. > > > > I can think of at least 2 exceptions: Black Powder. Contains > Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeter), Charcoal (Carbon), and Sulfur. Flour > is also explosive, yet must be combined with atmospheric oxygen. > Coal dust, is explosive, but not without oxygen present. I try to > never use absolutes (oops I used one there), because I'm often proven > wrong. Black Powder certainly does contain oxidizer. It's in the saltpeter. And you just pointed out that flour and coal dust, when explosive, have the oxidizer mixed in. Or in their case, they are mixed into the oxidizer. Without it, they are inert and not explosive at all. If you wish to rebut this argument, I would appreciate your explanation of how an explosive reaction can pull in enough oxygen from the surrounding air in order to explode instead of simply burning off its surface. Back to speaking about the demolitions skill, it would certainly require a TL penalty to use black powder for any modern demolitions. I don't believe anyone is trained to use it these days. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
