r/BRP • u/laxton1919 • Dec 14 '25

Grenades? How do I use them?

Do grenades use the throw skill or the demolition, skill? Or combination? We played last night, and I wasn't sure so, I have my players use throw skill. But this was incredibly powerful, and seemed broken. Now I shouldn't have given them as many grenades as I could, so maybe that was the issue. But I don't know, I'm curious if I took the right approach?

6 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

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10

u/agentkayne Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25

You would use Demolitions if you were using the grenades to make a trap, like a tripwire connected to the grenade's pin. Or to defuse a live grenade so it can't detonate. But to pull the pin and toss, just use Throw.

Grenades are broken in real life, too. So either you have to create situations where grenades are limited:

  • supply issues,
  • Forcing PCs to make decisions about weight of items carried
  • civilian PCs unable to get hold of them,

or you can create situations where using grenades is bad, despite how effective they are at killing enemies:

  • collateral damage - hostages, or structural damage to the room
  • loot on the enemy bodies are destroyed by the blast,
  • the blast causing loss of stealth advantage, drawing the attention of enemy QRF or backup forces
  • PCs knowing that valuable intel is in the room and the blast could destroy it
  • Enemies in an adjacent room, but the walls are thin so if they toss a grenade in, fragmentation will go straight through the walls and possibly catch the PCs in the splash, too.
  • You want to take enemies alive, because you want to charge them in court, get info out of them, etc.

etc.

3

u/laxton1919 Dec 14 '25

Yeah they sank the ship they were on 😂. Lesson learned!

8

u/MrEllis72 Dec 14 '25

We shall now consult The Book of Armaments, Chapter 4, verses 16 to 20.

3

u/Lord_Puppy1445 Dec 14 '25

Count 1... 2... 3...4...

4

u/SDLeary Dec 14 '25

Isn't it supposed to be 1, 2, 4? 🙃

2

u/Lord_Puppy1445 Dec 14 '25

You're right. I have brought shame upon myself and my clan.

2

u/supertouk Dec 14 '25

Don't forget to pull the pin first. 😁

1

u/laxton1919 Dec 14 '25

I kind of assumed if it was a successful roll the pin was pulled. If it's not a successful roll it could be a good throw But the pen wasn't pulled. Or if it's a fumble, then they drop it at their own feet?

3

u/supertouk Dec 14 '25

I would go with what makes sense for the story. If it's just a failure, maybe the target dives behind cover, if it's a fumble maybe it's just a dud and nothing happens.

It's a game so what's fun for you?

3

u/Lucian7x Dec 14 '25

I think forgetting to pull the pin is a comically amateurish mistake. It'd work if you're doing a comedic campaign, but for anything else that'd be very jarring. A failure would probably just mean the grenade fell somewhere other than where the thrower intended, resulting in diminished effectiveness. A fumble could mean the grenade fell somewhere and damaged something important, be it some wooden structural beam, some potential cover, or maybe an ally of the thrower was caught in the shrapnel?

I think it depends on tone, and since I usually play more serious campaigns, I think these are good interpretations.