Dynamite

Dynamite is a TL6, high explosive material used for mining, demolitions, and burying Elder Things before they escape to the world above. Dynamite is essentially just nitroglycerin (a highly volatile liquid) suspended in a medium of diatomaceous earth (think: soft silicate sand), which makes it a lot less temperamental.
== Predecessors and Successors ==
Before dynamite, miners (and saboteurs) tended to use black powder (TL4 or so, see page) in one form or another to get things to go boom. At late TL7-TL8, dynamite is replaced by ANFO (ammonium nitrate, fuel oil) for coal mininghttps://www.in.gov/dnr/reclamation/files/re-Guide_Coal_Mine_Blasting.pdf, while controlled demolitions use semtex, RDX or other plastic explosives.
== Relative Explosive Force ==
Although it is given a 0.8 REF (relative explosive force) in Basic SetBasic Set, p.415, other real-world studies imply it to be higher--for game terms, treat it as REF 1--as good as TNT, but retaining its bad habit of sweating (see below). On a typical Earth, it was patented by Alfred Nobel in 1867, and became one of the more common replacements to older "blasting powders", which were less powerful and more volatile. Period-accurate dynamite is detonated using a black powder charge--if the charge goes off, so does the dynamite!
== Using Dynamite In-Game ==
A standard stick of dynamite is about 0.5 lbs, $5, and blasts for 9d+1 crushing explosive damage. Even without cinematic rules, it is possible to detonate dynamite with a bullet. Dynamite is likely to show up in any TL6 setting if there's mining or demolition involved--in settings like Gallatin or a pulp adventure, it may be possible to get dynamite that "fell off a truck".
* Homebrew: Treat any attack doing 2 or more crushing or piercing damage as a detonation--this allows all but the smallest hits to detonate dynamite!
== Sweaty Dynamite ==
Dynamite gets its stability by mixing nitroglycerin with more stable materials--when these materials slowly separate, the dynamite "sweats", releasing nitroglycerin, usually onto the bottom of its container.High-Tech, p.185 Historically, storing dynamite long-term meant removing any blasting caps and rotating the sticks every month or so.
In adventure terms, it's unlikely for an adventurer to hold onto a particular stick of dynamite for more than its shelf-life of one year--however, abandoned mines and bandit hideouts are likely to have old, destabilized dynamite, which could result in a huge explosion if struck. 
A clever adventurer can use Explosives to determine if the dynamite is worth moving, and what it would take to move it without detonating.
== See Also ==
* For its later, more shock resistant cousin--whom dynamite is usually confused with--see TNT.
*For other explosives, see Explosives (materials)
*For the skill for safely using explosives, see Explosives (skill)
== References ==
Category:Equipment