Fire rules for Shadowrun Second Edition

by Gurth <jweste%[s m tp] at [htshlo.hzeeland.nl]>

     First of all, how do you set fire to something? Every
object has a Fire Resistance Rating, and everything capable of
setting fire to objects has a Firesetting Rating.
     What happens is that both roll a test, using their rating
for the number of dice, and the other's rating as the Target
Number. If a character wants to set fire to something, he adds
his rating in a Special Skill called Firebuilding to the
rating of the thing he uses to start the fire. If the target
object has more successes, the fire does not start. If the
character (or device) attempting to start the fire has more
successes, a fire does start.

Example: Joe has his cigarette lighter (Firesetting Rating 2),
and a Firebuilding skill of 3. He wants to set fire to a
wooden log (Fire Resistance Rating 3). Joe rolls 2 + 3 = 5
dice against a Target Number 3, while the wood rolls 3 dice
against Target Number 5. Joe gets 3 successes, the wood gets
only 1. Thus, the wood is on fire.

     If two materials are mixed (a piece of cloth soaked with
gasoline, for instance), use the highest of the two ratings.
     The table below lists the Fire Resistance Ratings of
various materials. It also lists the Firesetting Ratings of
the same (and some more) materials. If a material has both
ratings, only use the Firesetting Rating to determine how
easily the burning object can set fire to other objects.

Material          Fire Resistance Rating        Firesetting Rating
Alcohol                     1                   2
Ceramics                    -                   -
Cigarette lighter           -                   2
Cloth                       3                   1
Explosives (non-plastic)    2                   -
Gasoline                    1                   5
Glass                       8                   2
Kerosine                    1                   7
Matches                     -                   1
Metal                       -                   -
Paint (dry)                 8                   -
Paint (wet)                 4                   1
Paper                       1                   1
Plastic explosive           6                   -
Plastics                    2                   2
Wood                        3                   2

     Only use the above method if the fire is non-magical.
Against magical fire, use the rules for the elemental effect
of fire on page 113 of The Grimoire.

     Now, what damage does something actually take from fire?
Creatures have to withstand 6M damage immediately upon being
set on fire,with one-half Impact Armor being substracted from
the Power Level. Vehicles take 6L, which is not reduced by
vehicle armor. Both creatures and vehicles must again resist
damage at the end of every turn after the first, but witha +2
modifier to the Power Level per turn.
     Other objects roll a number of dice equal to their
Barrier Rating against a Target Number 6. If no successes are
rolled, the object loses 1 point off its Barrier Rating. It
must also resist again at the end of each turn, also adding +2
to its Target Number.