Appendix A: Atomics

Yield and Radius of Effect Table

		Km radius	Km radius
	Crater	Blast	Firestorm
Description	Metres WxD	18D	15D	9D	12D	6D	3D
1Kt groundburst	27.2x6.6	0.4	0.6	2	1.1	1.4	1.4
1Kt airburst	-	0.5	1	2	0.9	1.6	1.7
10Kt groundburst	59.9x14.5	0.9	1.3	2.4	1.9	3.1	3.2
10Kt airburst	-	1.1	2.1	4.3	2	3.6	3.8
100Kt groundburst	131.8x31.8	2	2.9	5.2	4.1	6.8	6.9
100Kt airburst	-	2.5	4.7	9.5	4.4	8	8.4
1Mt groundburst	290x70	4.3	6.4	11.5	9	15	15.2
1Mt airburst	-	5.6	10.4	20.8	9.6	17.6	18.4
10Mt groundburst	638x154	9.6	14.4	24.8	23.2	37.6	38.4
10Mt airburst	-	12.8	22.4	42.5	28	42.4	44.8
100Mt groundburst	1408x330	21.1	31.7	54.6	51	82.7	84.5
100Mt airburst	-	28.2	49.3	93.5	61.6	93.3	98.6
1Gt groundburst	3097x726	46.4	69.7	120.1	112.2	181.9	185.9
1Gt airburst	-	62	108.5	205.7	135.5	205.3	216.9
10Gt groundburst	6813x1597	102.1	153.3	264.2	246.8	400.2	409
10Gt airburst	-	136.4	238.7	52.5	298.1	451.7	477.2
100Gt groundburst	14989x3513	224.6	337.3	581.2	543	880.4	898.8
100Gt airburst	-	300.1	525.1	936.1	655.8	993.7	1049.8
1Tt groundburst	32976x7730	494.1	742.1	1278.6	1194.6	1936.6	1977.4
1Tt airburst	-	660.2	1155.2	2059.4	1442.8	2186.1	2309.6
10Tt groundburst	72549x17006	1087	1632.6	2812.9	2628.1	4261.2	4350.3
10Tt airburst	-	1452.4	2541.4	4530.7	3174.2	4809.1	5081.1
100Tt groundburst	159kmx37km	2391.4	3591.7	6188.4	5781.8	9374.2	9570.7
100Tt airburst	-	3195.3	5591.1	9967.5	6983.2	10580	12762.2

	(Cr)
Yield	Price	6	7	8	9-A	B-C	D-E	F
1Kt	10000	105	102.2	100	98	83	71	60
10Kt	100000	155	151	147	143	122	104	88
100Kt	MCr1	240	234	228	222	189	161	137
1Mt	MCr10	480	468	456	445	378	321	273
10Mt	MCr100	960	936	913	890	868	738	627
100Mt	BCr1	-	3744	3650	3559	3025	2571	2186
1Gt	BCr10	-	-	28t	27t	23t	20t	17t
10Gt	BCr100	-	-	-	57t	48t	41t	35t
100Gt	TCr1	-	-	-	228t	194t	165t	140t
1Tt	TCr10	-	-	-	-	387t	329t	280t
10Tt	TCr100	-	-	-	-	-	1317t	1119t
100Tt	TCr500	-	-	-	-	-	-	8953t

Glossary

Kt	Kiloton. Yield = 1,000 tons TNT.
Mt	Megaton. Yield = 1,000,000 tons TNT.
Gt	Gigaton. Yield = 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) tons TNT.
Tt	Teraton. Yield = 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) tons TNT.

MCr	Megacredit. One million credits.
BCr	Gigacredit. One billion credits.
TCr	Teracredit. One trillion credits.

Starship missiles

The standard atomic missile fitted in starships at TL 15 is a 1Kt device. A 10Kt device may be substituted at 10 times cost; add 1 to the factor. A double-size missile can carry a 100Kt atomic; halve the ammunition capacity of the magazine and multiply the cost by 100; add 2 to the factor.

A particle beam weapon (Meson Gun or Particle Accelerator) inflicts 10,000 units of radiation per UCP factor of weapon; for particle weapons, this is modified by armour as below. Meson guns ignore armour.

Explanation of nuclear detonation effects

Crater Anything inside this area is automatically destroyed, no matter how protected, shielded or sheltered. Airburst weapons explode above the ground and therefore create no crater.

Blast Effects

18D Within the indicated radius, starships and vehicles are attacked at Pen 200. Airborne vehicles are automatically destroyed. Penetration indicates stated damage taken by everything inside. Normal buildings are automatically destroyed. All communications except meson are blacked out for 3D hours. Persons take 18D damage.

15D Within the indicated radius, there are hurricane force winds; starships and vehicles are attacked at Pen 150. Penetration indicates stated damage taken by everything inside. Normal buildings are damaged. All communications except meson are blacked out for 2D hours. Persons take 15D damage unless sheltered in robust buildings.

9D Within the indicated radius, starships and vehicles are attacked at Pen 35. Penetration indicates stated damage taken by everything inside. Normal buildings are lightly damaged. All communications except meson are blacked out for 1D hours.Persons take 9D damage if caught in the open.

Firestorm Effects

12D Within the indicated radius (NOTE overlaps maximum blast radius), fabrics and paper ignite; persons take 12D damage. Any person facing the detonation in the open will be blinded by the flare.

6D Within the indicated radius, persons suffer blistering 2nd degree burns and 6D damage.

3D Within the indicated radius, dry leaves ignite; persons suffer 3D damage.

Radiation Poisoning

Compute the basic exposure in units as from the table above. Then check the following modifiers:

Personal Armour/suit		Divide Units By
Vacc Suit
	TL 8-11	1.1
	12-13	1.2
	14+	1.4
Combat armour
	TL 11	1.4
	12	2.0
	14	10.0
Battle Dress
	TL 13	2.0
	14	10.00
	15	15.00

Note that this covers popular personal suits; the original article has more variants.

	Standard at		Standard
Material Type	Tech Level	Factor A	Thickness
Soft steel	5	1.25	10cm
Hard steel	6	1.00	10cm
Composite laminate	7	0.50	10cm
Lightweight composite laminate	9	0.50	10cm
Crystaliron	10	0.25	6.5cm
Superdense	12	0.14	1.4cm
Bonded superdense	14	0.07	0.7cm
Coherent superdense	17	0.03	0.3cm
Wood			100cm
Water			60cm
Plexiglass			60cm
Earth			40cm
Concrete			30cm
Rock			30cm
Leaded glass			15cm
Lead			2.0cm

Multiply Factor A by the Mod given for the required armour value on P63 of the Referee's Manual for the cm thickness. Then refer to the table again for the value of cm thickness required to screen out 10 units. Multiply the screening value by 10 for each standard thickness.

Tasks to avoid radiation damage

Divide the sustained radiation units by the final shielding factor. Then throw for the appropriate task below to avoid serious radiation poisoning. Exposures of less than 50 units are assumed to be (relatively) safe. Note the changes to the difficulty if retrorad is available.

To avoid damage from 50-99 units of radiation:

Simple, Endurance, Fateful.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task automatically successful.

To avoid damage from 100-299 units of radiation:

Routine, Endurance, Fateful.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task automatically successful.

To avoid damage from 300-399 units of radiation:

Difficult, Endurance, Fateful, Hazardous.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task automatically successful. Failure indicates 3D of radiation damage; success means 1D.

To avoid damage from 400-599 units of radiation:

Formidable, Endurance, Fateful, Hazardous.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task automatically successful. Failure indicates 4D of radiation damage; success means 2D of damage.

To avoid damage from 600-799 units of radiation:

Impossible, Endurance, Fateful, Hazardous.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task Simple and not Hazardous. Failure indicates 5D of radiation damage; success means 3D of damage.

To avoid damage from 800-999 units of radiation:

23+, Endurance, Fateful, Hazardous.

Referee: Dosage with Retrorad shield within one week makes this task Routine and not Hazardous. Failure indicates 6D of radiation damage; success means 4D of damage.

Subsequent levels:

	Shield
Units	Without	With	Failure	Success
1,000-1,199	23+	Routine	7D	5D
1,200-1,499	23+	Difficult	8D	6D
1,500-1,999	27+	Formidable	9D	7D
2,000+	31+	Impossible	10D	8D

Damage

1-3D Beginning 4D hours after the exposure, the character will begin to suffer from nausea and general malaise. However, within d3 days they will recover with or without medical treatment. The next set of ageing rolls must be taken twice, and there will be genetic wounding. The damage indicated is taken each day for 1D days. It may be healed normally, or may be treated with Anarad or Retrorad. Such treatment halts the taking of further damage; in the case of Retrorad and Fast Retrorad, this occurs at the end of the treatment, so the patient may still die under the treatment.

To stabilize a patient to recover with bed rest only:

Simple, Medical, Education, 1 minute

Referee: Best available at TL 5-8.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Anarad:

Simple, Medical, Education, 6 seconds

Referee: Best available at TL 9-10. The above effects are suffered up to the start of treatment; healing then proceeds normally without further radiation illness.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Retrorad:

Simple, Medical, Education, 2 hours

Referee: Best available at TL 11-12. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Fast Retrorad:

Simple, Medical, Education, 2 minutes

Referee: Best available at TL 13+. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

4-5D After 4D hours, the character will suffer from nausea and general malaise. In 1-3 days this passes off. However, anaemia and leukopenia gradually set in, without revealing themselves except to the trained medical eye (Medic-2+). After 2D+14 days, the symptoms return, accompanied by internal bleeding and slight hair loss. A character suffering from Class II radiation poisoning requires extensive treatment to recover, with at least Anarad available. The character must make his next two sets of ageing rolls twice. The damage indicated is taken each day for 2D days. It may only be treated with Anarad, Retrorad or Fast Retrorad. Such treatment halts the taking of further damage; in the case of Retrorad and Fast Retrorad, this occurs at the end of the treatment, so the patient may still die under the treatment.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Anarad:

Routine, Medical, Education, 6 seconds

Referee: Best available at TL 9-10. The above effects are suffered up to the start of treatment; healing then proceeds normally without further radiation illness.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Fast Retrorad:

Routine, Medical, Education, 2 minutes

Referee: Best available at TL 13+. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

6-8D After 4D hours, the character feels general nausea and malaise. For d3 days after that, the character will be prostrated with a fever, finding even the thought of food abhorrent. He then appears to recover; but after another d10 days, all his hair falls out, the rough field guide to an incurable lethal dose. d20+10 days after the beginning of the poisoning the earlier symptoms return in force, accompanied by spontaneous internal and external bleeding and delirium. The victim passes into a coma and dies. The damage indicated is taken each day until death occurs. It may only be treated with Retrorad or Fast Retrorad. Such treatment halts the taking of further damage; this occurs at the end of the treatment, so the patient may still die under the treatment.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Retrorad:

Difficult, Medical, Education, 2 hours

Referee: Best available at TL 11-12. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Fast Retrorad:

Difficult, Medical, Education, 2 minutes

Referee: Best available at TL 13+. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

8-10D Beginning shortly after exposure, the victim suffers from the nausea and malaise typical of the onset of radiation sickness. This progresses to a state where the victim alternates between an incoherent stupor and what appear to be epileptic attacks; he dies in d3 days. The damage indicated is taken twice each day until death occurs. It may only be treated with Retrorad or Fast Retrorad, and treatment must start within (Endurance) days to succeed. Such treatment halts the taking of further damage; this occurs at the end of the treatment, so the patient may still die under the treatment.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Retrorad:

Formidable, Medical, Education, 3 hours

Referee: Best available at TL 11-12. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Fast Retrorad:

Formidable, Medical, Education, 3 minutes

Referee: Best available at TL 13+. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

11D+ In cases where more than 2,000 units have been received, the character suffers the effects of 10D poisoning, but is so heavily irradiated as to die within a few hours. In this case symptoms will manifest themselves within a few minutes. The damage indicated is taken every (Endurance) minutes until death occurs. It may only be treated with Fast Retrorad, and treatment must start within (Endurance/2) hours to succeed. Successful completion of such treatment halts the taking of further damage.

To reverse the effects of radiation damage with Fast Retrorad:

Impossible, Medical, Education, 2 minutes

Referee: Best available at TL 13+. Retrorad actually reconstructs the damaged tissues, so the task duration is sufficient for complete recovery (not including blast or firestorm damage).

Anarad is available from TL 9 upwards; it combats the effects of radiation sickness by combining with ionised atoms and allowing their removal from the body. The drug also includes anti-nausea agents. Since the body automatically eliminates the effective ingredients of anarad in a short time, it is common practice to take this medication just before an expected high exposure to radiation, or just after. Combat troops in a "dirty" war, power plant engineers, belters seeking radioactive ore and starship medics are likely to maintain a supply of anarad. It costs Cr200 for 40 doses, each of which operates for 8 hours.

Retrorad A retrovirus treatment called Retrorad is debeloped at TL 11 that can directly repair readiation cell damage, but it is effective only if the radiation exposure is not sufficiently lethal to quickly kill the victim. Retrorad-11 must be custom prepared from the individual's own genetic material, costs Cr5,000 for one dosage, usually enough if administered in time.

To prepare Retrorad-11 from a tissue sample or genetic records:

Routine, Medical OR Genetics, Education, 2 hours

Referee: The treatment cannot begin until this step is complete; the patient continues to take damage.

Fast Retrorad Fast Retrorad is so named both because of its acting speed, and because it is much quicker to prepare. It is available at TL 12+, and costs Cr15,000 for one dose, which is usually sufficient.

To prepare Fast Retrorad-12 from a tissue sample or genetic records:

Routine, Medical OR Genetics, Education, 2 minutes

Referee: The treatment cannot begin until this step is complete; the patient continues to take damage.

Retrorad Shield Developed at TL 14, Retrorad shield lies dormant until a triggered by a dangerous level of radiation, at which point the retrovirus plus an anarad-like flushing enzyme automatically go to work repairing the cell damage on the spot and flushing any residual radioactivity from the body. Retrorad shield must be renewed periodically, since the body's immune system tends to degrade the shield's chemical integrity over time. Most shield treatments will last up to seven days. As with all retrorad treatments, the patient must donate a genetic sample for the production of the drug. Retrorad shield-14 costs Cr20,000 for a 7-day dose.

To prepare Retrorad Shield-14 from a tissue sample or genetic records:

Routine, Medical OR Genetics, Education, 5 minutes

Referee: This is purely a preventative measure, not a cure.