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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6931776" data-attributes="member: 6669384">Grain silos and sugar mills are at a very real risk for dust explosions.When they go up the explosion will blow the structure, but that takes a lot of fuel in a lot of air.&nbsp; When you come right down to it there just isn't that much energy in a 5 lb sack of flour, no matter how suddenly you burn it.I've heard of people dropping a handful of well dried corn starch down a chimney.&nbsp; The flash back burned their hand, in in the living room they found a fan-shaped scorch pattern across the floor.&nbsp; The key to that was well dried fuel, a ready ignition source, and enough time in falling to distribute the fuel into the air.&nbsp; But when all is said and done, the effect was more startling than damaging.So you need a very large volume, or you get a relatively cold-burn.&nbsp; Fireball is hot enough to flash-melt gold.&nbsp; Corn starch wasn't hot enough to light a carpet on fire.Remember that lamp oil isn't gasoline.&nbsp; Flamable, but not really at risk of exploding.The flashy side show trick of breathing fire always looks spectacular.&nbsp; A performer takes a small sip of liquor, something distilled like brandy or whiskey.&nbsp; They then spit/spray it out of their mouth, and through a fire source like a small torch.In game terms the result would be a 5 foot cone of fire doing maybe a D4.&nbsp; As in, enough to cause a lot of pain, but not enough to flat-out kill someone.&nbsp; It does damage like a serious sunburn, and not much more.&nbsp; Some blistering at the worst.&nbsp; Again, just so much energy in a table spool of alcohol.Oddly, the performer is t risk themselves, and often burns their own mouth when doing this.&nbsp; (I used to perform, juggling, stage magic, fire eating etc.)&nbsp; There is a thin chance, if the performer really screws up, that they can kill themselves:&nbsp; You blow out, hard, while you're spraying the alcohol.&nbsp; If you mess up and cough or choke, you can inhale reflexively.&nbsp; That &quot;bad sunburn&quot;, taken to the inside of the lungs, can be fatal.&nbsp; I guess where I'm going with all of this is that it's really hard, using the materials available at a medieval technology level, to make man-portable dust explosion of any force worth doing.&nbsp; As someone else pointed out, of course, the game world isn't a strictly realistic reflection of a medieval technology.&nbsp; It's a fantasy world, very cinematic, with a lot of &quot;larger than life&quot; inherent in it.&nbsp; That' what makes it fun.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 6931776, member: 6669384"] Grain silos and sugar mills are at a very real risk for dust explosions. When they go up the explosion will blow the structure, but that takes a lot of fuel in a lot of air. When you come right down to it there just isn't that much energy in a 5 lb sack of flour, no matter how suddenly you burn it. I've heard of people dropping a handful of well dried corn starch down a chimney. The flash back burned their hand, in in the living room they found a fan-shaped scorch pattern across the floor. The key to that was well dried fuel, a ready ignition source, and enough time in falling to distribute the fuel into the air. But when all is said and done, the effect was more startling than damaging. So you need a very large volume, or you get a relatively cold-burn. [I]Fireball[/I] is hot enough to flash-melt gold. Corn starch wasn't hot enough to light a carpet on fire. Remember that lamp oil isn't gasoline. Flamable, but not really at risk of exploding. The flashy side show trick of breathing fire always looks spectacular. A performer takes a small sip of liquor, something distilled like brandy or whiskey. They then spit/spray it out of their mouth, and through a fire source like a small torch. In game terms the result would be a 5 foot cone of fire doing maybe a D4. As in, enough to cause a lot of pain, but not enough to flat-out kill someone. It does damage like a serious sunburn, and not much more. Some blistering at the worst. Again, just so much energy in a table spool of alcohol. Oddly, the performer is t risk themselves, and often burns their own mouth when doing this. (I used to perform, juggling, stage magic, fire eating etc.) There is a thin chance, if the performer really screws up, that they can kill themselves: You blow out, hard, while you're spraying the alcohol. If you mess up and cough or choke, you can inhale reflexively. That "bad sunburn", taken to the inside of the lungs, can be fatal. I guess where I'm going with all of this is that it's really hard, using the materials available at a medieval technology level, to make man-portable dust explosion of any force worth doing. As someone else pointed out, of course, the game world isn't a strictly realistic reflection of a medieval technology. It's a fantasy world, very cinematic, with a lot of "larger than life" inherent in it. That' what makes it fun. [/QUOTE]

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