Technically, this is a third part to “Rocks that Kill,” except more like how pyrotechnics developed with the help of geology. Or we can call this “blowing things up.” Your call.

Early man may have tried civilization first, but civilization advanced using uncivilized brutal combat and warfare. He who created the baddest weaponry won, so it seems.

It stands to reason that almost immediately after oil was found useful for creating light and heat, someone else realized it could be used to burn his annoying neighbor’s house down.

Early thermal weapons were devices or substances used in warfare as early as possibly the 8th century BC. Incendiary devices were frequently used as projectiles during warfare, particularly during sieges and naval battles; some substances were boiled or heated to inflict damage by scalding or burning. Other substances relied on their chemical properties to inflict burns or damage. These weapons or devices could be used by individuals, manipulated by war machines, or utilized as army strategy.

One of the earliest records of an fire weapon was during the Peloponnesian War; in 424 BCE, the walls of Delion were burned down, the attackers using a long tube on wheels filled with burning sulfur, charcoal, and pitch, the fire from which was blown forward using bellows. This was at the time a slow weapon, since gasoline had not been created yet.

Greek Fire

In 674 CE, the city of Byzantium was surrounded by the armies of the caliphs of Damascus. Inside the city walls lived a Syrian architect and chemist named Callinicus, who is supposedly the inventor of “Greek Fire.” The besieging fleet was destroyed by the chemical recipe, whose exact ingredients are still unknown today. Mark the Greek, a thirteenth century military writer, admitted that Greek Fire contained sulfur, saltpeter, gasoline, pine resin, and gum resin. This Greek Fire was either squirted over enemy ships using a pump, or poured into shells and fired. The Byzantine Empire also used it on the Vikings, the Pisans of Italy, and each other. The results were horrific

The Chinese perfected the flamethrower around 900 CE, creating a set of double-acting piston bellowed to produce a continuous jet of flame. By the next century they also had a “fire lance,” which was a bamboo or cast-iron tub filled with petroleum-base fuel, tied firmly to the end of a spear so it couldn’t launch itself.

Grenades

The grenade seems to be an Islamic invention, from the discovery in the 1930s of a grenade-making workshop from the thirteenth century in Hama. There was a fireplace for distilling gasoline, holes in the walls for ventilation, a large jar with a lid set into the floor (supposedly to protect the gasoline from sparks). There was a large pit outside containing shells (to make lime to mix with the gas). The Chinese were making grenades by the early twelfth century using pottery containers.

Gunpowder

By 850 AD, alchemists in China were warning peers not to experiment with saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon of charcoal, since heating it could cause lots of fire. Gunpowder rapidly replaced oil and sulfur in most of the Chinese weapons, and by the eleventh century they had explosive bombs filled with gunpowder and fired from catapults.

It was only a matter of time before the Chinese adapted their “fire lance” to a gunpowder base and use it to shoot out projectiles as the stream of flame came to an end.

The first depiction of a true gun, did not appear until the 1100s—a temple dating from 1128 BCE shows sculptures of two demons, one with a grenade and the second with a handheld cannon.

The oldest European illustration of a cannon comes in at 1327 AD.

Fireworks

The earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to 7th century China where they were first used to frighten away evil spirits with their loud sound and also to pray for happiness and prosperity. Eventually, the art and science of firework making developed into an independent profession. In ancient China, pyrotechnicians (firework-masters) were well-respected for their knowledge and skill in mounting dazzling displays of light and sound.

What are the Chances?

So, how likely is it that there is an alchemist/chemist/wizardly person out there in the GMs universe that knows how to make homegrown explosives? More fun, what’s the chance a Character will put together the right ingredients to blow everyone up?

If the Alchemist is working with a known flammable substance, the chances are about one in four (25% chance) that the chemical mixture will be volatile and/or unstable. Once 12th century discoveries have been realized, there is nothing stopping the Characters of a setting from going off and destroying as much as possible.

If the Character is working with no known flammable substances, it isn’t likely he’s going to discover an explosive before the 1800s. Call it one in five. If that.

After the mid-1800s, it is always a possibility that a chemist figures out how to make one type of explosive or another. The character will likely learn about the various fascinating explosive powders and charges that can be made fairly easily.

Available Ingredients for Sword and Sorcery Gaming

Wood, coal, oil, and natural gas all come to mind (see the column article on Fuels), but this is more about the stuff you see in the movies. Some of this has also been discussed in previous articles, but we’re repeating ourselves here.

Saltpeter: Potassium Nitrate. Readily obtainable from mixtures of salts, and decomposing urine was the main commercial source of the nitrate ion from the Late Middle Age onward. The full privy pits often contained calcium nitrate, which could be converted to potassium nitrate by the addition of potash from wood ashes. The earliest known complete purification process for potassium nitrate was described in the 1270 book by Arab chemist and engineer Hasan al-Rammah of Syria. It was also used in the Middle Ages in food preservation as a common ingredient of salted meat. The mineral form of potassium nitrate is called Niter. It usually is found on cavern walls and ceilings where solutions containing alkali potassium and nitrate seep into the openings, producing large incrustations.

Sulfur: Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs and volcanic regions in many parts of the world, especially along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Significant deposits of elemental sulfur also exist in salt domes along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and in evaporites in eastern Europe and western Asia. The sulfur in these deposits is believed to come from the action of anaerobic bacteria on sulfate minerals, especially gypsum.

Fossil-based sulfur deposits from salt domes are the basis for commercial production in the United States, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. Common naturally occurring sulfur compounds include the sulfide minerals, such as pyrite (iron sulfide), cinnabar (mercury sulfide), galena (lead sulfide), sphalerite (zinc sulfide) and stibnite (antimony sulfide); and the sulfates, such as gypsum (calcium sulfate), alunite (potassium aluminium sulfate), and barite (barium sulfate). By the 3rd century, the Chinese discovered that the flammable sulfur could be extracted from pyrite.

To extract the sulfur, the deposits are piled and stacked in brick kilns built on sloping hillsides with airspaces between them. Powdered sulfur is put on top of the sulfur deposit and ignited. As the sulfur burns, the heat melts the sulfur deposits, causing the molten sulfur to flow down the sloping hillside. The molten sulfur can then be collected in wooden buckets.

Charcoal: Charcoal is the black residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char, or other substances in the absence of oxygen (see pyrolysis, char and biochar). Technically, the ability to create charcoal is the only technique necessary for primitive people to have gunpowder; both sulfur and saltpeter are findable.

Primary Explosive or Detonators

Quicklime: Calcium Oxide. It is a white, caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature. Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials such as limestone that. Quicklime is also thought to have been a component of Greek fire. Quicklime reacts violently with water, and can cause blindness and burns. Upon contact with water, quicklime would increase its temperature above 150 °C and ignite the fuel.

Acetone Peroxide: Acetone peroxide was discovered in 1895 by Richard Wolffensteink He was the first chemist to use inorganic acids as catalysts. A white crystalline powder with a distinctive acrid odor, it is highly susceptible to heat, friction, and shock. However the instability is greatly altered by impurities. It is normally stable when pure, but it dissolves quickly. It is one of the few explosives which remain explosive when wet or kept underwater.

Potassium Permanganate: See above

Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD): is a high explosive organic compound, first synthesized in 1885 by Legler. While still quite sensitive to shock and friction, it was relatively stable compared to other initiating explosives of the time, such as mercury fulminate, and proved to be relatively inexpensive and easy to synthesize. As such, it was quickly taken up as a primary explosive in mining applications. It has since been superseded by even more stable compounds such as tetryl. It also reacts with most common metals, which can lead to detonation. HMTD is very stable when pure (acid-free) and does not quickly sublime like its acetone counterparts.

Lead Azide: An inorganic compound used in detonators to initiate secondary explosives. In a commercially usable form, it is a white-to-buff powder. Lead azide is highly sensitive and usually handled and stored under water in insulated rubber containers. It will explode after a fall of around 150 mm (6 in) or in the presence of a static discharge of 7 millijoules.

Lead styphnate: C6HN3O8Pb. A toxic explosive used as a component in primer and detonator mixtures for less sensitive secondary explosives. There are two forms of lead styphnate: six-sided monohydrate crystals and small rectangular crystals. Lead styphnate is particularly sensitive to fire and the discharge of static electricity. When dry, it can be readily detonated by static discharges from the human body; the longer and narrower the crystals, the more susceptible it is. Lead styphnate does not react with metals and is less sensitive to shock and friction than mercury fulminate or lead azide. It is only slightly soluble in water and methyl alcohol and may be neutralized by a sodium carbonate solution. It is stable in storage, even at elevated temperatures.

Mercury fulminate: is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction and shock. It is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and blasting caps. First used as a priming composition in small copper caps after the 1830s, mercury fulminate quickly replaced flints as a means to ignite black powder charges in muzzle-loading firearms. Later, during the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, mercury fulminate or potassium chlorate became widely used in primers for rifle and pistol ammunition. Mercury fulminate has the distinct advantage over potassium chlorate, being non-corrosive, but it is known to weaken with time.

Nitrogen trichloride: NCl3. This yellow, oily, pungent-smelling liquid is most commonly encountered as a byproduct of chemical reactions between ammonia-derivatives and chlorine. In pure form, NCl3 is highly reactive. Nitrogen trichloride can form in small amounts when public water supplies are disinfected with monochloramine, and at given levels it can irritate mucous membranes. Nitrogen trichloride is a dangerous explosive, being sensitive to light, heat, and organic compounds. Pierre Louis Dulong first prepared it in 1812, and lost two fingers and an eye in two separate explosions. An explosion from NCl3 blinded Sir Humphry Davy temporarily, inducing him to hire Michael Faraday as a co-worker. Belgian researchers reported a possible link between NCl3 and rising numbers of childhood asthma cases.

Nitroglycerin: A heavy, colorless, oily, explosive liquid obtained by nitrating glycerol. It was synthesized by chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1847, working under TJ Pelouze at the University of Turin. Sobrero initially called his discovery pyroglycerine, and warned vigorously against its use as an explosive. It was later adopted as a commercially useful explosive by Alfred Nobel. Since the 1860s, it has been used as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, specifically dynamite, and as such is employed in the construction and demolition industries. Similarly, since the 1880s, it has been used by the military as an active ingredient for nitrocellulose in some solid propellants, such as Cordite and Ballistite. Nitroglycerin is also used medically and is one of the oldest and most useful drugs for treating heart disease by shortening or even preventing attacks of angina pectoris.

Silver azide: AgN3. This colorless solid is a well-known explosive.

Silver acetylide: Ag2C2. This compound can be regarded as a salt of the weak acid acetylene. Silver acetylide is a heat- and shock-sensitive high explosive with the unusual property that on ignition it does not evolve any gasd

Silver Fulminate: AgCNO. An explosive ionic compound with very little practical value due to extreme sensitivity to impact, heat, pressure, and electricity. The compound becomes progressively sensitive as it is aggregated, even in small amounts—the touch of a falling feather, the impact of a single water droplet, or a small static discharge are all capable of explosively detonating an unconfined pile of silver fulminate no larger than a dime and no heavier than a few milligrams. Aggregation of larger quantities is impossible due to the compound's tendency to self-detonate under its own weight. Silver fulminate was first prepared in 1800 by Edward Charles Howard in his research project to prepare a large variety of fulminates. Since its discovery, its only practical usage has been in producing non-damaging novelty noisemakers as children's toys and tricks. Silver fulminate can be prepared unintentionally, when an acidic solution of silver nitrate comes in contact with alcohol. This is a hazard in chemical silvering of mirrors.

Copper acetylide: or cuprous acetylide, is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula Cu2C2. It is a heat and shock sensitive high explosive, more sensitive than silver acetylide. Copper acetylide can form inside pipes made of copper or an alloy with high copper content, which may result in violent explosion. This was found to be the cause of explosions in acetylene plants, and led to abandonment of copper as a construction material in such plants. Copper catalysts used in petrochemistry can also possess a degree of risk under certain conditions.

Diazodinitrophenol (DDNP): is a yellowish brown powder. It is soluble in acetic acid, acetone, strong hydrochloric acid, and most non-polar solvents but is insoluble in water.

A solution of cold sodium hydroxide may be used to destroy it. DDNP may be desensitized by immersing it in water, as it does not react in water at normal temperature. It is less sensitive to impact but more powerful than mercury fulminate and lead azide. The sensitivity of DDNP to friction is much less than that of mercury fulminate, but it is approximately that of lead azide. DDNP is used with other materials to form priming mixtures, particularly where a high sensitivity to flame or heat is desired. DDNP is often used as an initiating explosive in propellant primer devices and is a substitute for lead styphnate in what are termed "non-toxic" (lead free) priming explosive compositions.

Tetrazole: A class of synthetic organic heterocyclic compounds, consisting of a 5-member ring of four nitrogen and one carbon atom (plus hydrogens). The simplest is tetrazole itself, CN4H2. They produce high-temperature, non-toxic reaction products, and have a high burn rate and (relative) stability, all of which are desirable properties. Tetrazole was first prepared by the reaction of anhydrous hydrazoic acid and hydrogen cyanide under pressure.

Pyrotechnic Oxidizers

What oxidizers do is provide the oxygen that contributes to the combustion of other material.

Ammonium Compounds: Ammonia has been known since ancient times, and ammonium salts here collected by the Romans.

Ammonium azide: NH4N3. Like other inorganic azides, this colorless crystalline salt is a powerful explosive, although it has a remarkably low sensitivity. NH4N3 is physiologically active: inhalation of small amounts causes headaches and palpitations. It was first obtained by Theodor Curtius in 1890, along with other azides.

Ammonium permanganate: NH4MnO4, or NH3·HMnO4. It was first prepared by Eilhard Mitscherlich in 1824. Soluble in water. It is a strong oxidizer, owing to its permanganate anion, and it is a moderately strong explosive, owing to the combination of oxidizer anion and reducing ammonium cation. Dry ammonium permanganate can detonate by heat, shock, or friction, and it may explode at temperatures above 140 °F (60 °C). Ammonium permanganate decomposes explosively to manganese dioxide, nitrogen, and water.

Ammonium Nitrate: Nitrate of ammonia, NH4NO3, is a white crystalline solid at room temperature and standard pressure. It is commonly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer, and is used in cold packs. It is the main component of AN/FO (Ammonium Nitrate/Fuel Oil), a very popular explosive. The oil used is most often No. 2 fuel oil, or diesel fuel, but sometimes kerosene, coal dust, or even molasses. ANNM or ammonium nitrate and nitromethane is the most powerful type of AN explosive. The Haber Process, which took ammonia from the nitrogen in the air, was created in 1909.

Ammonium dinitramide: ADN (sometimes ADM) is the ammonium salt of dinitramidic acid. It was originally invented in the Soviet Union, but remained classified until it was rediscovered in the United States in the 1980s. It makes an excellent solid rocket oxidizer with a slightly higher specific impulse than ammonium perchlorate and, more importantly, does not leave hydrogen chloride fumes. The salt is prone to detonation under high temperatures and shock more so than the perchlorate. It can be synthesized from ammonium nitrate, nitric acid, and super concentrated sulfuric acid, to which a base other than ammonia must be added before the acid dinitramide decomposes.

Ammonium perchlorate: Like most ammonium salts, it decomposes before melting. Mild heating results in chlorine, nitrogen, oxygen, and water, while strong heating may lead to explosions. Its detonation leaves no residue.

Barium Compounds: Alchemists in the early Middle Ages knew about some barium minerals. Smooth pebble-like stones of mineral barite found in Bologna, Italy were known as "Bologna stones". After exposed to light they would glow for years that attracted them to witches and alchemists. Carl Scheele identified barite as containing a new element in 1774, but could not isolate barium. Barium powder is pyrophoric: it can explode in contact with air or oxidizing gases. It is likely to explode when combined with halogenated hydrocarbon solvents. It reacts violently with water. All water or acid soluble barium compounds are extremely poisonous.

Barium nitrate: Baratol is an explosive composed of barium nitrate, TNT and binder; the high density of barium nitrate results in baratol being quite dense as well. Barium nitrate mixed with aluminium powder, a formula for flash powder, is highly explosive. It is mixed with Thermite to form Thermate-TH3, used in military thermite grenades.

Perchlorate: Salts derived from perchloric acid (HClO4). They occur both naturally and through manufacturing. They have been used as a medicine for more than 50 years to treat thyroid gland disorders. They are also used as an oxidizer in rocket fuel and explosives and can be found in airbags and fireworks. It was recently determined the soil sample collected from Mars showed traces of perchlorate.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE): A synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene most well known by the DuPont brand name Teflon. Powdered PTFE is used in pyrotechnic compositions as an oxidizer together with powdered metals such as aluminium and magnesium. Upon ignition these mixtures release large amounts of heat. They are used as infrared decoy flares and igniters for solid-fuel rocket propellants.

Potassium Chlorate: Potassium chlorate was one key ingredient in early firearms percussion caps (primers). It continues in that application, where not supplanted by potassium perchlorate. "Rackarock" consisted of potassium chlorate and nitrobenzene. It was provided in the form of permeable cartridges of the chlorate, which were placed in wire baskets and dipped in the nitrobenzene for a few seconds before use. For underwater use, it could be provided in cans instead. It was famously used in the massive submarine demolition of a navigational hazard in Long Island Sound in 1885. The charge of over a hundred tons of explosive (laid in tunnels 20 meters below sea level) destroyed approximately 600,000 tons of rock, and created a wave 30 m high.

Potassium Nitrate: See saltpeter, above.

Potassium Perchlorate: Usually obtained as a colorless, crystalline solid, it is a common oxidizer used in fireworks, ammunition percussion caps, explosive primers, and is used variously in propellants, flash compositions, stars, and sparklers. It has been used as a solid rocket propellant, although in that application it has mostly been replaced by the higher performance ammonium perchlorate. The conversion of solid glucose into hot gaseous CO2 is the basis of the explosive force of such mixtures. Even with cane sugar, KClO4 yields a low explosive, provided the necessary confinement.

Potassium Permanganate: In 1659 a German chemist, J.R. Glauber, fused a mixture of the mineral pyrolusite and potassium carbonate to obtain a material that, when dissolved in water, gave a green solution (potassium manganate) that slowly shifted to violet potassium permanganate, and then finally red. Early photographers used it as a component of flash powder. Concentrated sulfuric acid reacts with KMnO4 to give Mn2O7, which can be explosive. Potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid react to produce some ozone, which has a high oxidizing power and rapidly oxidizes the alcohol, causing it to combust. As a similar reaction produces explosive Mn2O7, this should only be attempted with great care.

Rubidium: A soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali metal group. Like other group 1 elements, this metal reacts violently in water. In common with potassium and caesium this reaction is usually vigorous enough to ignite the liberated hydrogen. Rubidium has also been reported to ignite spontaneously in air. Rubidium was discovered in 1861 by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in the mineral lepidolite through the use of a spectroscope. Rubidium metal was first produced by the reaction of rubidium chloride with potassium by Bunsen.

Sodium Chlorate: Sodium chlorate comes in dust, spray, and granule formulations. There is a risk of fire and explosion in dry mixtures with other substances, like other herbicides, sulfur, phosphorus, powdered metals, strong acids. Particularly when mixed with sugar it has explosive properties.

Sodium Nitrate: Chile Saltpeter. Sodium nitrate is used as an ingredient in fertilizers, pyrotechnics, in smoke bombs, as a food preservative, and as a solid rocket propellant, as well as in glass and pottery enamels. Sodium nitrate was used extensively as a fertilizer and a raw material for the manufacture of gunpowder in the late nineteenth century. The first shipment of Chile saltpeter to Europe arrived in England in 1820 or 1825, but didn't find any buyers and was dumped at sea in order to avoid customs toll.

Strontium: An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and strontianite. Strontium is a grey/silvery metal that is softer than calcium and even more reactive in water, with which strontium reacts on contact to produce strontium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. It should be kept under a liquid hydrocarbon such as mineral oil or kerosene to prevent oxidation; freshly exposed strontium metal rapidly turns a yellowish color with the formation of the oxide. Finely powdered strontium metal will ignite spontaneously in air at room temperature. Strontium is named after the Scottish village of Strontian, having been discovered in the ores taken from the lead mines in 1790. The element was eventually isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808.