Depleted Phlebotinum Shells

"These bullets are individually machined from silver impregnated granite out of the Fiddler's Rock mine. We've cut a joining rune into the base of each and tuned it to resonate in the decan of Anoster. Each round is fitted with a teflon composite jacket to protect it from the stresses of firing and a precision fitted obturating band of high grade copper. They cost a grand and a half each and you only have six of them. Try not to miss."

Basic Information

This article is about a trope.

Depleted Phlebotinum Shells represent a modification to a weapon or ammunition to take out a specific kind of enemy that would otherwise be invulnerable to the normal weapon. A typical example are silver bullets or weapons which are used to take out werewolves.

See Also

• Applied Phlebotinum
• Abnormal Ammo
• Kill It With Fire

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

Game and Story Use

• This kind of approach to combats is very popular with some kinds of players, who will try anything to max out the effectiveness of their characters in a fight.
• Finding the right kind of Phlebotinum for a specific enemy can easily be a quest in itself. And it is dramatically appropriate, too - there are many villains and monsters in mythology and literature who are vulnerable to one thing only. Converting that one thing into a weapon is left as an exercise for the player characters - but no doubt they are going to be inventive.
• Consider some usual applications of the "special substances" in your world (or at least consider saying "yes" to your players when they come up with a crazy plan involving them). For example "adamantium" is usually reserved for melee weapons and armor because of its incredible hardness. But how about using adamantium splinters to create armor-piercing arrows? After all, not every chip out of a block of adamantium is going to be used for a suit of plate mail…
• Don't feel constrained to bullets with this trope - a silver-tipped arrow will fulfill the same purpose.