From:	Matt <mosbun@******.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Big Time armor
Date:	Tue, 5 Apr 1994 20:25:14 -0500

>> But then again, who fires light
>>weapons at heavy armor?

>People who left the elephant guns at home. Low-end gangers who can't afford
>anything better. "Respectable" citizens who want to carry the
smallest
>weapon they can find. In short, anyone lacking either the resources or the
>desire to carry heavy weapons on a regular basis (which should be just about
>everyone - Lone Star frowns on people carrying heavy weapons, you know...).


I don't see it. When I say light, I'm not talking about anything larger than
a light pistol. Personally, given a choice between plinking at an over-armored
goon with what might as well be a pea-shooter and running, I'll run.

>> Remember, all armor really does is keep the bullet from penetrating, and
>>absorb some of the impact. A tough man is more likely to walk away from a
>>gunshot wound than a weak one. But there's still damage to deal with, and
the
>>physically weak are still often SOL.


>You still seem to be thinking primarily in terms of soft armors - armored
>clothing (3/0) is the only 'pure' soft armor in SR; everything else has plates
>in it, while the Heavy and Security armors _are_ plates with a little
>ballistic cloth to hold them together. By my normal way of dealing with
>armor>Power, 'pure' soft armor would only give an extra Body die against
guns
>with a Power of 2 or less. With the extrapolation from the vehicle rules, it
>would give 1 extra Body - and a Body 1 character will _still_ probably die
>from the blunt trauma, _but_ it will be (at least a little) less likely than
>with no armor at all. And, quite simply, I can't believe that there is
>_anyone_ so weak or so frail that they're just as likely to die from blunt
>trauma as they are from taking the bullet directly.

First of all, I am talking primarily about softer armors. Why? How many
times can runners realistically use heavy armor? Not often IMHO, but one thing
at a time.

First of all, no no one is just as likely to die from trauma as from the
direct shot, but a character with a body of 1 is so likely to die from either,
it makes no odds, IMHO. When your body is that low, you simply can't deal with
the damage your armor lets through.

As for heavy armor, remember that the only armors that cover everything are
full heavy and security armor with helmet. Partial heavy and (the admittedly
borderline coud-go-either-way) armored jacket only cover vital areas, and it's
a lot easier for a bullet to hit the body, do damage, riccochet around
internally, and screw the target with woundshock.

Yeah, there are ways of dealing with this, but ultimately, weak people who
get into firefights, purposefully or not, get killed. Life sucks like that.

Matt