| From: | Aerio Chrome aeriochrome@****.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Heavy Armor |
| Date: | Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:55:49 -0600 |
>A standard GMC Bulldog (not the special Bonded Courier version) has a
>Body/Armor Rating of 4/2 (p. 157, R2). Under SR3 rules, this makes it
>immune to all weapons with a Damage Level of L (hold-outs and light
pistols),
>as well as all other weapons with a Base Power of 4 (heavy pistols
generally
>have a base Power of 9-10, SMGs 6-7, assault rifles 8).
Uh, unless there is an erratta I missed, SR3 says "If a weapon's reduced
Power (unaugmented by burst or full-auto fire rates) does not exceed the
armor's rating, the weapons fire does no damage to the vehicle" (SR3 p.
149). The weapons reduced Power is equal to 1/2 the base Power round
down. That means that to affect a vehicle with an armor rating of 4, the
weapon needs to have a base Power of 10. One half of nine round down is
four which doesn't exceed the armor rating. That means that the only
weapons listed in the SR3 rule book which will affect a Bulldog are one
heavy pistol, one shotgun, a sniper rifle, an HMG, and an assault cannon
(not including missiles).
>For argument's sake, let's say it got struck by an SMG (6M) firing in
>semi-auto mode. The van then rolls 4 dice against a Damage Code of 1L
(6/2
>- 2 = 1,-1 Damage Level reduction b/c it's a vehicle). Assuming the
attacker
>only got the minimum 1 success to hit the van (and that the van is
unrigged,
>and thus unable to make a Dodge Test), then the van needs to get 3
successes to
>shrug off all damage altogether. If the attacker got 3 or more
successes,
>the van would have taken at least Light damage. If the attacker was
shooting
>the SMG in burst or FA mode, it would have taken more.
Therefore in your example the SMG rounds would just bounce off the van,
one half of six is three which does not exceed the armor rating.
>In this particular instance, I don't see how the 3rd edition armor &
>vehicle rules encourage weapon inflation. No, you aren't guaranteed a
certain
>kill with anything less than an AVM, but you WILL do damage.
So therefore in order to hurt the Bulldog there are only five non-missile
weapons capable of doing so. Raise the armor rating up to six and that
number drops down to two, the sniper rifle and the assault cannon. Raise
the armor rating to 12 and you have something which even laughs at
assault cannons (since it was ruled that they are NOT anti-vehicular).
>In fact, I don't see weapon inflation being a problem, unless
>characters regularly use or encounter vehicles with an Armor Rating of 5
or
>greater. And that's something that a GM should certainly be able to
control.
>(Unless you actually like those kinds of high-octane games.)
Or you encounter any security drones, Ares Guardians and Steel Lynxs have
an armor rating of 12. Of course the reverse is true, not many corps will
issue their security guards AVMs, so a runner group with a Guardian or
two to act as support if the drek hits the fan is undefeatable. Just send
the invulnerable drones to mop up the security and run before a response
force capable of dealing with the drones show up.
Aeriochrome
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