New (old) armor and helmets

[Tegman]

Hi guys,
in the old Babylon Project made by Cameleon Eclectic (sp) they had a heavy infantry armor that I haven't found in any books yet (thought it would be in the EAFB, but it wasn't). Anyway, I made it and took the description from the old book and added some myself.

If this isn't allowed then please remove this thread.

Here goes.

KR-4/BX Hostile Environment Armor
Damage reduction: 9/4
Nationality: EA
Cost: 4600Cr
Ini: -2
Move: -10
Skills: -2
Weight (lb): 95
Special: DEX -2

Not all theaters that GROPOS must operate in are friendly to Human physiology. Sometimes a Human will be seriously injured or even killed through exposure to a planet’s atmosphere. Yet even in such harsh conditions GROPOS fight on, protected by the KR-4/BX. For this state of the art system, Coleman and EnviroCom worked together in a joint operation. This fully-enclosed suit of armor is designed to withstand an enormous amount of abuse without compromising the integrity of the seal. Not only does the suit not yield to breaches, it also protects the soldiers from physical damage. It is also powered, but not enough to completely remove all the negative effects that the wearer sustains, but enough to make it usable. The completely self-contained system has the ability to provide the wearer with 8 hours of oxygen. The suit has two layers, the internal layer is designed by EnviroCom and serves to keep the wearer shielded from the outer atmosphere, while the outer layer is armored plating. The armor is segmented and the plates covering the body zones can be jettisoned if needed. The armor plating in the KR-4/BX incorporates ablative armor and flak armor, which grants the bearer great protection versus energy (DR 9), but also some protection versus other forms of attacks (DR 4).
It works as a Chemical/Radiation suit, Cold weather insulation suit and Hot weather cooling suit, except that the power pack lasts for 8 hours.
An air tank costs 200Cr to buy and a power pack costs 350Cr. They can only be changed with the help of someone else, if the character has put it on. They are non-standard and can therefore be difficult to obtain.
NOTE: This is not a space suit and can only be used in space for a short period of time (approximately 20min).

Helmet
Damage reduction: spec, see text
Nationality: Any
Cost: 150Cr

This is a standard helmet for any race and can mostly only be used by the specific race. It protects the wearer by subtracting the critical range by 1, ie 19-20 becomes 20 (critical range can’t be totally negated, 20 is always a possible critical). A helmet is always incorporated in fully enclosed armors, such as a pressure suit or the KR-4/BX armor. Most helmets incorporate communication devices and/or vision enhancing equipment and/or anti-flash protection etc.
NOTE: Superiorly crafted helmets lower the critical range by 2, but again, 20 is always a threat.

Thoughts?

 

[Natxomann]

Hey , thanks . I was wonderind about how helmets could be represented in the B5/D20 rules , and this one is really decent .
I was thinking that helmets could provide a +1 bonus to DV , and a DR equal to the armour carried , ot to the best asmour used by every especific race , being hit when an attack failed by 1 , but your idea seems more simple .

 

[Tegman]

First I thought about letting a helmet add one more DR, but then I reconsidered, reducing the threat represents that the helmet can provide some extra protection vs more fatal injuries, ie, headwounds

 

[Natxomann]

I was also thinking about the use of modern , balistic protection shields , also mentioned in the old game , similar to those employed by modern antiterrorist forces .
They should be made of highly resistant , yet reasonably light materials , like ceramic polymers , ultradense steel , plasteel or similar materials that would provide a certain degree of cover , being hard enough to repel any attack from any pistol or rifle weapon (DR 15-20 Perhaps?) , and in the end I decided for simplicity´s sake that they should provide a bonus to the character´s DV .
Small shields (1/4 cover+-) should provide a DV bonus of +2 , Medium shields (1/2) bonus would be +4 , and Large shields (3/4 to 9/10) should be around +6 or +8 . To employ also a rule from the old game , the DV bonus should be greater if the user is kneeled (+50% , so a medium shield provides a DV bonus of +6) and double if he is prone (so the medium shield bonus becomes +8) .
Of ourse , any character using a small or medium shield could only use pistol weapons , while those using a large shield should be unable to use any weapon at all (needing both hands to hold the shield , or being impeded by the size of it) .
Your thoughs?