real powered armorer lim

[kave99]

on a previous thread i suggested that the real armor lim should be used to represent realistic Powered armor that takes time to don and power up etc
to this end i poss the question . how should "Real Powered Armorer -1/4 lim." read in comparison to the H5R and FH descriptions and should it carry over to the hole sweet of powers that represent champions powered armorer eg should it apply to all the powers defined as powered armor or just the def.

[Edsel]

I'd say apply it to all of the powers of the armor. Just remember that since it is a limitation it needs to actually limit the character in some way or it wouldn't be a limitation. In other words every so often the character should be inconvenienced due to having to don his armor, or some other sort comming of the armor.

[Hawksmoor]

I do not think this limitation is appropriate. It is used to represent "Real World" armors from oil-boiled leather to kevlar. It is an add on limitation that implies armor degradation and susceptability to real world physics, ie it will not do a great job at protecting you from say a fall from 20".

It is of course your game, but no this is not what the limitation was intended for.

Hawksmoor

[kave99]

I'd say apply it to all of the powers of the armor. Just remember that since it is a limitation it needs to actually limit the character in some way or it wouldn't be a limitation. In other words every so often the character should be inconvenienced due to having to don his armor, or some other sort coming of the armor.

yes i agree , but my question how ,got Any ideas?

[Hawksmoor]

It is not appropriate for a Superheroic game. In less 'fantasitcal' genres it would only apply to the 'armor' power however you built it. Real Weapon, the offensive analog, could be applied to the weapon suite. It is however meant as a add-on limitation to be applied to an existing focus limitation however not as a replacement.

Hawksmoor

[kave99]

It is not appropriate for a Superheroic game. In less 'fantasitcal' genres it would only apply to the 'armor' power however you built it. Real Weapon, the offensive analog, could be applied to the weapon suite. It is however meant as a add-on limitation to be applied to an existing focus limitation however not as a replacement.

Hawksmoor

I must disagree i can see it used in a Iron aged Super heroic or non Champions Universe game. i also think that as powered armor is a signal item then the real powered armorer lim should incorporate the disadvantages of both real armor and real weapon lims. you did excellent job of summarizing Real Armorer now what i am looking for are ideas about real powered armorer

[Zed-F]

You could just make it a -1/4 Real Gear (or Real Equipment) limitation applied to the whole thing. Whether you call it Real Armour or Real Weapon is just semantics.

Real world armour is heavy and somewhat constricting. You can't, for instance, swim well, or jump high, wearing it. You're probably a bit clumsier than normal around breakables due to all the bits sticking off of you. Realistic powered armour will tend to suffer from indicental breakdowns a lot more than supertech powered armour. An explosion that you wouldn't bother rolling to see if it damages the armour on Iron Man, might knock something on the fritz for a bit or weaken the integrity of the armour, costing you a point of DEF. The more complex the powered armour is, the more likely a breakdown will occur. This is especially true in anything other than a normal operating environment. Cold, heat, sand, rain, etc. can all cause a variety of problems. You should probably not take any components that are too advanced; google can be your friend here to figure out what is 'today or near future' and what is 'too remote to be plausible.'

Basically, think of how you might make the armour, and then think of what could go wrong with each component you selected.

[Zeropoint]

* Your suit's computer has become infected with annoying pop-up ads.

* The helmet cuts off your peripheral vision.

* You discover that the auto-cutout on your amplified hearing means that you are effectively deaf in noisy environments.

* You break things when you try to pick them up.

* You don't get whatever house-rule benefits unreal armor provides against real weapons.

* If you don't spend time maintaining it, it breaks down.

(&$#! Narrow doorways!

* You have to ride in the cargo section of the superjet, because you won't fit in the seats

* You don't want to know what you smell like after a three-day extended operation in your armor.

* As far as that goes, did you remember to include waste relief systems? Don't drink a lot of coffee before you go on patrol.

There are a lot of little things that would make Real Power Armor less fun than unreal power armor.

[kave99]

thanks ZED-F this was the kind of response i was looking for.

i think i need to distill some of the ideas that i and others have had.

1] that under ideal conditions it takes 5 turns to don and power up Powered Armorer
2] that without regular maintenance [say weekly] systems will fail to operate reliable and that environmental factors may push this down to Daly {this may be done in the Field for a week or so with out resupply}
3] that incidental damage to the powered armorer from combat or the environment will requirer periodic repair to keep all systems operational and that repairer's requirer appropriate parts and facility's{ such as a lab bass or research facility}
4] that swimming and leaping are degraded unless the powered armorer is specifically designed to operates in thees modes {has purchased thees ability's as powers}
5] that unless the powered armor has LS diminished eating/excreting than it should be removed after a maximum of 8 hours
6] that sleeping in powered armorer is taxing on the operator and should be avoided
7] that both touch and smell/taste sense gropes are severely hampered by the wearing of powered armorer
8] that effects targeted against things like electronics computers and machines will adversely effect powered armorer

that seems a good start question's, comments or suggestions

[kave99]

There are a lot of little things that would make Real Power Armor less fun than unreal power armor.

thanks you posted as i was slowly typing i think covered most of them

[ghost-angel]

I would say, simply going from Real Weapon and Real Armor is has maintenance upkeep.

You have to spend time recalibrating lasers, patching the armor, repairing it a bit, coputer upgrades, etc...

Normally it probably won't inhibit you if you can get, say, 30 minutes to an hour a day. Or more if you recently got trashed in a fight.

If you did get trashed and haven't had time to "repair and maintain" and another fight ensues you may not be up to full capability. Maybe your sights are off and you get a -2OCV, or the jump jets aren't functioning and you incur an activation cost temporarily.

And then there's extended missions away from the shop, where after time just general use catches up and you start to have problems with the armor.

It's not appropriate to Silver Age, but Bronze and Iron Age games could make this plausible, more "realistic" and add an extra element of danger to powered armor characters.

[Major Tom]

A couple of shortcomings that come to mind with regards to 'real' powered
armor are (1.) unless the suit is powered by a nuclear/thermoelectric batt-
ery, the power source for it is going to be a tad on the bulky side; and (2.),
unless the designer/builder of the suit has come up with an compact yet
efficient life-support system, that system is also going to be bulky. A 'real'
powered suit could easily wind up being the size of the ProtoMech battle
armors described in BattleTech (size-wise, these are between Elemental
battlesuits and light 'Mechs, with the largest weighing in at 9 tons).

Another shortcoming that a 'real' power armor suit would most likely have is
that of balance. Unless the suit has a really good gyrostabilizer system, any
movement the operator makes is probably going to look like he or she had
one too many drinks before getting into the suit.


Major Tom

[kave99]

thanks guys now major tom though you are absolutely right that powered armor in the real world would have all of the problems you have pointed out and thy may have a place in some builds thy are not necessary to the real powered armor lim. that being said it raised a interesting point in my mind i had previously thought that all powers in the powered armor could receive the limitation but i now see that certain Powers such as growth density increase extra limbs,knock-back resistance and other powers ware thy would all most always be in effect despite the neglect the suite of powered armor had received.

[Major Tom]

kave99: you just gave me an idea as to how Knockback Resistance could be
done with regards to the 'real power armor' limitation: have the special effect
be that, when the wearer braces himself/herself to avoid being knocked back,
telescoping spikes shoot down from the backs of the armor's boots deep into
the ground (about two feet or so). That particular system is not only part of
the Glitter Boy battlesuit from Palladium's Rifts RPG, but was also
part of Robocop's built-in equipment as well (at least in the TV series).

What do you think of this?


Major Tom

[Zeropoint]

Well, your extra limbs could fail easily engouh, but if your knockback resistance comes from just being massive, then yeah, that's not going to "turn off".