ARMOUR

ARMOUR

Armour in Distant Vista comes in many varieties. All of it works the same way, with the exception of the personal defence screen. The Armours Protection Value comes directly off any damage done to the character (unless the damage is called as ‘through’, which ignores armour). If this takes the damage to zero, then the character takes no damage. If the incoming damage is greater than the PV of the armour, then the remainder of the damage gets through. Whilst this, and the lack of armour degradation is a little unrealistic, it speeds things up, and stops you needing a maths degree just to enter combat.

All armour is ‘modular’, that is to say that you can armour any combination of locations. If the damage is targeted at an area you have not armoured, then tough luck. Armour cannot be stacked. If the damage is enough to get through the ‘outer’ armour, then it also penetrates any armour worn underneath – this also applies to any species with natural armour – the PV’s of the armour do NOT combine, and do not subtract one after the other from any incoming damage . 

For Example,  Sofar, a Desonne-eta (natural armour rating of 2) gets hold of a Pax Humanis Armoured Vest. (armour rating 2). Sofar is then blasted by a Plasma–caster cannon for 4 points of damage. He takes 2 damage (4 –2 for the armour), not 0, as the Protection values for the armour do not stack.

CLASS 1 ARMOUR – this is a typical blast vest, or a ‘hard-suit’ designed for EVA work. A combination of anti-ballistic plates and ablative material give the wearer 1 point or protection against all incoming damage (except ‘thru’ damage ). Typical Phys-reps would be a heavy Multi-pocket waistcoat or load-bearing vest, a full plastic hasmat suit or similar.

CLASS 2 ARMOUR – This is military grade armour. Made of more effective materials and to a higher standard, it gives 2 points of protection to any armoured location. Class 2 armour is hard, and a little cumbersome – good examples would be storm-trooper or mandalorian armour from star wars (for full suits). Phys-reps would be a stab- vest or flack-jacket. Solid plates must be in evidence, and such armour is impossible to mistake for anything else.

CLASS 3 ARMOUR. – This is heavy assault armour, certainly the heaviest non-powered suits possible. Giving a full 3 points of protection, these suits are bulky and uncomfortable, useless in confined spaces, and are always full suits, rather than single pieces. Think full marine armour from Warhammer 40K.

 PERSONAL DEFENSE SCREEN.

The PDS is the ultimate in armour. A small, but surprisingly heavy pack worn on the belt, the field generates a net of energy, which totally stops incoming energy, blows or projectiles. The screen is projected around the user at a radius of around half a foot. Interaction whilst the screen is up is impossible – you can’t hear anything (sound-waves being treated as any other incoming energy wave….). The screens are prone to overloading, overheating, breaking down or fizzling out. They cannot be left on for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Once switched off after use, they must re-charge for at least 2 minutes before they can be used again. It doesn’t matter if the screen was in operation for 3 seconds and was undamaged, or if it was up for 2 minutes and took a pounding from energy weapons, once the field is switched off, it has to recharge. This also applies if they overload.

Fields are not indestructible. If enough energy hits them, they will overload and collapse. However, whilst they are up, they will totally stop ALL incoming damage.

Most fields will stop around 7 points of damage before becoming unstable. 8 points or more, and the field will drop. Truly massive amounts of damage in one go will also overload the field. 5 points of damage in a single blow from an energy weapon will drop the field.  If using a screen, the player must call ‘screen up’ when they activate it. It will then time out after 2 minutes, or it is turned off by the player shouting ‘screen-down’. If the character is injured before they have time to activate the screen, or the assault is a surprise, the screen is not of use until the player physically declares ‘screen up’