[HoE] Re:[HOE] Junker Armor

["John Goff" <johngoff@erols.com>]

I've been avoiding this thread like the plague, but I thought I'd poke my
nose in with two suggestions. Bear in mind HOE isn't my playground and these
are only suggestions/explanations from another Marshal.

I just know I'm going to regret this...

Steve Crow wrote:
>
> The possiblity also exists to tamper with the "base prices" for Kevlar
vests
> and stuff.  I'm not sure how much a Vest goes with these days, but given
> 100+ years of "future tech," wouldn't it possibly be cheaper than $750?
> Most of the list prices for guns and stuff seemed to be based on
modern-day
> prices.  Lowering the cost of a kevlar Vest certainly wouldn't penalize
> players.
>

I don't think that's necessary.

Here's my take: Junker Armor--and purely armor, no other doodads
attached--ain't that hard to make. Throw some scrap metal together, tack it
to a frame, give it some straps and padding if you're making it for a
person, work just a little Junker-magic, and presto-chango, you've got a
suit! Not like a Gun-power device or Sensors, or anything complicated. In
general, the junker is just putting Plate A in a spot where it will block
Bullet B. It's not tough, it's not expensive.

Sure it's cheaper than Kevlar to make. Hell, it might even be better (but I
don't think so--I want to rely on my armor, not risk it falling apart on a
Stability Check one morning). But that doesn't necessarily mean it should
cost more or Kevlar should cost less in the interest of game balance.

Junkers aren't falling out of every cabinet in every burnt-out town. These
guys should be pretty rare and prized. If the posse has a junker, great--he
can build the armor for them. That's his stick. A syker can whip up a
Forcefield that's better than armor, a doomsayer can heal the wounds or
raise Aegis, etc. As to NPC junkers, if you don't want the stuff floating
around like candy, make 'em as rare as they should be. If your posse goes on
a grand quest to reach Junkyard and procure some of thie Holy Grail armor,
make it an epic trip and let 'em.

But every town isn't going to have a Junker whipping up armor for every
swinging gun that walks in.

Kevlar, on the other hand, is a lost art. It works, it works all the time,
and people want it. It's also more common that junker armor, because police
stations had it, military units had it, private security companies had it,
etc. However, it still costs more in spite of this availability.

Why? Doesn't that violate simple economic sense?

Nope. Let's say you live on an island where the only cars available are
beat-up Cadillacs. They get terrible gas mileage, but they're the only car
availabe, so all the car dealers charge an arm and a leg for them. There are
a few of these nifty little Saabs running around, but nobody that has one
wants to sell it. The few people that have them all got them from some other
island and paid a good sight less than the cost of a Cadillac. However, they
won't trade for your pricey car. Plain and simple they've got a better car,
regardless of price.

On this other island is a company tha can produce the Saabs much cheaper
than the cost of a used Cadillac and they sell them for a reasonable price.
However, they have no way to get the Saabs to the other island, so they can
only sell to the local inhabitants--not all of whom want to spend money on a
car. As a result, the price stays down.

Now, replace Cadillac with Kevlar, Saab with junker armor, the first island
with isolated community and the other island with Junkyard. Does that
analogy make sense? If not, I can't help.

>
> >The solution to this is to build a suit that's simply bigger...say, Size
> >8 or 10, with free space for a single occupant...more components, higher
> >cost, more weight, everything that building powerful devices should be,
> >right?
> >
>
> Not sure I'm following here.  Only the size of the _armor_ is relevant for
> its Durability.  What would the rest of the suit _do_ exactly?
>
> If you're saying use the size of the Suit, not the size of the Armor...I
can
> do that.  In fact, I already do.  I just don't use it to figure the
> durability of the Armor itself.  In the example, although I've never
stated
> it, although the size of the Armor is 3, the size of the suit itself
> (allowing for dead space and all) is 5.

Uh...unless I'm mistaken, Size has _nothing_ to do with Durability. Damage
is subtracted directly from it. If I'm wrong, could someone point me to the
reference where it says otherwise?

John Goff