Re: [HOE] AP attacks vs Light Armor [PEG]

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

> Waste Warriors, p.41 says that AP ammo negates Light armor but the the
> target is now considered unarmored so the bullet loses a damage die.
> Does this apply to all AP attacks or just bullets? I assume that it
> applies to all AP-attacks but i would like to make sure as the text
> only mentions bullets.

I would say that it applies to any attack listed as AP X ("X" being a
number). If it is listed some other way, like "ignores all mundane armor"
then use your best judgement and apply your ruling equally (whatever works
on the posse works on the bad guys too).
 
> Forecefield, Brainburners, p.61, gives the use the equivalent of 5
> points of light armor per success on the Blastin' roll. Is this light
> armor negated by AP attacks? This was brought up before and somebody
> (don't remember who) said that AP-ammodid not negate the protection
> supplied by Forcefield. Is that true? If so, what light armors are not
> negated by AP-ammo/attacks? "Supernatural" armor like Armor of the
> Saints and Forcefield or is it just Forcefield and nothing else?

Shane put out an email (is it in a FAQ?) stating that Forcefield "negates
5 points of damage per success/raise" instead of "gives light armor -5 per
success/raise". What this means is that Forcefield is NOT affected by AP
ammo (you still get the damage reduction, and I think you are still
treated as unarmored for the -1 die of damage from AP ammo).

I'm not sure about Armor of the Saints, but I would say that any power
that creates supernatural armor is NOT ignored by AP ammo. Apply the rule
evenly, right?

Basically any mundane light armor is ignored. I would classify physical
armor that is part of a junker device as mundane for these purposes (since
you're making physical armor). Of course a junker force-field would NOT
fall under mundane armor (nothing mundane about a glowie force field).

> If AP-ammo doesn't negate the armor supplied by Forcefield, does it
> work against "real" armor supplied by supernatural powers, like Aegis.

This is a tough one. Based on my argument above (mundane vs. arcane) you'd
think I'd say "No". But I'm going to say "Yes". Why? Basically because in
the grand scheme of things light armor is pretty wussy ("I negated 10
points of damage out of a 45 damage assault rifle! I'm slightly LESS dead.
Woo-hoo."). Paying strain/junker bits/whatever for a power that just gives
you light armor kinda blows, so those powers should get a little boost
over some shmuck wearing a leather jacket. On the other hand regular
(heavy?) armor is pretty powerful ("I reduced that 4d8 assault rifle to
4d4 with 2 points of armor. YES!!!") and AP ammo/attacks are relatively
rare, so they don't need that same boost. Seem reasonable?

Theo McGuckin - SysAdmin, JLab, Safety Warden (Bldg. 85)


	A three-legged dog walked into an old west saloon and sidled up
	to the bartender saying, "I'm looking for the man that shot my
	paw."