Armor Materials

Traceroo

Traceroo

Rogue
Does Alliance require use of authentic materials in armor to get the full points, or is just the authentic appearance passable?

Specifically, p. 79 of the rulebook (attached) talks about "non metallic plate mail." I interpret this to include boiled leather, as an example.

What about these new-fangled super cool latex molds which are made to look like plate mail? Here are some examples, albeit perhaps cheesy, but they're the first hits I got when Googling. You get the idea:

http://dragon-armoury.blogspot.com/2011/01/dragon-armour-finished.html
http://www.museumreplicas.com/p-1156-female-breastplate.aspx

Pro: Super cool looking armor adds richly to the visual atmosphere of our game.
Pro: Players don't kill themselves trying to waddle up FML Death Hill, or Cardiac Hill, in heavy armor.
Pro: The opens up the world of wearing cool looking armor to more players who may be less athletic, and disinterested in adding the weight of real armor to aged backs, aged knees, and so forth.

Con: Do we risk players taking the versatility of latex too far, and branching far out of the fantasy medieval genre, and introducing... Storm Trooper, Colonial Marine, Boba Fett, and other space/anime/whatever/not this genre armor?
Con: Do we perceive that we disadvantage the players who want the authentic stuff, which is heavy, by allowing the "space race" to include lightweight armors made of materials found only in the space program?
Con: I honestly don't know what the latex stuff costs - But if it's more expensive than authentic materials, are we promoting the "rich kids game" where players of greater means can buy better gear, and thereby gain advantage? (Is this already a thing with the cost of authentic armor physreps anyway?? Therefore, do we care?)

Jesse, I'd like an official answer on this for our local game.

Everybody else, I'm interested in general opinions on what we want for our game.

Thanks,
Trace
 

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There are 2 aspects to this.

In the first aspect: the aesthetic one (the part that has to do with makeing a beleivable world setting- pertinant more to the heavier roleplayers/theatrical nerds)
I dont want a stupid looking, bad/flimsy genre game. We already have a tough enough time creating immersion and trying to cobble together
a cohesive world structure in a game that is being developed from the ground up by the majority of its local players as a more RP/content intensive setting than it was originally set up to be (or so it seems)...

The second stupid looking inappropriate armor (or costuming for that matter) shows up I will have no compunctions about
telling the player they look like a moron and are being disruptive. I generally believe plot will take care of that kind of problem however and will know when to press the 'No' button at armor inspection for the sake of us all long before it gets to that point.

That said. That armor isnt latex, its urethane. Wich comes in both soft, and rigid types.

In the second aspect: the practical gaming one (the physical competitive part of this game that deals in the numbers and the exertion of the body, pertinant more to the stick jocks/people more interested in the fighting.)
So long as people who are wearing the real thing get full points, and those who are wearing ultralight lightweight BS get fewer points, whatever. The $ cost is irrelevant, its how much harder does it make you
work on the field that matters because that is actually what affects that part of game play- wich is a large large part of this game.
 
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Hey guys, you both make good arguments. AS an aside, I hope you're kidding about telling a player they look like a moron. Let staff be the fashion police please. lol. "Plot" wouldn't be the ones to say something, but any armor/weapons marshal may do so politely and freely.
NOTHING will EVER give you the armor points as the real deal so no worries there! Granted, some changes MIGHT allow this to pass from 1 pt to 2 pt location in 2016, but it WILL NOT BE 3! To answer your question Trace, currently, it is ALL ABOUT MATERIALS. 2016 Might change that a tad. Stay tuned.
 
I am absolutely certain you, your staff and your armor checkers/martials are smart enough to keep out the kind of thing I am talking about. If they let a japanese schoolgirl, a gundam, or one of the 501st slip through somehow, I'll let you know.
 
A little off topic, but one thing I've always thought was strange was how hit points and swings (weapon profs, back stabs etc) scale while spells (5-45) and armor (40 points maximum) are capped. This makes spells and armor very powerful in a low level game like ours, but less and less relevant as the game scales out of new player mode. One thing I'd like to see the new rule system address is adding bonuses or even exponential bonuses to certain classes for their spells and/or armor. It would be neat if a fighter could be "tanky" or a spell caster could specialize in damage dealing spells.

At higher levels the strategic reason for wearing super-heavy armor goes way down, especially given all the good 2 point options available. I don't think this is a reason to limit people from wearing 2 point armor, but I'd love to see an option to get more than 3 points from armor, or making wearing that armor more of a benefit.
 
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