DR derivation in GURPS?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The person inside the armor will be dead before the diamond ignites, so it doesn't much matter.

It ruins the loot (which is probably all that diamond armor is good for anyway). :)

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

It ruins the loot (which is probably all that diamond armor is good for anyway). :)

If you're concerned with loot you may wish to reconsider the choice to use a flamethrower. Unless your target is reliant on oxygen and is in a cave or similar, of course (as I understand, a lot of WWII loot was acquired in this fashion).

I'd say diamond/diamondoid shouldn't really be classified as flammable/combustible/whatever - it requires such high heat the armor is probably seriously damaged by the time it catches flame anyway. I did treat aramid and its successors as semi-ablative against Burn in the thread I linked earlier due to aramid's somewhat-low decomposition temperature (probably an overestimate of the effect; I included it mostly to explain why aramid and similar aren't used as armor for spacecraft, as they actually have better WM values than rigid materials of the same TL).

[Talonos]

This has all been very helpful discussion.

I understand diamond armor will not be as effective as high tech composites. I plan on using it for both the thematic aspects, and, yes, the havoc it will wreak on the economics of the campaign world when people start acquiring it from an unknown source... ;)

If it's such a good heat conductor, its flammability will not matter. Anybody wearing it will be roasted far before it catches on fire. Think this justifies partial DR against burning attacks?

I planned on making it semi-ablative, yes.

Thanks especially for Varyon. I'll check out that article as soon as I can.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Talonos

This has all been very helpful discussion.

I understand diamond armor will not be as effective as high tech composites.

Assuming diamond layers could be made easily, I would not be surprised to see it used as a component in composite armors -- a hard surface over a durable impact-absorbing underlayer has been common armor design for around a century and less common but known for a number of centuries.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Diamond scale or brigantine is going to ignite when doused in napalm, I think.

[armour pedant] A brigantine is a ship [/armour pedant]

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

[armour pedant] A brigantine is a ship [/armour pedant]

Yes, my phone is dumb and changed brigandine to brigantine. Sorry.

[gilbertocarlos]

Originally Posted by Talonos

I understand diamond armor will not be as effective as high tech composites. I plan on using it for both the thematic aspects, and, yes, the havoc it will wreak on the economics of the campaign world when people start acquiring it from an unknown source... ;)

If it's possible to make, it won't be so expensive, if anyone does manage to create, it'll shrink the price a lot.
Not to mention that if they plan to do it through magic, it will be very consuming or would be already common.

[Varyon]

I wonder how well diamond trauma plates would work out. One of the whole points of ceramic trauma plates is that they shatter, absorbing a huge amount of the bullet's energy in the process and thus preventing it from getting through the ballistic fiber.

As for diamond's heat conductivity, I don't think that necessarily means reduced DR against burn. First off, steel has pretty good conductivity, and it doesn't see any reduction. Secondly, diamond, like steel, is going to heat up the whole surface more evenly than a point source of heat, which is going to reduce its immediate wounding effects. Thirdly, any diamond armor is going to need some padding, which will serve as decent insulation.

Diamond is, however, a very good conductor of electricity, so treat it as though it were made of metal for such purposes.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Diamond is, however, a very good conductor of electricity, so treat it as though it were made of metal for such purposes.

Most diamonds are electrical insulators but extremely efficient thermal conductors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materia...ies_of_diamond

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Most diamonds are electrical insulators but extremely efficient thermal conductors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materia...ies_of_diamond

Huh. Looks like it's only a certain type of diamond that can function as a superconductor, and that only at extremely low temperatures. I sit corrected - diamond would defend against electrical attacks normally, or maybe even with a DR boost.