Obsidian Scale Armor

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

I've seen those stats; assuming all stones weigh the same and have the same DR is not exactly "good."

You're enhancing the obsidian with magic, so base DR probably doesn't matter that much. That said, you could probably follow the same guidelines as Leather of Quality and Hardened Steel - +1 DR for a good hard stone (like obsidian).

Pyramid #3.52 has the rules you'd need to custom-make this armor. As a teaser, a DR3 obsidian scale breastplate (that is, front chest only) made for a 210 lb SM 0 human would weigh around 9 lb and have a base cost of $90 (you'll need to figure out the right CF for obsidian; +4 is fair, but may or may not be realistic).

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Anybody know what 1lb of obsidian costs in GURPS $, though?

If you want modern prices, obsidian can be purchased from retail suppliers. Google for flintknapping supplies.

Alternatively, if the character lives anywhere near a volcano, including extinct ones, he can get as much obsidian he can carry for free. Back when I was doing my undergraduate work in the San Francisco Bay Area, some friends and I would head up to Napa and Sonoma for the occasional weekend. Often, we'd pull over to the side of the road and fill a box with chunks of the stuff, which was just sticking up out of the ground here and there.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Varyon

You're enhancing the obsidian with magic, so base DR probably doesn't matter that much. That said, you could probably follow the same guidelines as Leather of Quality and Hardened Steel - +1 DR for a good hard stone (like obsidian).

Pyramid #3.52 has the rules you'd need to custom-make this armor. As a teaser, a DR3 obsidian scale breastplate (that is, front chest only) made for a 210 lb SM 0 human would weigh around 9 lb and have a base cost of $90 (you'll need to figure out the right CF for obsidian; +4 is fair, but may or may not be realistic).

Full set of scale armor, but 9lbs for the chest is actually a bit lighter than I expected. I guess the magic can take the DR above 3.

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

If you want modern prices, obsidian can be purchased from retail suppliers. Google for flintknapping supplies.

Alternatively, if the character lives anywhere near a volcano, including extinct ones, he can get as much obsidian he can carry for free. Back when I was doing my undergraduate work in the San Francisco Bay Area, some friends and I would head up to Napa and Sonoma for the occasional weekend. Often, we'd pull over to the side of the road and fill a box with chunks of the stuff, which was just sticking up out of the ground here and there.

Oh, real world dollars are easy to find; it's the translation to GURPS dollars that I'd like to know, just to record things properly.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Full set of scale armor, but 9lbs for the chest is actually a bit lighter than I expected.

All depends on coverage and thickness. 2mm thick obsidian plates would be about 5 kg/m^2, figure the chest (excluding abdomen) is is 0.45m^2, for a mass if 2.25 kg or 5 lb. That's the mass of the obsidian, there's additional for the backing materials. I suspect the stone armor being suggested is thicker than 2mm, though that would be quite thick for metal scales.

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Oh, real world dollars are easy to find; it's the translation to GURPS dollars that I'd like to know, just to record things properly.

In theory, a G$ is about a Y2000 dollar; based on CPI, that means it's about $1.35 in Y2013.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Full set of scale armor, but 9lbs for the chest is actually a bit lighter than I expected. I guess the magic can take the DR above 3.

You could probably extrapolate the weight for a full set from what I gave (although it'll be a bit high, 9 lbs being from rounding up). You can make the armor with a higher DR than 3 (what I've shown is the minimum, which is DR 2 with +1 for Stone of Quality), but for that you'll need Pyramid #3.52.
The highest that article allows for Stone is 5, or 6 for our obsidian.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Anthony

In theory, a G$ is about a Y2000 dollar; based on CPI, that means it's about $1.35 in Y2013.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Varyon

You could probably extrapolate the weight for a full set from what I gave (although it'll be a bit high, 9 lbs being from rounding up). You can make the armor with a higher DR than 3 (what I've shown is the minimum, which is DR 2 with +1 for Stone of Quality), but for that you'll need Pyramid #3.52.
The highest that article allows for Stone is 5, or 6 for our obsidian.

Ugh, Pyramid is always trying to raid my pay check :P

[DanHoward]

The Chinese used a wierd lamellar construction with metal wires to make their funerary armour. If you don't want half the plates to crack and fall off when you are trying to assemble the armour and even more to fall of when you first put it on, you will want them to be a lot thicker than 2mm. The Chinese examples are closer to 5mm thick. The stats in Low-Tech assumed 5mm thickness but the DR also took into account the fragile nature of the construction, not just the plate thickness. I wouldn't allow it at all unless you use armour damage rules. It isn't a very practical armour. I included it for completeness and because of the magical qualities of jade in some RPGs. No stone should get a DR bonus because there are only a few types that would be suitable in the first place. Any other type of stone would get a penalty.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

The Chinese used a wierd lamellar construction with metal wires to make their funerary armour. If you don't want half the plates to crack and fall off when you are trying to assemble the armour and even more to fall of when you first put it on, you will want them to be a lot thicker than 2mm. The Chinese examples are closer to 5mm thick. The stats in Low-Tech assumed 5mm thickness but the DR also took into account the fragile nature of the construction, not just the plate thickness. I wouldn't allow it at all unless you use armour damage rules. It isn't a very practical armour. I included it for completeness and because of the magical qualities of jade in some RPGs. No stone should get a DR bonus because there are only a few types that would be suitable in the first place. Any other type of stone would get a penalty.

The whole "magic is being done" thing is specifically to make it go from "horribly impractical, but cool looking" to "oh, hey, cool looking AND it works!"

[DanHoward]

In that case the obsidian is just a cosmetic effect and you don't need real stats for it.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

The whole "magic is being done" thing is specifically to make it go from "horribly impractical, but cool looking" to "oh, hey, cool looking AND it works!"

Yeah, but at that point the realistic stats for obsidian are essentially irrelevant.