Star Wars Stormtroopers in Real Armor [Ultratech]

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

Its also supposedly stun-resistant (probably at +2 HT against stun and shock weapons).

Having DR gives bonuses vs most stun weapons, so that's covered already.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Having DR gives bonuses vs most stun weapons, so that's covered already.

Well, there is that. I guess it depends on the level of detail you want. In lore, the black body glove disperses energy, making the troopers stun-resistant and helping reduce the lethality of glancing blaster hits.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Say, it isn't that bad!

Part of it is peoples' misunderstanding of what is happening. The jawa sandcrawler's treads got blown apart with precision shots between the treads; C3-PO and R2D2 were not targets of interest in the battle on Princess Leias' ship (meaning that both attackers and defenders were extremely accurate); the Millenium Falcon had a tracker on it, and so Darth Vader wanted Leia and company to *escape.

People strong in the Force (Leia, Luke, Han, and Obi-Wan) have at least subconscious precognition; note Obi-Wan deliberately choosing the exact right moments to move to avoid (stormtrooper) notice in the Death Star.

For that matter, the speeder chase on Endors' moon would require incredible reflexes to survive; both Luke (a Jedi, of sorts), and Leia (strong in the Force) survive. The stormtroopers do rather well, considering they're probably going ~200 mph through dense forest, but it's hard to compete with precognition, even if subconscious.

Also, Luke would have had no idea how to turn the helmets' integrated HUD on, and if I recall correctly, just slapped it onto his head and complained of the visibility. Han showed no such problems or complaints, and was an Imperial officer at one point.

* Both to track down the rebel base, and, perhaps, subconsciously.

Edit: Broken italic.

True, in the original trilogy the stormtroopers oscillate between 'inept cannon fodder' and 'reasonably effective elite troops'. Sometimes over the course of a single movie.

In ANH, for ex, the stormtroopers do a credible job of breaching Leia's ship, overrunning the defenders, and capture Leia fairly quickly. Only the fact that the Force is with R2-D2 enables the Death Star files to slip away. Later, we see that they wiped out the Jawa sandcrawler and did it in such a way that only a Jedi or other expert would realize that it was actually a false-flag.

But then we see Han Solo panic a whole platoon of them and chase them through the corridors all alone. Played for laughs.

The stormtroopers do a credible job of overrunning the Rebel HQ on Hoth, and handle that interminable speeder bike sequence well enough. But then they get owned by low-tech teddy bears.

(That sequence would have been more believable if Lucas had gone with the original plan of having the Ewoks be Wookies.)

But that's a side-effect of the fact that SW started out as a light-hearted, fun romp, a takeoff on the old movie serials from the 30s and 40s. Just like them, when it was more fun to play the enemy for laughs, they did. When they needed the enemy to be dangerous, they were.

Later, this immense would-be-serious structure was built atop the foundation of ANH and its light-hearted origins, and so you end up with elite feared stormtroopers who come across as a joke.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

(That sequence would have been more believable if Lucas had gone with the original plan of having the Ewoks be Wookies.)

...That's my new headcanon.

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

But that's a side-effect of the fact that SW started out as a light-hearted, fun romp, a takeoff on the old movie serials from the 30s and 40s. Just like them, when it was more fun to play the enemy for laughs, they did. When they needed the enemy to be dangerous, they were.

Later, this immense would-be-serious structure was built atop the foundation of ANH and its light-hearted origins, and so you end up with elite feared stormtroopers who come across as a joke.

True; ultimately, an entire massive edifice was built on top of a foundation that was never intended to hold it.

Also true that clashing themes are disfavoured in modern fiction.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

True, in the original trilogy the stormtroopers oscillate between 'inept cannon fodder' and 'reasonably effective elite troops'. Sometimes over the course of a single movie.

In ANH, for ex, the stormtroopers do a credible job of breaching Leia's ship, overrunning the defenders, and capture Leia fairly quickly. Only the fact that the Force is with R2-D2 enables the Death Star files to slip away. Later, we see that they wiped out the Jawa sandcrawler and did it in such a way that only a Jedi or other expert would realize that it was actually a false-flag.

But then we see Han Solo panic a whole platoon of them and chase them through the corridors all alone. Played for laughs.

The stormtroopers do a credible job of overrunning the Rebel HQ on Hoth, and handle that interminable speeder bike sequence well enough. But then they get owned by low-tech teddy bears.

(That sequence would have been more believable if Lucas had gone with the original plan of having the Ewoks be Wookies.)

Reading this I am wondering if their training is too rigid, so they deal with standard expected situations well, but are not good at improvising when things go wrong.

[AlexanderHowl]

In my mind, Imperial stormtroopers should be exceptional human specimens (even if they are less extraordinary than the original clone troops) because they are elite soldiers. For example:

Imperial Stormtrooper [200]

Selected from the best of the best of the volunteers from every human world with the Empire, you were indoctrinated with the principles of duty and intolerance that are the hallmark of the Empire. After two years of intensive training, you become an imperial stormtrooper, one of the most feared and respected members of the Imperial military machine. While the Emperor expects you to sacrifice your life at a moments notice, you have no doubts about the rightness of your cause. After becoming an imperial stormtrooper, you have imperial legal enforcement jurisdiction that allows you to ignore the civil rights of others and engage in covert investigations, as well as immunity from prosecution by local authorities (though you may suffer prosecution from imperial authorities if you act too aggressively).

Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 12 [20]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Fit [5]; Legal Enforcement Powers [15]; Legal Immunity [5]; Military Rank 1 [5]; Security Clearance 1 [5]; Social Regard 4 (Feared) [20]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]

Disadvantages: Duty (Extremely Hazardous; 15-) [-20]; Intolerance (Non-humans) [-10]

Skills: Beam Weapons/TL11 (Rifle) (E) DX+2 [4]-14; Gunner/TL11 (Beams) (E) DX+2 [4]-14; First Aid/TL11 (E) IQ+2 [4]-14; Hiking (A) HT [2]-12; Observation (A) Per [2]-12; Savoir-Faire (Military) IQ+2 [4]-14; Soldier/TL11 (A) IQ+2 [8]-14; Throwing (A) DX [2]-12

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

In my mind, Imperial stormtroopers should be exceptional human specimens (even if they are less extraordinary than the original clone troops) because they are elite soldiers. For example:

Imperial Stormtrooper [200]

Selected from the best of the best of the volunteers from every human world with the Empire, you were indoctrinated with the principles of duty and intolerance that are the hallmark of the Empire. After two years of intensive training, you become an imperial stormtrooper, one of the most feared and respected members of the Imperial military machine. While the Emperor expects you to sacrifice your life at a moments notice, you have no doubts about the rightness of your cause.

Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 12 [20]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Fit [5]; Legal Enforcement Powers [15]; Legal Immunity [5]; Military Rank 1 [5]; Security Clearance 1 [5]; Social Regard 4 (Feared) [20]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]

Disadvantages: Duty (Extremely Hazardous; 15-) [-20]; Intolerance (Non-humans) [-10]

Skills: Beam Weapons/TL11 (Rifle) (E) DX+2 [4]-14; Gunner/TL11 (Beams) (E) DX+2 [4]-14; First Aid/TL11 (E) IQ+2 [4]-14; Hiking (A) HT [2]-12; Observation (A) Per [2]-12; Savoir-Faire (Military) IQ+2 [4]-14; Soldier/TL11 (A) IQ+2 [8]-14; Throwing (A) DX [2]-12

Neither Legal Immunity nor Security Clearance make much sense (especially not Security Clearance). I can understand giving them things like Social Regard and Wealth even if I very much disagree with it since you seem to highballing them in general. But there's nothing at all to suggest those two.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

Reading this I am wondering if their training is too rigid, so they deal with standard expected situations well, but are not good at improvising when things go wrong.

That makes a lot of sense.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

Neither Legal Immunity nor Security Clearance make much sense (especially not Security Clearance). I can understand giving them things like Social Regard and Wealth even if I very much disagree with it since you seem to highballing them in general. But there's nothing at all to suggest those two.

They cannot be arrested by local authorities, so that is the lowest level form of Legal Immunity. Security Clearance 1 is probably appropriate for elite troops, as they would need some level of security clearance for their military duties.

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

They cannot be arrested by local authorities, so that is the lowest level form of Legal Immunity. Security Clearance 1 is probably appropriate for elite troops, as they would need some level of security clearance for their military duties.

We're going to just have to agree to disagree on Legal Immunity (I would say the same laws being enforced by a different authority isn't enough to justify it), but I think their Rank would cover any need for security clearance. The only classified information they'd ever be given is the amount needed to perform their specific, current mission and it would be very limited even then.