Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

That was my hope.:)

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

Then you will be pleased with it. I went into the article expecting something different, but enjoyed what I got.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

You're right, at least, I back calculated with the +50% and got a correlation with the Low-tech equivalent. The only hiccup being the High-tech item; if it was heavier or lower DR or +1TL... Anyhoo, that would mean the UT heavy clamshell could be up to 50% heavier. Don't know when I'll get time to make anything useful from it but it's a start.
Edit: bah, humbug. Using Armor Design, a TL4 DR4 steel breastplate weighs 11.2lbs and costs $15,000? LowTech, it would be 12lb and $1,500. Am I doing something wrong?

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

DR4 strong steel armor covering the Chest region (a steel breastplate) is $5,300 and 9.7 lbs using the Armor Design rules, I believe.

In Low-Tech, DR 4 plate armor for the chest would cost $1,125 and weigh 9 lbs (take DR3 Light Plate and use the Heavy Plate rule to add +1 DR).

No idea why the massive difference in pricing.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

that is using Iron not steel.

page 17 of Low tech instant armor gives you the listing for using steel.

but yeah, the listing price is a little high.

I think it should be priced (Steel, Hardened) at around $200.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

Naw, it's Steel. It's just not Hardened Steel (the TL4 item in the Armor Design Rules that costs 5x as much as normal Steel).

Maybe, but the price for Hardened Steel in Low-Tech makes no sense (it shouldn't be a price multiplier if it always increases DR by 1 - it should add to price at most).

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

Why? You're replacing all the lower quality material in the armor with higher quality material. The price is not a game mechanic balance feature, it's price.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

Sure, that makes sense. The bit that doesn't make sense is that it's just +1 DR, and is always +1 DR. If you're replacing the material, the DR should be multiplied by some amount (the Armor Design article gives a multiplier of x1.16 or so).

If it's always +1 DR only, then it shouldn't be 'replacing the lower-quality material with higher-quality material'; it should be something like 'treating a thin section of the outer-edge of the material, but not impacting the rest of the material'. A straight addition would make more sense with the second type, since the amount of labor wouldn't change based on the amount of DR the thing already has.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

That's because 'hardened' is actually a surface treatment (it's not all hard steel, it's surface-hardened). Using TL 6+ methods it would be a percentage increase since you can basically make arbitrarily thick layers of hard over soft, but that may not have worked at TL 3, and I have no idea if hardening using low tech methods would be more difficult on thicker sheets.

Re: Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II
 

Right. This means that the price should depend upon surface area, not thickness - it should be an addition to price, not a multiplier.