Parachuting: modifiers for LALO and HALO jumps?

[Ragitsu]

Does anyone here know what modifiers to be assigned to a Parachuting roll where the character tries a Low Altitude Low Opening or High Altitude Low Opening jump?

[vicky_molokh]

Check out SpecOps.

[The Colonel]

Isn't LALO basically a static line jump?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Isn't LALO basically a static line jump?

But the lack of time for the parachute to decelerate you means that the landing is considerably more risky than a normal jump.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Icelander

But the lack of time for the parachute to decelerate you means that the landing is considerably more risky than a normal jump.

Indeed. I was under the impression that the main skill involved is landing without being injured - although there's limits to what you can achieve with that. HALO, HAHO and static jumping are all pretty different from one another from what I understand.

On a related note, didn't the Germans in WW2 use an ancestor of LALO - or at least drop much lower and faster than the Western Allies (and much lower than the Russians, who IIRC developed the air assault tactics everyone else improved on) - which was also why they dropped so lightly equipped...

[Þorkell]

There's a technique in SEALs in Vietnam called HAHO/HALO (p.16) which allows you to buy off the -5 penalty when using HAHO/HALO gear. Which to me strongly suggests that the penalty for HALO jumping is -5.

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Molokh

Check out SpecOps.

Unfortunately I do not have access to that supplement. Does anyone else have suggestions?

[Hannes665]

In Gurps SpecOps 3e, it says basically.

Each technique (HAHO, HALO and LALO) is a unfamiliarity at -5 per technique. It takes 50 hours in a military jump training to buy them away, each.

In Gurps Seals 4e, HAHO and HALO are treated as a Hard Technique, together one Technique, at -5 from the Parachuting skill. Upto Skill.

The main diffrence between 3e and 4e is that in 3e you dont have to spent points, just time. While in 4e you buy one Technique for HAHO and HALO while LALO does not get any mention, maybe because it is a static line jump, normal procedure for Paratroopers in WW2 and onward.

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Hannes665

In Gurps SpecOps 3e, it says basically.

Each technique (HAHO, HALO and LALO) is a unfamiliarity at -5 per technique. It takes 50 hours in a military jump training to buy them away, each.

In Gurps Seals 4e, HAHO and HALO are treated as a Hard Technique, together one Technique, at -5 from the Parachuting skill. Upto Skill.

The main diffrence between 3e and 4e is that in 3e you dont have to spent points, just time. While in 4e you buy one Technique for HAHO and HALO while LALO does not get any mention, maybe because it is a static line jump, normal procedure for Paratroopers in WW2 and onward.

You have my thanks, Hannes665. It would make sense then that most special forces (such as the aforementioned SEALs) types in the military have bought off the penalty to HALO jumps.

[Humabout]

From my extremely limited experience jumping and what I've heard around the DZ, most of the difficulty in HALO jumps is managing the 100-pound gunny sack between your legs. Aside from that, it's pretty similar to what civilian skydivers do, except exit altitude is higher and special gear (like oxygen and thermal undies) is required. Openning altitude is a bit low, but higher than what basejumpers are use to.

As for HAHO jumps, what exactly is the technique buying off? Ram-air parachutes are pretty easily handled, and with a GPS to tell you where to go, I'm not sure where the issue is. The landing itself seems like it'd be a pretty straight forward pattern. I'm sure you'd have to account for obstacles like any other jump, but I doubt they do much swooping.

And this raises another question: Does Parachuting cover the freefall portion of a skydive or just the use of the canopy itself? Would a freestyle skydiving require levels of Aerobatics or Freefall, too?