Pyramid armor building rules for for other armors

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by hal

Does it matter how thick these armored Mats are overall?

The main realism problem is that 'single DR against all attacks' model isn't particularly valid; just because projectile A has 3x the penetration of projectile B in armor material C does not mean it also has 3x the penetration in armor material D. The reason you don't see super-thick kevlar mats isn't bulk, it's because they don't actually perform very well against rifle bullets.

[StevenH]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

In the US, at least, exterior walls are usually 3-8" thick (depending on location and building practices), framed with wood, and faced with some covering material on the outside (brick, stone, concrete panels, aluminium, etc) and drywall/sheetrock on the inside. The gap between the faces and framing studs is usually filled with insulating fiber. There's nothing stopping someone from using thicker studs to have wider gaps and then filling the extra space with armor plates, other than expense.


Interior walls usually don't have the insulation, so it's even easier to create a safe room by adding armored panels.


I'm pretty sure I've seen home improvement shows that detailed the construction of a safe room by adding kevlar panels.

So yeah, your approach seems pretty reasonable.

Just to add to your information, wall construction is usually 2x6 studs, 16" on center. On the exterior it sheathed in 1/2" plywood, on top of which is house paper and the siding material (or, sometimes, insulation then siding). Inside the bays is rockwool or fiberglass insulation, then drywall over the top on the interior. And in the higher end homes the interior walls can be insulated. For sound insulation, sometimes a second layer of drywall is used, separated by a thin air gap formed by drywall adhesive.

I only see 2x4 construction on attic floors (top level ceiling) attic trusses, or in manufactured homes. Sometimes I will see 24" on center in garage construction or in the walls of older homes.

I've heard of, but haven't yet seen, of double stud walls. This is where 2x4s are used instead of 2x6s, on a 2x6 sill plate. The 2x4s are alternately offset, so both sides of the studs never go all the way from one side of the wall to the other, reducing heat loss and sound propagation. The wall is still 6" thick, but insulation fills the now-contiguous gap.

As one of the "paranoid" players in Hal's cyberpunk adventure, the thought originally was to install blast mats between the interior of the studs and the drywall. Something with the same basic functionality as https://www.tmi2001.com/products/blasting-mats/ although thinner, lighter, and likely much less DR. But since they are primarily for shrapnel containment, that would be fine. As most explosive projectiles are shaped charges, no "home improvement armor" will stop those.

The idea was that if someone used an RPG on the house, they might blow through the wall, but the damage to the inhabitants would be reduced to hopefully non-lethal levels and at least keep the damage localized. And, in case of drive by shootings, we'd have some protection (DR 16 at the moment, not including 6" of wood where the 16" OC studs are). Enough to reduce small arms fire to hopefully non-lethal levels under most circumstances.

The danger, is, of course that as soon as the house is armored, there will be incentive to now have a shoot out at the residence. If the house has a stat block, it will be used. When you go down the rabbit hole of "what kinds of things does my character have at home" and actually write it onto the character sheet, you really have to understand that a good GM will use it in game. So it's my fault, really, that I will, at some point, be forced to watch my house go up in flames, simply because the detail is there to use. In a sense, my house is now a Dependent. (Can of worms opened!)

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by StevenH

As one of the "paranoid" players in Hal's cyberpunk adventure, the thought originally was to install blast mats between the interior of the studs and the drywall. Something with the same basic functionality as https://www.tmi2001.com/products/blasting-mats/ although thinner, lighter, and likely much less DR. But since they are primarily for shrapnel containment, that would be fine. As most explosive projectiles are shaped charges, no "home improvement armor" will stop those.

Ok why not build extremely inexpensive on first floor and trap it up (combination shoot house/mousetrap) and put everything important/useful/valuable in basement level(s)?

Unless they bring a howitzer or a large mortar to the party everything should be hunky-dory.

Public Service Announcement: Always have at least one escape route (in this example a tunnel would be best).

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Ok why not build extremely inexpensive on first floor and trap it up (combination shoot house/mousetrap) and put everything important/useful/valuable in basement level(s)?

Unless they bring a howitzer or a large mortar to the party everything should be hunky-dory.

Public Service Announcement: Always have at least one escape route (in this example a tunnel would be best).

It's a cyberdystopia; basements may not be an option, and the exit of an escape route may well be found in short order.

Also, a trapped entrance is problematic for actually using it, as you have to disarm it every time you come in (and hostiles may be able to use the same disarming method), and you really don't want to get claymore'd just because you came home drunk one day and forgot about the traps. There's a darkly-humorous prepper cache in Far Cry: New Dawn, where you need to solve a puzzle to get in, and messing up gets you flamethrower'd, but in the process of finding out the solution to the puzzle, you can find some written exchanges between the bunker's designer and another person, with the other person complaining about the hoops he has to jump through to get in. When you actually get into the bunker, there's an audio log from the designer, revealing one day she returned to the bunker only to find the burned-up corpse of the friend she was arguing with; she has basically abandoned the cache as she can't stand being near where he died.
That said, in a cyberpunk setting, you could probably set a conditional reminder so that whenever you go to enter your house (or that of a paranoid friend), a warning pops up in your HUD that tells you to remember to disarm the traps (and lets you access the directions to do so, in case you forgot).

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by Varyon

That said, in a cyberpunk setting, you could probably set a conditional reminder so that whenever you go to enter your house (or that of a paranoid friend), a warning pops up in your HUD that tells you to remember to disarm the traps (and lets you access the directions to do so, in case you forgot).

Also it is a perfect use of the SOP perk!

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by StevenH

Just to add to your information, wall construction is usually 2x6 studs, 16" on center. On the exterior it sheathed in 1/2" plywood, on top of which is house paper and the siding material (or, sometimes, insulation then siding). Inside the bays is rockwool or fiberglass insulation, then drywall over the top on the interior. And in the higher end homes the interior walls can be insulated. For sound insulation, sometimes a second layer of drywall is used, separated by a thin air gap formed by drywall adhesive.

I only see 2x4 construction on attic floors (top level ceiling) attic trusses, or in manufactured homes. Sometimes I will see 24" on center in garage construction or in the walls of older homes.

This is probably a regional thing. In my area, 2x6 construction is rare to the point of being an oddity. 2x4, 16 inch is pretty much universal.