What is a Average Armour for TL9 Space Opera

[TheCrispyBit]

Yeah I've got both Ultra-Tech and Space. I am enjoying reading them, I specifically chose GURPS because I wanted to build my own world and Rules. I am just a little hazy on some of the basic techniques...thanks for the pointers on weapons etc. Some stuff does seem to do absurd amounts of damage, some armour seems to be almost invulnerable.

Do Any of you guys build a "Shop table" for your world/universe, I was think of doing this for my players. Ie a list of available equipment: to save them trawling through the books only to be told NO.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by TheCrispyBit

Do Any of you guys build a "Shop table" for your world/universe, I was think of doing this for my players. Ie a list of available equipment: to save them trawling through the books only to be told NO.

I've only played one ultra-tech GURPS campaign where we had any choice of our weapons and armour* and then we were Transhuman Space civilian diplomats, and were told clearly that heavy weapons were incompatible with our jobs. It amounts to much the same thing as a Shop Table if you just tell the players something like "TL9 weapons, no grenades, missiles or machine guns" before they start going through the book.

*In Reign of Steel, you take what you can steal. We got an SSBN at one point.

[Anthony]

The median armor for actual space opera is none, and where it's worn it's often of dubious value (I don't recall armor in Star Wars ever stopping any attacks). For ultra-tech games, people will wear whatever armor fits their standards of social acceptability, budget, and annoyance to wear.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by TheCrispyBit

Yeah I've got both Ultra-Tech and Space. I am enjoying reading them, I specifically chose GURPS because I wanted to build my own world and Rules. I am just a little hazy on some of the basic techniques...thanks for the pointers on weapons etc. Some stuff does seem to do absurd amounts of damage, some armour seems to be almost invulnerable.

Do Any of you guys build a "Shop table" for your world/universe, I was think of doing this for my players. Ie a list of available equipment: to save them trawling through the books only to be told NO.

First, UT does come with some pre-built-in limitations. For example, you could say "Any TL 9 non-super-science weapons," and that immediately removes disintegrators from the players' catalog.

But yes, I do recommend a "shop list," and I recommend it for a few reasons.

First of all, it helps you define the world. What are the standard technologies? Does everyone use little personal computers and AR contacts to sort of interact with a virtual world? Or is it a retrotech psuedo-medieval space opera were computers are only in the hands of the Clerisy? That's an important question and its answer will shape not only what the players can buy, but how the whole world works.

Second, Ultra Tech is less of a catalog and more of a build-you-own-device book. You should define not just what's available, but how it tends to be combined. Think in terms of doctrines and infrastructures. In my G-verse setting, for example, human power armor is typically standard Heavy Power Armor with excellent radar systems, a shoulder-mounted missile launcher and point defense systems, and usually armed with a heavy plasma or assault cannon. It's a weapon platform, primarily. The Quetzali, an alien race, prefer to use the scout version of the Heavy Power Armor, armed with shoulder-mounted machine guns and limpet mine dispensers, and armored with faceplates and a layer of reactive armor on the front, because their military doctrine puts their power armor in an assault role, forcing their opponent to react to a sudden and rapidly-moving presence that will flush it out for the snipers and those armed with heavier weapons.

Thus, the power armor in the book is just "generic." It's a starting point. You can and should layer gadgetry and modifications upon it, to help give your setting a very specific feel.

Third, when you combine the two above, you understand how the game will play. If players have access to powerful weapons and minimal armor, then combat is lethal, much like modern warfare. If, on the other hand, players have access to strong armor and stronger force fields that can be ablated, then you have a world where it takes quite a while to whittle someone's defenses down. You can shape gameplay with what devices you choose and which you do not.

Finally, as you say, building a catalog makes it far easier for players to arm themselves. I'd go further and suggest some common loadouts: Most soldiers come with X, most spies come with Y, most civilians have Z, etc.