[UT] Wearable Point-Defense!

Seneschal · 09-28-2013, 09:30 AM

I have a sci-fi campaign-in-the-making, and I wanted to introduce a way for combatants to survive sustained fire, at least for a few seconds. I'd rather avoid having space opera "shields." The campaign does already have some superscience, but I'd like to keep the handwavium in the background (e.g., for space travel) and not in every combat scene.

One alternative to force shields would be active defense systems, (in the same vein as this), except with high-TL miniaturization taken to its extreme, enabling them to be strapped onto a person, target incoming projectiles, and destroy them.

I wanted to ask for the forumites' advice on the actual capabilities of real-life active defense systems - how fast do they work, what do they do well against, what would fool them, etc. Moreover, I hope to have it be effective even against small arms fire. What would work best to intercept, say, a .50 round in mid-air at about 10 m? Also, what game mechanic would you use for such a system? A computer rolling a Parry? A bonus to Dodge? Just plain DR (or rapidly recharging ablative DR to represent a laser with a limited capacitor)?

This is a general first draft I came up with. It's going to change if anyone comes up with something better:

Wearable Laser Defense System (TL 11)
A distributed system (power generator & computer on the back, radar on the belt, lasers on the shoulders, hips and knees). Total weight 3.5 lb.; Total cost $40,000.

Fast small computer (Complexity 8, 10 exabytes storage). 0.5 lb.; $2000.
Software: +2 to Electronics Operation (Sensors). Complexity 7; $100.
Software: +2 to Gunner (Beams). Complexity 4; $15.
Software: ×6 NAI-6 (DX 10, IQ 10; Gunner (Beams)-14, Electronics Operation (Sensors)-12). Complexity 7; $3,000 each (this could probably be lowered if the AI is just a dedicated program, but there is no mechanic for that as far as I know).
Small tactical low-probability intercept terahertz radar (range 250 m, usually toned down to 25m, possibly tuneable), 1 lb., $10,000. It would reveal the wearer's location and paint him as a target for radar-homing missiles, so the system is only powered up once the shooting starts. Can track up to 10 targets at once. Also acts as a Near Miss Indicator, even for intercepted shots.
×6 Small Laser Emitter (4d pi, Acc 21, Range 15/-, RoF 3, Weight 0.25, MinST 2M, 500 Joules per shot), created using lwcamp's pulse laser page. Slaved to the radar. $120 each
Power Pack (enough for 2000 shots), 0.5 lb., $40.

The above is just for reference - the actual point-defense would be abstracted into a Parry (Gunner) power defense that, if successful, provides up to 250 fully-hardened ablative DR [that's calculated by 4 (damage die) × 3 (RoF) × 6 (laser amount) × 3.5 (average roll) = 252] against a maximum of 10 attacks per turn. It doesn't stop lasers, particle beams, or SEFOP rounds which explode outside of the radar's range (though I have no idea what effect a laser would have on a jet of molten metal).

09-28-2013, 09:30 AM	#1
Seneschal Join Date: Jul 2009	[UT] Wearable Point-Defense! I have a sci-fi campaign-in-the-making, and I wanted to introduce a way for combatants to survive sustained fire, at least for a few seconds. I'd rather avoid having space opera "shields." The campaign does already have some superscience, but I'd like to keep the handwavium in the background (e.g., for space travel) and not in every combat scene. One alternative to force shields would be active defense systems, (in the same vein as this), except with high-TL miniaturization taken to its extreme, enabling them to be strapped onto a person, target incoming projectiles, and destroy them. I wanted to ask for the forumites' advice on the actual capabilities of real-life active defense systems - how fast do they work, what do they do well against, what would fool them, etc. Moreover, I hope to have it be effective even against small arms fire. What would work best to intercept, say, a .50 round in mid-air at about 10 m? Also, what game mechanic would you use for such a system? A computer rolling a Parry? A bonus to Dodge? Just plain DR (or rapidly recharging ablative DR to represent a laser with a limited capacitor)? This is a general first draft I came up with. It's going to change if anyone comes up with something better: Wearable Laser Defense System (TL 11) A distributed system (power generator & computer on the back, radar on the belt, lasers on the shoulders, hips and knees). Total weight 3.5 lb.; Total cost $40,000. Fast small computer (Complexity 8, 10 exabytes storage). 0.5 lb.; $2000. Software: +2 to Electronics Operation (Sensors). Complexity 7; $100. Software: +2 to Gunner (Beams). Complexity 4; $15. Software: ×6 NAI-6 (DX 10, IQ 10; Gunner (Beams)-14, Electronics Operation (Sensors)-12). Complexity 7; $3,000 each (this could probably be lowered if the AI is just a dedicated program, but there is no mechanic for that as far as I know). Small tactical low-probability intercept terahertz radar (range 250 m, usually toned down to 25m, possibly tuneable), 1 lb., $10,000. It would reveal the wearer's location and paint him as a target for radar-homing missiles, so the system is only powered up once the shooting starts. Can track up to 10 targets at once. Also acts as a Near Miss Indicator, even for intercepted shots. ×6 Small Laser Emitter (4d pi, Acc 21, Range 15/-, RoF 3, Weight 0.25, MinST 2M, 500 Joules per shot), created using lwcamp's pulse laser page. Slaved to the radar. $120 each Power Pack (enough for 2000 shots), 0.5 lb., $40. The above is just for reference - the actual point-defense would be abstracted into a Parry (Gunner) power defense that, if successful, provides up to 250 fully-hardened ablative DR [that's calculated by 4 (damage die) × 3 (RoF) × 6 (laser amount) × 3.5 (average roll) = 252] against a maximum of 10 attacks per turn. It doesn't stop lasers, particle beams, or SEFOP rounds which explode outside of the radar's range (though I have no idea what effect a laser would have on a jet of molten metal).