RULES QUESTION: Vac Suit armor factors

[Hyphen]

Dear Folks -

OK, riddle me this, Batman:

Different types of vacc suits first showed up in _Grand Survey_. The description says this:

"At the higher tech levels, the suits provide improved armor protection."

Here are the stats:

General Purpose Vacc Suits
TL Armor
8 cloth+1 *==* I added this entry; can't remember where from, tho'!
9 cloth
10 "
11 "
12 cloth-1
13 "
14 cloth-2
15 "

Tailored Vacc Suits
14 cloth-2
15 "

Hostile Environ Vacc Suits
8 cloth-1
9 cloth-2
12 cbt armor+2
13 cbt armor+1
14 cbt armor

In the _MT Players' Manual_, here's part of the Personal Armor Table (p 74):

Type Value
Cloth 5
Vacc Suit-8 5
Vacc Suit-12 6
Vacc Suit-14 7
HEVS-8 6
HEVS-9 7
HEVS-12 8
HEVS-13 9
HEVS-14 10
Cbt armor-11 8
Cbt armor-12 10
Cbt armor-14 18

Here's part of the armor table from the T20 Handbook (p 207):

Armor Rating TL
Medium Armor
Cloth 6 6
Vac Suit
Cbt armor 7 11
Cbt armor 7 12
Cbt armor 8 14
HEVS 5 12
HEVS 7 14
Vac suit 4 9
Vac suit 3 12
Vac suit 2 14

OK, here's my questions.

Question 1: in the original rules, am I correct in thinking that "cloth-2" means "two points BETTER than cloth"?

Question 2: are the T20 rules incorrect when they show the armor class DECREASING for higher-tech vac suits?

 

[mike wightman]

Yes, cloth-2 is better than cloth.

It provides an additional -2DM to be hit, so it is better.

The T20 vacc suits do provide better max Dex bonus and skill check penalties, but even so I think the AR should either remain at 4, or get a little better as you advance in TL.

 

[Crashlogic]

The answer to number 2 is no. Higher tech level vaccusits are made of better, lighter, and more flexible mateials that provide equal pressure retention against the vaacuum. Early Vac suits are bulky and protective because of the bulk. But really at high tech level a vac suit is not armour, its just a vacsuit.

At TL 14 if you are going into combat, chances are you would wear deadicated armour and not rely on a vac suit for protection.

 

[mike wightman]

In just about every other version of Traveller the higher TL vacc suits get lighter etc. and offer greater armour protection.
T20 appears to be the odd one out...

 

[Hyphen]

Dear Folks -

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
In just about every other version of Traveller the higher TL vacc suits get lighter etc. and offer greater armour protection.
T20 appears to be the odd one out...

My point exactly. When I created some conversion rules for playing Trav using AD&D 2nd Edition rules, I gave the high-TL suits better AC's.

See this page: Traveller as AD&D

 

[archhealer]

It seems to me that at higher TLs, if you're going for armor/protection in a vaccuum, you'd lean toward combat armor.

However, it'd also make sense to have even the lightweight, flexible vac suits as rugged as possible. I mean, you wouldn't want them getting torn, so you'd make them pretty tough, and that's easier at higher TLs, right?