General Sword and Planet - Dune like combat but without personal shields

[mike wightman]

Firearms are banned in the UK.

It's amazing that criminals and terrorists still shoot people.

 

[Daidoji Dave]

Post-apocalypse wasteland still infested by nanites that attack high tech weapons. Perhaps they come in visible dustclouds as an occasional hazard, rather than being omnipresent. If you really want lasers disincentivized the nanites attack everything around a laser as well, including the wielder, but leave that out if you're leaving lasers in.

 

[Ildefonse]

If you're using psionics in your setting there could be the psionic equivalent of the Holtzman field: all sentients have it, and so higher-tech projectile weapons were never invented. Depends on how science fantasy the setting is.

 

[kilemall]

A cultural bias against guns could result in LL7 too, if the environment requires shelter and guns are likely to puncture the wall/hull. Works for station culture too.

You can tech up the swords too with advanced materials, powered assists, etc. One of my faves is doubling the size and material cutting capability for melee weapons for battle dress.

 

[Condottiere]

FOR THE WIN!

 

[aramis]

If armour blocks firearms and lasers, it probably blocks swords better, otherwise people would just invent guns that fired sword blades. I think it won't be easy to go around a field effect to block high-velocity attacks but allow the slow blade. It might not look like an energy shield - The Forever War might help.

The Dune Shields react more strongly per projectile energy... the resistance is exponential to the speed of the item.
... but go nuclear when hit by lasers.
This makes Dune's shield not just a "No guns hurt you"... but make the use of lasers at damaging strength suicidal.
The only reason Dune has lots of dueling is because anything else between nobles is ineffectual or suicidal.

 

[Condottiere]

Get a a fanatic within range with a laser.

Seems an obvious loophole.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Didn't someone use it as a bomb? remotely set the laser to trigger the shield?

 

[Starglim]

Get a a fanatic within range with a laser.

Seems an obvious loophole.

This happened in Dune Messiah IIRC. Paul's security sliced up the attacker before he could take a shot. I could well have details wrong.

 

[Condottiere]

Get two fanatics, one with a shield, and the other with a laser.

 

[atpollard]

Traveller is a 2d6 game mechanic, which is sensitive to modifiers. In your DUNE-alternate Traveller-verse, armor could simply offer a -4 to hit penalty on ranged weapons over melee weapons because of [technobabble handwavium]. That will make melee weapon combat the preferred attack method.

[completely bulletproof or laser proof armor is not needed]

 

[kilemall]

Maybe something like COD kinetic armor.

Kinetic Armor

For similar topics, see Armor. The Kinetic Armor is a Specialist Ability featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops III and an Operator Skill in Call of Duty: Mobile. "Reactive armor that deflects enemy bullets away from the body. Still vulnerable to headshots and non-bullet damage while active." —...

callofduty.fandom.com

Or armor that reacts to incoming force by using that energy to harden, but is just gooey rubber against blades.

In my buildout of a whole lot of armor types for CT Striker, I have Kevlar type cloth armor which has a weapon protection value but a lower one for melee weapons. A similar distinction exists for reflec against lasers and everything else.

 

[BwapTED]

I'd set the Law level at 7 and the TL at 1. Give the world a type D government. The religious militia of the planetary theocrat directly controls the starport and enjoys a monopoly on off-world guns and other high-tech gear. Most locals regard boomsticks, flyers, and other such things as magical or miraculous.

 

[Condottiere]

Always be on the way to baseball practice.

Or golf.

 

[willtron3030]

Always be on the way to baseball practice.

Or golf.

Hockey is practically a martial art.

 

[Condottiere]

Canadian kendo.

 

[aramis]

Traveller is a 2d6 game mechanic, which is sensitive to modifiers. In your DUNE-alternate Traveller-verse, armor could simply offer a -4 to hit penalty on ranged weapons over melee weapons because of [technobabble handwavium]. That will make melee weapon combat the preferred attack method.

[completely bulletproof or laser proof armor is not needed]

Essentially, the Dune shields are not a -4, but an automatic miss for anything faster than a musket's ball... They are usually full coverage 360°×180° block.
At higher power levels, they even cause asphyxiation...

 

[willtron3030]

Essentially, the Dune shields are not a -4, but an automatic miss for anything faster than a musket's ball... They are usually full coverage 360°×180° block.
At higher power levels, they even cause asphyxiation...

I hadn't thought about the "Maxwell's demon" part. If the barrier deters fast moving molecules in both directions, the wearer has to deal with heat build-up; if the effect is only one-way, they'll need to dress warmly.

 

[Lautenschlaeger]

Would it help to tweak this at the other end? Rather than nerfing projectiles hitting people, nerf people firing projectiles? Like, if you accelerate something really hard, <handwave>, and then your brains come out your ears? And things explode?