What's your favorite BattleDress?

[Magnus von Thornwood]

A few quick responses

Well, then you are boggled by some pretty common sci-fi. Star Trek relies on characters with skill and handguns being the dominant away team. Sure, there are some invincible walking tanks (such as the borg), but situational limitations or hero ingenuity circumvents that. Star Wars has the force, which is a pretty significant plot hammer, but is used by a total of five people in the holy trinity.

Yeah, handguns that straight up disintegrate people! Also, I seem to recall them using their high tech now and again, hell they used the Enterprise's phaser banks to stun an entire city block or so once, so unless we are counting the Gunnery skill of the crew that was a pretty high tech solution. As to the Star Wars no body is going to see movies about Yutz the Trader and his no Force having self. Just saying. Also, the survivability of the non-Force users can get pretty thin, how many pilots made it back from that Death Star attack and of those how many were Force users?

For the rest of the guys, people like Han Solo are heroes who get things done, and he has a blaster pistol and a cloth vest, and can lay down a dozen guys in armor suits.

First off, I understand lowest bidder, but seriously who builds that crappy Stormtrooper (and all the other armor too), I mean one shot and it's "Trooper Down! Call Graves Reg!". And for some of us old schoolers Mister Solo is a latent Force user, he got the lightsaber to work. :devil: Given the tech of that universe I will put a squad of Third Imperial BD Marines against the Galactic Imperial Stormtroopers any day. I got Cr 25 on Strephon's boys, gals and others.

In most other highly popular forms of scifi or space fantasy, if they have powersuits, robot bodies, or indestructible cyborgs, take great pains to give situations where they do not work, people cannot be in them, or else use them as isolated heroes or villian boss-fights.

This is not to say that this kind of combat isn't fun. Giving both sides +50 to all their rolls and enjoying the splatter is fine, in games where their individual qualities aren't important. However, when I first started playing Traveller (CT in the early 80s), there were two types of games. D&D (OD&D, Classic D&D, and 1E) had characters who were basically their combat stats, what fancy spells/magic items they had, and no skills. He who had more +s to damage, more hps, and more fireballs memorized won.

Yeah, I do wonder who builds that stuff that always breaks when you need it most. I blame Trope, Inc.!

And yes, giving them armies and watching their grand plans get shot to crap and them winning the battle they meant to lose and gain more territory and gain an elite unit that were to be the sacrificial lambs was all to much fun. Especially since all the die rolls were legit (in the open, he was using a TL-A+ C³I Command Carrier so he could do the Lt. Gorman though he kept his composure...mostly, he was rather livid when his SpecFor needed and were rescued by the "Sh!tbrickers" militia, the aforementioned sacrificial lambs) and the player made some of the best/worst ones. :rofl:

Traveller was the game of character skills and winning by being smart. Battle dress is such a game changer in that regard that it has always struck me as being a weird inclusion in the game that I always assumed that it existed solely as a plot hammer (no your party is not attacking the emperial guard, I'm putting them in battledress).

I think that much like you my first Traveller game colored my expectations of the game. To me Traveller is a game of Princes, not scruffy scouts and free traders scrabbling for gas money, but of movements of space navies and the great houses. I don't see Travellers as low power people, but people with great experience and power moving among the stars of the empire.

To me, yes, if you have BattleDress so do the other guys proably if they aren't fodder/spear carriers, this is balance.

Also, in the end I am a poor Citizen of the Imperium and thus playing another scruffy Citizen of the Imperium has no escapism for me, that is just another day at the office. I much prefer to play people who unlike me can affect the world they live in. So having a ship, troops (maybe even in BD) and high tech gizmos is part of the fun for me, what I don't get is the desire for playing hard luck adventurers when I am one (it sucks in real life and is far scarier, rather write about and game it than do it).

 

[infojunky]

What it says on the tin.

I prefer the Battledress of Book 1, before all the super suit crap started to be added to it.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Ah, hark The Old School!

I prefer the Battledress of Book 1, before all the super suit crap started to be added to it.

I seem recall that was a pretty basic powered armor with a combat ranged comm. And probably a laser rifle or Guass rifle, but it has been a very long time.

Funny thing is, I am torn between keeping the current T5 BD which is pretty serious my last read with all that Str x10 stuff and I really do want to tone it down to maybe Str x2 or x5 max, x10 just seems to out of whack for some reason says the dude who wants more ray guns.

Also, while I do dig Guass and LASER rifles I was never super keen on PGMPs and FGMPs once I read the actual data and they got into the rads and insane weight and recoil and suddenly the negatives started to outweigh the positives.

 

[Reban]

Funny thing is, I am torn between keeping the current T5 BD which is pretty serious my last read with all that Str x10 stuff and I really do want to tone it down to maybe Str x2 or x5 max, x10 just seems to out of whack for some reason says the dude who wants more ray guns.

Also, while I do dig Guass and LASER rifles I was never super keen on PGMPs and FGMPs once I read the actual data and they got into the rads and insane weight and recoil and suddenly the negatives started to outweigh the positives.

I have to agree with you on these two points Magnus.

The Strength modifiers are way out of the ball park for T5, turning anyone with Dress, Armour or a Unit into Supermen. I'll be advocating a change to that when the Makers get reviewed.

PGMPs and FGMPs have they're place in the armory but its not to equip every battledressed trooper. IIRC both are single shot and so would be no good for supressive fire. One or two per squad should be enough with other armed with Guass rifles (my preference is to add grenade launchers to these for anti-armor work). Never mind the rads, just because you're glowing the enemy won't keep his head down

 

[infojunky]

I seem recall that was a pretty basic powered armor with a combat ranged comm. And probably a laser rifle or Guass rifle, but it has been a very long time.

Laser Rifle, only in Book 1.

No Battledress skill, just VaccSuit -1.

 

[Kaeto]

For the lower tech level planets they use this.
Gun is a 30 mm machine cannon. And the armour does go boom with annoying regularity. There is even a rather rare hand gun that can penetrate that armour.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Ah, the anime entry.

For the lower tech level planets they use this.
Gun is a 30 mm machine cannon. And the armour does go boom with annoying regularity. There is even a rather rare hand gun that can penetrate that armour.

Armor Trooper Votoms if I have me mecha shows still properly cataloged. Never saw it, but had a vague familiarity with it. My fave was always Metal Skin Panic: Madox-01 and the original, accept no substitutes or redoes Bubblegum Crisis hardsuits

 

[Kaeto]

You are correct Magnus. I have the complete series on DVD, and a batch of the movies and off the shoot series on my computer.

 

[WistfulD]

I think that much like you my first Traveller game colored my expectations of the game. To me Traveller is a game of Princes, not scruffy scouts and free traders scrabbling for gas money, but of movements of space navies and the great houses. I don't see Travellers as low power people, but people with great experience and power moving among the stars of the empire.

Well I'm more than happy to end on a values judgement.

Yeah, handguns that straight up disintegrate people! Also, I seem to recall them using their high tech now and again, hell they used the Enterprise's phaser banks to stun an entire city block or so once, so unless we are counting the Gunnery skill of the crew that was a pretty high tech solution.

The only thing consistent about ST was the inconsistency. One week they would be saved by Kirk's ingenuity, the next technobabble, the next by the power of love. The difference is, he who had the biggest _____ couldn't assume that they would win, nor does the phaser make irrelevant the person who is in it.

As to the Star Wars no body is going to see movies about Yutz the Trader and his no Force having self.

It didn't do too well at the box office, but a 13 episode show + movie written by Joss Whedon involved Yutz the trader and his relatively powerless crew saving the day is pretty popular (yeah, yeah, River is psychic and killed a bunch of Reavers, but her power really just give her the secret that moves the story forward).

Just saying. Also, the survivability of the non-Force users can get pretty thin, how many pilots made it back from that Death Star attack and of those how many were Force users?

Of R2D2, Keyan Farlander (the Y-wing pilot), Luke, Wedge, Han, and Chewie, only Luke is a force user.

And for some of us old schoolers Mister Solo is a latent Force user, he got the lightsaber to work.

In the movies, there are 5 force users--Luke, Obi Wan, Yoda, Vader, and the Emperor. The concept of a latent force user is a concept that exists outside of the movies.

Yeah, I do wonder who builds that stuff that always breaks when you need it most. I blame Trope, Inc.!

 

[tucker2]

Favorite type? Whatever sort my PC can get hold of.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

For the win!

Favorite type? Whatever sort my PC can get hold of.

Well. You sir have won St. Timmii of the Power Gamers favor today! :devil:

 

[Kaeto]

But he has angered Murphy, so his armor never works.

 

[aramis]

But he has angered Murphy, so his armor never works.

No, it works just fine... until the hostile intent is present. THEN it locks up in the open....

Murphy was, by the way, an optimist.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

I use T5!

No, it works just fine... until the hostile intent is present. THEN it locks up in the open....

Murphy was, by the way, an optimist.

Only if it fails a Reliablity roll.

Also, the lack of Fighter skill or BattleDress knowledge can and will be used against you on the field of combat. :devil:


And last, but not least as the Thread starter I remind you I that asked, he answered and St. Timmii's Boon keeps Murphy at bay for its duration.

 

[DickNervous]

I was just recently playing around with the Mongoose Alien Modules and came across the Solomani one and decided to roll a character using it. When it came time to look through the new equipment I came across what has now become my favorite armor in the game, the SolSec Urban Battle Dress (TL14). Here is the description:

SolSec Urban Battle Dress (TL14)
This is an ultra-light battle dress suit used by SolSec paramilitary units and Solomani Army Commandoes. As the name suggests, it is optimised for city fighting.The ultra-light chassis make its no more bulky than ordinary combat armour, allowing the wearer to easily fitinto normal or even double-occupancy vehicular seating. This allows SolSec troopers to use civilian vehicles for cover purposes while approaching a target. It has no integral weapons but has extensive anti-detection systems that actively suppress sound, infrared emissions and even bend light round making it nearly silent and invisible. A retractable ‘rabbit ear’ sensor boom allows the suit to see around corners. Comms incorporate tight-beam maser systems, signal encryption and jamming countermeasures.

TL14, Str Mod: +2, Dex Mod: +4, Armor: 14, Speed (Walk/Run): 25/125, Duration: 18hrs, Cost: 1,721,700Cr

Other Equipment/Modifications
Basic Communicator (Dist. Range, Tightbeam, Encrypted), Basic Electronic Countermeasures, Computer/5, IR Camo (+2 DM to Stealth checks vs. heat-seeking or IR sensors), Looking Glass (+4 DM to Stealth checks), Med Pack, Sonic Suppressor (+2 DM to Stealth checks), Basic Sensors (Range Increase to Distant, Sensory Extensions, Enhanced Visual Sensors, Enhanced Audio Sensors).

My favorite part are the anti-detection items and the fact that it is not super-bulky. I imagine it to look a lot like the armor that Master Chief wears in Halo or something similar as compared to the stuff that makes someone look more like a hulking mech.

 

[Meeko100]

I was just recently playing around with the Mongoose Alien Modules and came across the Solomani one and decided to roll a character using it. When it came time to look through the new equipment I came across what has now become my favorite armor in the game, the SolSec Urban Battle Dress (TL14). Here is the description:



My favorite part are the anti-detection items and the fact that it is not super-bulky. I imagine it to look a lot like the armor that Master Chief wears in Halo or something similar as compared to the stuff that makes someone look more like a hulking mech.

That sounds neat.

I like it. It's low high power. A average trav character with a rifle stands a chance, but it definitely is strong.

I might nick that and file the cloaking device off, and have it be standard armor in my universe.

I imagine a SolSec Operative walking to a sting in that, hidden under jackets or a rain cloak.

 

[Spartan159]

-Looks out the window at the rain and sees cloaked nothingness heading this way- S**T the Feds! Out the hidden exit stat!

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Grrrrr says the Ref!

-Looks out the window at the rain and sees cloaked nothingness heading this way- S**T the Feds! Out the hidden exit stat!

Damn those Crit Suceeses!

 

[Meeko100]

-Looks out the window at the rain and sees cloaked nothingness heading this way- S**T the Feds! Out the hidden exit stat!

CASPER B****ES!

 

[ThunderChilde]

Maddox-01 was and is awesome. Some of the BD from Palladium Games RIFTS is usable and good. I confess to not being very familiar CT OTU BD, MGT's Darrian supplements BD is splendid, it covers a range of purposes, sizes and capabilities. That is my favourite MGT OTU BD.

The Maximum Metal supplement of CyberPunk 2020 is actually a cool supplement that thinks about things like heavies falling into basements etc.

Also cool is the BD from Dragonstar Rising and Living Steel, which I do believe is cribbed a bit in Maximum Metal. Favourite quote? "Don't shoot at the Power Armour, that just makes them walk over here and punch us."