Body Armor

[Deleted]

So I'm sittin here chattin it up with Jules, thinkin about future missions, and the armor needed to sustain active combat infiltration, an be a total scifi badass. As I'm sure Roger knows, the Alliance armor used in the show is just the recycled armor from Starship Troopers, but the armor used in the movie serenity is far more incredible looking.

Unfortunately, trying to hunt down a pic dedicated to that particular armor is proving to be a real pain in the ass. But that is only the tip of this iceberg. The idea of armor may spawn directly from playing video games like ME2, and Army of Two, but it is one that I have had a lot of fun dreaming about while churning through ideas in my head. I hope that you both like the notion of armor for our characters to acquire, and then upgrade, and I do want it to be super awesome, but I also want to stay within the spirit of Serenity.

If we're honest about it, I think we can agree that Joss just used whatever he could get his hands on during the show, and the movie though the end, had a slightly higher budget. So on that note, how do we feel about armor in the spirit of the Firefly universe? Do we like the whole idea at all? I can think of two people back on The Verse who made use of special armors. And I think they will make our story pretty exciting now. I think they had a very ODST style going that we could mimic to keep it Fireflyesk, but still have our own unique style and customisation;

It certainly has the badass appeal that I want, and it is highly fireflyesk which is important to me, and for the greater use of the storyboards, people have cosplayed the f*(&*&* shit out of it, so there are a literal ton of pictures on the net that we could syphon to make headers and signatures and such.


This could also lead directly into the talk about guns, but the show had everything from futuristic lasers and uber-rifles, to epic compound-bows-of-death, to sawed off lever actions of the no-on-would-do-this variety. So I preeeeeety much say that if we can find a decently detailed pic of it, the weapons we want are pretty much a go.


Ya'lls thoughts?

[Jin Caron]

I like the idea of having armor for people! It only makes sense that it exists in the world, especially one with such rampant crime. But I think obtaining armor like the ones that the Spec Ops in Serenity or the ODSTs in Halo wear should be VERY difficult, requiring a LOT of maintenance, money and connections. I suppose crime lords could get their hands on armor that's a step down from what Alliance military has their hands on and those that have their own private ships/companies can get their hands on much lower quality armor.

Maybe have tiers of armor, within which you can customize to your liking? For example:

Tier 5 - Alliance armor, Generation X Carbon Nanosteel plating (Extremely valuable, accesible only to Alliance military)
Tier 4 - High grade armor, Generation VIII Draconis Steel plating (Highly valuable, accesible to Alliance military, rarely seen on black market)
Tier 3 - Medium grade armor, Generation V Amphorite Steel Plating (Valuable, accesible on black market, discontinued by Alliance military)
Tier 2 - Low grade armor, Generation II Reslin-Modernis Steel Plating (Uncommon, available for purchase legally with private security license, openly available on black market)
Tier 1 - Personal security armor, Generation I Torin-Black Ceramic Plating (Common, openly available for purchase)

Each tier has parts such as chestpieces, helmet, gauntlets, bracers, etc. And each piece can be customized to your needs (i.e. reduced plating to decrease weight, sacrificing protection for speed/agility or modified Reslin-Modernis Steel Plating, sacrificing speed/agility for more protection against higher caliber rounds)

I think a part of the reason that Whedon didn't go in-depth into the more action-y stuff like weapons and armor besides the lack of a budget to acquire such things for the show was because it would take away from the story. Imagine if the Firefly crew wore heavy armor? They would be more apt to get into firefights instead of being the characters that they are. Of course, that's my opinion. You do see them wear bulletproof vests though, which is what I'm thinking would be something along the lines of the Tier 1 ceramic armor.

And of course, there doesn't have to only be one line or armor, there could be different materials used in different tiers of armor made by different companies! But again, I don't think it would be wise to have too much emphasis or focus on the armors, though it would be a really cool addition, like if there is a huge forum-wide storyline that's about to lead to a huge firefight with a big crime lord or Alliance cruiser.

.... That'd be pretty freaking awesome.

[Vex]

From a military/RP standpoint, while there are certainly reasons to wear armor...more often than not, those reasons aren't sufficient for your average person to require the wearing of armor.

1. It's expensive.
2. It's bulky, slows movement, and takes training and acclimation to really be able to move effectively in. It's also a bitch to get in and out of vehicles with.
3. It's a stop-gap. The armor I use now doesn't stop everything, it can't. In 90% of cases, a person is going to be better served by being quick and utilizing available cover instead of carrying their cover on them. Remember, there are LASER weapons available too in the Firefly 'Verse. Ballistic protection isn't necessarily going to do any good against that type of attack. Conversely, anything that would protect against lasers isn't likely to do much against ballistic projectiles.
4. Highly controlled. Because, when it is used, it can provide an edge, there would be limitations and legal implications to trying to get armor.
5. I've come from a site where everyone can bring in their own custom armor. I think the headache of trying to standardize things, tiers, materials, etc, would be frustrating and provide little real value to the site.

[Roger Davis]

I understand the above points, but I don't think they're nearly as strong as you make them out to be. I wrote out this big reply but instead I'll leave it at this. I don't believe the intention of this thread was to start a trend of people constantly wearing armor for shits and giggles in everyday life. It would lay a framework for those situations where not wearing armor that you have available to you would be just plain dumb.

[Vex]

Oct 1, 2013 20:56:57 GMT -7 Roger Davis said:

I understand the above points, but I don't think they'e nearly as strong as you make them out to be. I wrote out this big reply but instead I'll leave it at this. I don't believe the intention of this thread was to start a trend of people constantly wearing armor for shits and giggles in everyday life. It would lay a framework for those situations where not wearing armor that you have available to you would be just plain dumb.

Which, unless I'm mistaken, fall into pretty much two categories: Reaver attacks and regular war. The former, well, if you've got time to gear up with armor, you should probably be trying to get away. The latter, well, from what we've seen, the browncoats didn't really use armor all that much. If they did, it's likely limited to flak jackets and the like...whatever they could put together.

It's something to consider and I understand your point, Roger. However, the people with the most access to such gear in the first place are the Alliance...and we don't have much in the way of them. Maybe if we dangle armor, they are more likely to come?