Re: (TFT) Ty's New TFT Campaign -- Swords 'n Space

[Thorn <edt@dopey.ne.mediaone.net>]

Ty Beard wrote:
> 
> > And since it's activated by the impact of things at bullet-
> > velocities, you have a pre-made reason why it doesn't stop
> > swords and thrown hatchets and whatnot.  This is a good thing
> > because you want the armor to be of relatively little use
> > against such attacks, however kevlar, spectra, and the like
> > actually do have considerable value against cutting weapons.

I had a 'skein-suit' tech in a game I once ran, where a suit was woven
with coils of some technomagical (meaning I don't want to have to
explain how it works) stuff, which hardened only locally, and only in
the instant before impact, and only in response to sufficient stress in
local electromagnetic fields.  So metal projectiles got stopped well,
non-metalics not at all (but there's another layer to handle those), and
melee weapons not so well.  Why not crank it up to stop everything that
comes close?  Because if you swing your arm to strike, or run past a
metal pole, the suit would trigger, and lock you up like you had
tetanus.


> I can't seem to get a consensus on that. I've heard that it's
> both effective and ineffective (from credible sources in bith
> cases) vs edged weapons. Do you have a source I can check?

Me.  :)  I've played with Kevlar, and being a gamer, had to judge it
against chain.  :)

Kevlar is very strong linearly.  It's hard to stretch, and harder to
break by stretching.  But it can be cut, in a surgical way, by a very
sharp blade.  That means _cut_, not hacked through.  Any edged weapon
that counts at all on its mass will just bind in the fibers, and act
like a club.  (Which is why you should wear padding underneath, if
you're expecting trouble.)

So Kevlar (and I'd guess Spectra) has a lot of value against what _we_
consider normal cutting weapons.  In a world where there's a lot of it,
though, 'normal cutting weapons' would change.  Remember to take that
into account.
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