Quick question about shields

[Picaboo]

Hello,

I have just read through the Icar RPG and I must congratulate you on a job well done. The setting is rich but malleable enough for your own campaign and the rules are just the right balance between complexity and playability. I hate rules-lite system.

Alright, the only big problem I have at the present moment is with personal shields. As I understand the rules, you can buy a personal shield for 1800 that will have an AR or 100 and can absorb 2000 HP per turn. With the 1/10th rule, that means you can absorb 20 000 HP per turn if nobody has an energy weapon to aim at you. That makes you almost impervious to all weapons and renders the use of armor obsolete. I understand that energy weapons are rare and can bring down a shield in one hit but it still seem broken.

Did I understand the rules correctly?

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work

[Rob Lang]

Hello and welcome.

You've got it correct. Shields are as rare as energy weapons. If you turn up to a fight with a shield, someone is going to be shooting an energy weapon at you. In the same way, if you have bionics and you're fighting a human, one hit on the human may kill them.

[Dwain]

I read this rule recently (I've just started playing Icar again), I didn't like the numbers I just don't feel shields should take 1/10 damage. Fully auto an astraripper 2e only does 8k a turn, a Korg 14k, neither of this would take down the personally shield in this instance. Even a Papex only does 18k a turn. Personal shields with these rules just seem a bit too good.

[Rob Lang]

Dwain! Welcome. Old school players represent! Thanks for the feedback, it's good to get an old pair of eyes have a fresh look.

Yep, shields are really good, which is why they are rare. IF you can get hold of them, they are brilliant. And they should be because Icar is lethal. They are also quite expensive (compared to everything else). What I imagine personal shields do is give the shielded person a couple of turns to get into cover. They aren't flicker shields, so you can't fire out of them, you can only run away.

The next campaign I'm running after troopers will be a "lower level" (but not Streetpunk low level) one. We'll give them a good test in that one because there will be enough cash in the economy to make it an option.

[Dwain]

We're going to have a chat about this tonight I've got a bee in me bonnet.

[Rob Lang]

For those following this, Dwain posed an excellent, fact-based point and I'll be updating the shield capacities for the next version!

Thank mate.