Copyright (c) 1996 by Leroy Van Camp III Reflexive Woven Polymer (TL8) This is based on a three pararaph "blurb" from a science magazine I read about a year ago (I think it was Popular Sceince). Appearently the military was quite interested in it and was getting ready to fund the lab that came up with it. RWP is a material composed of extremely strong polymers that are woven into strands that are, in turn, woven and interconnected using small teflon spheres (the spheres have channels in them, turning at right angles within, through which the woven polymer threads run). RWP armour is made from a several layers of this material, with several interconnecting layers woven through those. Becasue of the weave of the polymer threads, and the weave of threads through the spheres, whenever pressure is applied to the surface of the material it behaves differently than normal materials. Instead of the threads stretching, they contract, as the pressure is redistributed. With enough layers to resist the pressure it can become nearly as strong as steel. Reflexive Woven Polymer armour is similar to Reflex armour (UT1E pg. 76), with the major exception being that it does not require any form of sensors. The drawback is its susceptibility to impaling attacks; they simply penentrate the weave. Another drawback to RWP is that to offer full protection the surface it rests on needs to have a certain amount of "give". Otherwise the force of impact is applied to "pinching" the polymer, allowing damage to go through. There is no "stretch" to be converted to contraction. This is usually solved by putting padding on the inside of pieces that will be worn on such areas, such as head pieces, or suits designed for robots. It is also less effective against energy weapons such as lasers or stunners, although most suits have other countermeasures against such attacks. RWP armour comes in a variety of types, as shown below... Civilain Suit It is hard to make RWP look like clothes; several layers are needed to be effective, and the material has a somewhat spongy, padded quality. Instead, most maneufacturers design suits that can be worn underneath normal clothing, and are skin-tight. The standard civialin model is thin enough not to be overt. Standard Suit The standard suit of RWP armour is commonly used by people who expect light action, or those who need moderate protection but still need the ability to conceal it, such as security, scouts light infantry and explorers. It is common amongst "spacers" since it can be worn underneath most space suits. Militairy Suits Miliatiry RWP armour is worn by heavy infantry soldiers and members of elite pliice and security forces, where concealabilioty and "decorum" are unnecesary. Most Impaling Attacks & Energy PD/DR PD/DR Weight Cos Civiilian TL8 2/10 1/5 8 $2,000 TL9 2/15 1/7 8 TL10+ 2/20 1/10 7 Standard TL8 3/20 1/7 12 $4,000 TL9 3/25 1/10 12 TL10+ 3/30 1/14 10 Militairy TL8 3/30 1/10 18 $8,000 TL9 3/35 1/14 18 TL10+ 3/40 1/20 15 These suits protect all areas except the head and hands. Gloves and head peices are available. Gloves provide the same PD but only half the DR. Head peices offer the same protection as full suits. Cost for both is one-tenth of the suit cost, with neglible weight. Reflexive Woven Polymer armour will be most widely used in campaigns where energy weapons are rare; it is most effective against physical projectiles or melee weapons. Redirective Optical Weave (TL8 This is based on a section of a show I saw on Discovery about six months ago. The show was about fiber optics, and the technology was introduced as a way to bring sunlight into building interiors, cutting down on lighting costs. Redirective Optical Weave (ROW) is actually quite a simple concept. It is a woven material made up of optical fibers that are coated with a film that lets light pass into the fiber, but not out of it. Similar to a one way mirror, with the reflective surface being on the inside of the fiber. When a laser strikes a sheet of ROW material the light enters the optical fiber, but cannot exit. Instead, it moves down the fiber, which contains tiny prisms about a millimeter apart which decollimate the light. By the time it comes to the end of the fiber and exits it is now simply bright, but harmless, light. Unlike Reflec armour, which is designed to turn the beam (an thus providing PD), ROW absorbs the energy, which gives a DR. It is possible for a strong beam to penetrate ROW, though. It is a weave, and some enrgy can get through this. Plus, if the laser is strong enough it can burn off the coating before entering the fiber. A layer of ROW weighs as much as a normal piece of clothing and grants a DR of 15. Multiple layers add their full DR together. Cost is five times normal. (By the time it is common technology ROW will be cheap to produce). In a world where ROW is common technology many suits of armour will have a layer built in, often at no extra charge, adding it's DR to the armour's DR against laser attacks. Note that ROW only protects against attacks that involve visible light. It doesn't work against x-ray lasers or infrared-based attacks, for example. A note on science and realism: On the show it pointed out that the coating on the fiber optic only worked for a particular frequency of light, and that other frequencies had no problem passing through, but that different coatings could be used too, layered upon the fiber. They said this was used to so certain wavelengths of light could be excluded from being piped into buildings, allowing for a certain level of "emotional engineering." (Appearently certain frequencies fo light are more conductive to certain emotion states). Instead of dealing with such hassles I said that ROW works against all frequencies, but a GM might wnat to fiddle with this.