Full Version: Parachuting
"Don't worry. Unless you've got a really high Pistols skill, devote all your combat pool to it, call a shot to the head, and roll really well, it's totally impossible to seriously injure yourself with a 9mm handgun! Go on, Jimmy, play with it all you want to!"
Hmm... so what kinda super-duper adept/cyber/insane abilities would you need to jump out of an aircraft and do the "no parachute land on both feet and don't roll" thing that Captain America occasionally does?
-karma
-karma
Knack: Levitate
yep.
captain america does that? christ. he's supposed to be just the human maximum.
captain america does that? christ. he's supposed to be just the human maximum.
Some really ridiculous applications (like space capsules) have used multiple chutes. The first one slows you down enough to open the second one which slows you down enough not to go splat when you hit the water.
Probably not necessary with any kind of human jump, given the relatively low terminal velocity of a human without a parachute.
Probably not necessary with any kind of human jump, given the relatively low terminal velocity of a human without a parachute.
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno) |
| Hmm... so what kinda super-duper adept/cyber/insane abilities would you need to jump out of an aircraft and do the "no parachute land on both feet and don't roll" thing that Captain America occasionally does? -karma |
IIRC, when Captain America does that, he's generally landing with his feet on his Adamantium/Vibranium alloy shield which miraculously absorbs any impact which would otherwise injure/kill/obliterate him, while not absorbing any impact from the shield hitting an enemy. It's the magic of the ultimate plot device.
And yes, I did read a lot of comics in my younger days.
| QUOTE (mfb @ Dec 10 2004, 05:03 PM) |
| i'm, uh, not sure it's wise to direct someone to an SR sourcebook when they're looking for answers to real-world questions. even if the sb has the right answer this time, it probably won't next time. |
Well, I have no idea how they work, so the sourcebook is what I'm currently going off of. I'll go and do some searching and post some links.
Did some digging, BASE jumping is about the best comparison to the LALO parachutes described in CC. While HALO specific parachutes do exist.
It does say how base jumpers rarely hit terminal velocity, and have a much shorter timespan in which their chute can open. HALO Chutes seem to commonly feature an oxygen tank and facemask if jumping is done at altitudes higher than comfortable breathing. Also, HALO chutes while made for low-opening, are made for it at terminal velocity, and typically have more control over the chute, as the higher up you start, the harder it is to be sure you'll hit where you want to.
Base Jumping
HALO
Well, I appreciate the concern, but I wasn't planning on using my Cannon Companion as a skydiving guide. 
Mainly I was wondering if HALO parachutes were different from low altitude parachutes, since they were both designed to be opened at low altitude and the diver would be going about the same speed (unless LA parachutes were designed to be used from low altitude aircraft and the diver wouldn't be hitting terminal velocity, which didn't sound right to me but what the hell do I know?)
Mainly I was wondering if HALO parachutes were different from low altitude parachutes, since they were both designed to be opened at low altitude and the diver would be going about the same speed (unless LA parachutes were designed to be used from low altitude aircraft and the diver wouldn't be hitting terminal velocity, which didn't sound right to me but what the hell do I know?)
Captain America went toe to toe with the Hulk in the Ultimates for a bit, so he's above human maximums. Basically, he can do anything.
JaronK
JaronK
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno) |
| Hmm... so what kinda super-duper adept/cyber/insane abilities would you need to jump out of an aircraft and do the "no parachute land on both feet and don't roll" thing that Captain America occasionally does? -karma |
Adept Ability Free Fall. Duh.
| QUOTE (JoeJones) | ||
IIRC, when Captain America does that, he's generally landing with his feet on his Adamantium/Vibranium alloy shield which miraculously absorbs any impact which would otherwise injure/kill/obliterate him, while not absorbing any impact from the shield hitting an enemy. It's the magic of the ultimate plot device. And yes, I did read a lot of comics in my younger days. |
More recently he's been doing it without landing on his shield.
He keeps getting more and more beyond human.
-karma
Its a comicbook. Get over it.
| QUOTE (kevyn668) |
| Adept Ability Free Fall. Duh. |
Doesn't Free Fall have a height limitation? If so, it wouldn't be too useful when jumping from planes, unless they were very low.
free fall reduces the effective height fallen by 1m/level. so, if you spend 2500pp on it, it could do you some good.
LALO? Eh, I took a shot.
| QUOTE |
| mfb Posted on Dec 11 2004, 02:58 AM free fall reduces the effective height fallen by 1m/level. so, if you spend 2500pp on it, it could do you some good. |
See? I knew what I was talking about.
For my 2 
I'd say that parachute landings are easy. Onlything strong winds or incoming fire would really make a diferance. If the weather was nice, or just lightly breezy and no one was gunning for you, you should be able to touch down with no problems.
Course, tree's and drek really frag up chute landings.
I'd say that parachute landings are easy. Onlything strong winds or incoming fire would really make a diferance. If the weather was nice, or just lightly breezy and no one was gunning for you, you should be able to touch down with no problems.Course, tree's and drek really frag up chute landings.
| QUOTE (mfb) |
| free fall reduces the effective height fallen by 1m/level. so, if you spend 2500pp on it, it could do you some good. |
Nitpick: 2 meters per level but the point remains.
What I'd like to see more, would be 2 seperate rolls. One for having the chute open correctly, and then another for accuracy. The first would be something like base TN(3) with extras if you haven't fallen very far at all. So, TN(3) +1 if fallen distance is under 200M, +2 if under 100M, +3 if under 50M.
As far as acuraccy, if you jump out of a plane, I can see having some issues, but if you're jumping from one building, and trying to land within the walls/fence of a nearby one, it shouldn't be near as much of an issue.
Mechanics wise, I can't come up with anything for that atm.
As far as acuraccy, if you jump out of a plane, I can see having some issues, but if you're jumping from one building, and trying to land within the walls/fence of a nearby one, it shouldn't be near as much of an issue.
Mechanics wise, I can't come up with anything for that atm.
not a bad idea. i might make the opening base TN 5, -1 per two successes on the rigger's packing (4) test, though.
| QUOTE (KaOs) |
| For my 2 I'd say that parachute landings are easy. Onlything strong winds or incoming fire would really make a diferance. If the weather was nice, or just lightly breezy and no one was gunning for you, you should be able to touch down with no problems. |
They ARE easy. Even your first landing as a newbie with a modern parachute (not the old military style) is more like standing up from a chair than jumping from a wall. At least in Austria.
My very simple houserule: skill against 2 + modifier, if the gamemaster thinks, it is necessary (wind, weather, extreme precision etc). If you fail, it can mean three things, as per GM-Veto:
- you donīt land where you want (greater distance from your theoretical landing point), thats normal failure
- you fail to land properly and have a (perhaps) broken leg, thats unlucky failure
- you are dead (unless you have a emergency parachute which is standard equipment), thats an extreme awful failure
if you are paragliding, being sucked up into the clouds is also a possibility.
The complex/realistic variant can include:
- packing of the parachute
- jumping of the airplane
- freefall
- opening of the parachute
- flying
- navigation
- landing
your choice
SYL
Having never done HALO or LALO jumps, I may be talking completely out my ass, so if anyone here has any real experience with these please chime in.
LALO is basically a simple ripcord-style jump - you have a 25m 'static line' that attaches your chute to the plane, so as soon as you fall that distance from the plane your chute opens automatically. I've heard that for extreme LALO jumps they don't issue a backup chute, because by the time you knew the first one wasn't going to work, you'd be too late to pull your second cord before you went splat.
HALO would require lots more equipment. Oxygen and insulating clothing at the extreme high end of the jump, altimeter to let you know when you had to pull the ripcord, and possibly a failsafe to automatically pull your chord if you hadn't by the time you reach some predetermined altitude. You'd probably also have to have specific training in the freefall part, which you never have to worry about in generic static line jumps.
LALO is basically a simple ripcord-style jump - you have a 25m 'static line' that attaches your chute to the plane, so as soon as you fall that distance from the plane your chute opens automatically. I've heard that for extreme LALO jumps they don't issue a backup chute, because by the time you knew the first one wasn't going to work, you'd be too late to pull your second cord before you went splat.
HALO would require lots more equipment. Oxygen and insulating clothing at the extreme high end of the jump, altimeter to let you know when you had to pull the ripcord, and possibly a failsafe to automatically pull your chord if you hadn't by the time you reach some predetermined altitude. You'd probably also have to have specific training in the freefall part, which you never have to worry about in generic static line jumps.
I'm failing to see how anything you said Apathy related to the conversation. HALO Parachutes in CC are described as having the necessary breathing gear for making the jump. LALO is not required to have a static line, and in fact, you can make a static line jump with any jump (Well, you could turn a HALO into a HAHO and do it). This is reflected in a TN reduction (-2) for static line jumps. LALO can also be taken to be quite similar to base jumping. Where you go onto a tall object jump off it and parachute.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.