• SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.ml
    English
    1·
    3 years ago

    Why do stormtroopers wear that armor? It doesn’t stop blasters, bullets, arrows, or lightsabers. It’s not like they get into any fist fights where it would stop punches.

    • GTG3000@programming.dev
      2·
      3 years ago

      It varies with the source, but generally it’s supposed to be a few things:

      • The blasters used in the movie era are… Basically unstoppable? They’re the pinnacle of weapon tech as far as mass arming is concerned.
      • The armour is supposed to protect the stormtrooper against most “lower tech” weapons, think slug throwers, shrapnel from explosions, vibro-swords.
      • Light sabers OP.
      • You’re supposed to be using droideka-style personal shields if you want to tank energy shots.

      Of course, movies don’t think about it too hard and just use them as mooks.

      • LoamImprovement@ttrpg.network
        2·
        3 years ago

        I mean, it does also illustrate how the empire’s strength lies in numbers and resources, and not in superior skill. There’s some evidence that stormtrooper accuracy is a lot better than popular media gives credit for (e.g. “these blast points are far too accurate for sand-people,”) and the only reason stormtroopers miss as much as they do in the movies is because they are under Vader’s orders not to injure Luke and Leia, which may or may not be true, but the battle on endor shows how susceptible the armor is to guerilla warfare that does, in fact, utilize those lower-tech weapons. I’m sure if the empire cared enough about the efficacy of the armor, they could develop a suit that incorporated shield technology and win battles with a fraction of the troops they use, but again, the suit’s primary function is to mark these shock troops as the face of an insurmountably vast empire. I would not be surprised if the poor defensive qualities of the armor are intentional, to foster a strategic message to the empire’s enemies that says “we don’t care how many you kill, there will always be more.”

        • CrushKillDestroySwag [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
          1·
          3 years ago

          There’s a little detail in Tie Fighter media that I like, where the Tie Fighter pilots love the fact that they don’t have shields or any fancy fly-by-wire stuff in their fighters because it makes them “real pilots”, compared to rebel pilots who have astromechs, shields, and hyperdrives. Extrapolated out a bit, and you could interpret the Empire as constantly sabotaging its own military effectiveness because of a toxic bravado that has been allowed to infect its military at all levels, which is pretty compatible with the Empire’s implied fascist ideology (that the movies don’t go too much into detail about).

          So storm troopers could have Heinlein-esque power suits, but they all think that having something like that is for wimps, all the way up to the top of the chain of command.

    • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
      1·
      3 years ago

      I’m not an expert on Star Wars lore, but I think it’s to dehumanize them and add them to the greater force of the Empire. The Empire doesn’t need individuals for its troopers, they need tools and pawns that will follow orders when given.

      And since they’re just pawns, typically recruited en masse, why even cash out for good armor when you can just mass produce the bear minimum for dirt cheap? That’s my take anyways

    • ThunderingJerboa@kbin.social
      1·
      3 years ago

      I think the lore is very mixed on it since even though people love the EU it basically meant every author sort of did different things with it. I believe a common thing with the armor is it does stop the blaster rounds but would make the user’s incapacitated. Copout I’m aware but we also have to remember that stormtroopers were always meant to be the elite and most dangerous force but due to them going against people with plot armor they couldn’t be good at all. So we have a generations of people who sort of internalized that and basically continued the meme that stormtroopers can’t hit the broadside of a barn (even though they were pretty effective in 1 the opening scene and 2 with the rebel base).

  • catonwheels@ttrpg.network
    1·
    3 years ago

    As a fellow dm this always makes me so sad so many experiences this.

    For them it is their fantasy same as someone playing a wizard could be casting spells. But yet we never see dm running every monster having antimagic field or legendary resistance.

    Let them feel good and invincible! Let tanks be tanks!