GURPS Armor: Ballistic Face Mask

Having a face and keeping it intact is important. How're you gonna eat those tasty tacos if you left all your teeth at the site of the latest shootout? Do not be afraid, there are many bullet resistant items on the market that you can purchase to cover up this important hit location.

One of these is a Ballistic Face Mask, also known as Smooth Mask. It is a simple mask made out of the same material as TL8 Ballistic Helmet (HT70), with similar padding on the inside and two holes for your eyes to peek through. It is officially adopted by Taiwanese Special Forces and... that's it. In movies and videogames it is often used by bad guys due to it's intimidating, feature-less appearance. Favorite of bank robbers! The mask itself has neglible effect on field of view, reducing it by no more than 10 degrees. GURPS simply ignores this. It's real life protection rating is NIJ IIIA, which translates to 12 DR in GURPS, stopping most handgun bullets, buckshot pellets and even assault rifle rounds fired from ulta-short carbines like HK53A3(HT116) or AKS74U(HT114)

It is actually quite challenging to purchase authentic item of this type, with many companies offering knock-offs of dubious quality. It's quite hard to tell what exactly you just bought, until you get shot while wearing it...

By virtue of covering a user's forehead, this face mask is incompatible with majority of modern ballistic helmets that sit close enough to the forehead, though certain designs like tanker helmets with elevated top, as well as Leather Helmet (HT69), can fit over or under it. Layering armor on skull has no penalties. A pair of large tactical goggles can, theoretically, be worn over eye-holes to provide protection, but users will seldom wear them due to lack of comfort. Theoretically, a custom job can add inserts into the eye-holes that are effectively Ballistic Sunglases, giving eyes 4 DR and increasing price by $50. Gas Mask is also unusuable with such a face mask due to the inability to create a full seal. On the other hand, you can wear it UNDER a space suit helmet or biohazard suit helmet, given that it's a design that feeds air into the helmet itself and not just the mask underneath it.

To address various issues with the design, a half-mask variant is offered that protects only the face, but is fully compatible with modern ballistic helmets. Theoretically, a ballistic face shield can be worn over it, doubling the protection.

When compared to ballistic faceshields that attach to helmets: (+) It is a standalone piece that needs no extra mounting, (+) It has anatomical form and thus allows proper-ish cheek wield, ignoring rules for Masked Shooting (TS13), (+) It has better protection compared to transparent ballistic plastic, (-) It does not protect the eyes, (-) You cannot use a gas mask with it.

Statistics:

TL8 Ballistic Face Mask, Loc: Face & Skull, DR 12F, Cost $600, Weight 3 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Knock-Off Ballistic Face Mask, Loc: Face & Skull, DR 10F, Cost $500, Weight 2.5 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Ballistic Half-Mask, Loc: Face, DR12, Cost $300, Weight 1.5 lbs, LC 4

TL8 Knock-Off Ballistic Half-Mask, Loc: Face, DR10, Cost $250, Weight 1.2 lbs, LC 4

The masks can have a custom-designed styling to assist in intimidation or simply for aesthetics. Use rules for Styling on HT10. Clown designs are oddly popular.

On the other hand, virtually any tailor can create a camouflaged fabric cover for the mask. Cost is $6*Cost Of Camouflage. Alternatively, one can simply use paint and duct tape to permanently add a camo pattern. Either way, when such camouflaged mask is worn with camo uniform, add an extra +1 to camouflage bonus (See LT126).

If GM permits, the mask grants +1 to Intimidation attempts done while wearing it.