Hey, y'all's.
Question: How do you guys do gas masks in your games? I can't find any such item or rules in the books, so I wonder how y'all do it? (My PCs just requested gas masks for a mission).
Now, I'm aware that Rebreather Masks exists in the game, although they're a bit under-detailed (Air Supply 2, but what about Encumbrance? 1 perhaps?). These, of course, are basically scuba gear air-tanks-and-breathing-units things, which should be good for a gassy situation (and such Rebreather Masks are indeed equipped to marines in a couple of Frontier War scenarios), but what about more standard issue gas (filter) masks?
Here are some thoughts that I have on the subject.
a) There might be simple emergancy masks already included in a marine's IMP? If so, the mask is probably Enc. 0 or, at most 1/2 (but this is ignored as long as it remains in the IMP bag).
b) Filter masks are obviously already included in Hazmat & UDEP suits, and the like.
c) The basic function of a gas mask is to negate the effect of gas (obviously), but only for breathing (so skin damage/penetration effects remain, for instance). Game mechanics could be handeled in one of three ways:
1. No Game Mechanics. Just RPG it. If you have a gas mask on, you're safe from breathing gas. Other gas effects must be winged.
2. Gas Masks has an Air Supply to represent filter efficiency (and deterioration), but doesn't ACTUALLY contain air. It just uses the supply mechanic for the specific filtering purpose.
3. Gas Masks have special "gas proofing armor", similar to the Radiation armor of Hazmat suits and the like. In other words, you get an armor roll against gas and need ONE success to negate ALL gas breathing issues. In addition, ones/Facehuggers rolled deteriorate the Gas Mask filter by one (similar to the supply mechanic).
Now, I'm not at all certain that this, any of these, are the best way to handle gas masks, and I would sure like to hear y'all's thoughts on this. In any case, gas masks should be a pretty common element in many Alien games, to deal with gas attacks, smoke/fires, dust, and other things.