question about magic blocks

[MadDogMike]

Example 2:
Harry is walking around town, minding his own business when another goon takes a shot at him.  The goon has the Lying in Wait aspect.  The goon succeeds in surprising Harry, so Harry's defense is reduced to 0. 
The goon rolls his attack 3 + (+, _, _, _) and tags Lying in Wait for a total of 6. 
Harry rolls his defense 0 + (_, _, _, _) for a total of 0. 
The goon is using a pistol (weapon: 2), so Harry would be looking at an 8 stress hit.
Harry uses his duster to generate a block 4, so reduces it to a stress 4 hit. 
Note: Since the goons attack got though the magical block, it is broken so it no longer provides any protection to Harry.

Interesting thought; would a similar scenario sum up the shooting in "The Warrior" (with maybe Harry also using aspects like "Smoke from the Beetle" and/or the manuever "Running like hell" to try to further dodge/block) in game terms? Would make sense, and gives a good example of describing a broken block from an item besides it physically breaking (i.e. Harry's damage was from "falling down the steps" rather than "shot through the coat").

[noclue]

I think I can see your issue with the armor and it's a little bit of a lack of understanding what stress is. YS201
So really the whole concept is that the character is getting worn down. Even if you get "hit" by a bullet you aren't really getting hit because that would result in a consequence (A great example being the consequence "Holy #*&%, I've been shot!). You said there is "armor that stops rifle rounds cold" but does the round ting off of the armor, leaving the wearer standing completely untouched? No, he's going to get knocked down and probably have a good deal of bruising (I.E. a little stress), so really the armor is fairly realistic in that sense (even if the stress concept is a little unrealistic).

Plus, a vest doesn't cover the head and limbs. The rating is an abstraction. Stress is an abstraction. I think it's not very useful to try to equate the rating of armor with stopping power in the real world.

[BumblingBear]

Plus, a vest doesn't cover the head and limbs. The rating is an abstraction. Stress is an abstraction. I think it's not very useful to try to equate the rating of armor with stopping power in the real world.

This is true.  I still think that heavy, bulky, military grade body armor should be a level 3 - same with a full coat of plate vs melee attacks.

The tradeoff is that there is no possible way to say... go to the mall wearing either one of them without drawing attention.