Armour Features
The value and status of simply wearing certain outfits help characters impress those around them, while on the other hand wearing camo fatigues at a social gathering isn’t the social standard. Some pieces of armor raise the Social Limit of the wearer. These modifiers do not stack; only the highest modifier of any visible clothing item counts (and “visible” means seeing enough of it that viewers get a solid impression of what the garment does on the wearer. Seeing, for example, only the edge of a cuff poking out from under the sleeve of a battered overcoat or the hem of a dress beneath a housecoat will not provide the modifier). Some increases are limited to certain social circles; those limitations will be listed along with the bonus.
LIGHTLY WORN
The Lightly Worn option provides runners with a chance to buy
some primo gear at a discount rate, with a few catches. Buying from
the Lightly Worn section requires the character to have Armand as a
contact with a Loyalty of at least 2. When gear is purchased Lightly
Worn, the character gets a price discount of 25 percent, but they only
get the Armor rating; they do not get any of the Features of the armor.
The Lightly Worn feature can be bought off by having the piece of Armor refit. This requires an Armorer + Logic [Mental] (10, 1 hour) Extended Test and costs 10 percent of the original armor cost for each Feature the character is trying to have restored.
CUSTOM FIT
Items that are Custom Fit were measured for a specific person.
They are specially designed for that person and don’t fit well on
anyone else, therefore conferring none of the positive Social Limit
adjustments to the character. When an item is Custom Fit, any
changes to an individual’s Physical Attributes, whether through
Karma advancement or augmentation (but not through magic),
require the suit to be refit. The refit process requires an Armorer
shop and an Armorer + Logic [Mental] (10, 1 hour) Extended Test.
The owner can also use their Contacts to help them get the job
done, requiring loss of the armor for one week and a payment of
25 percent of the initial armor cost.
CUSTOM FIT (STACK)
This characteristic employs all the Custom Fit rules, but in
addition these items can stack with other pieces that have been
Custom Fit by the same maker, for the same person. The character
has to select a specific set of Armored Clothing to have the piece
Custom Fit with. The Custom Fit combination then allows the
character to use either the base armor or add on the stack bonus
for that set of gear.
CONCEALABILITY
This feature means things are either more easily hidden
beneath the girth or length of the piece, or the design of the piece
means it is less likely to be detected. Keep a little bit of realism
in mind—no matter what the dice pool says, you cannot hide an
assault cannon inside assless chaps.
HOLSTER
This piece has a holster built into the armor so smoothly it
is hard to see with the metahuman eye. This item provides a
–1 Concealability modifier for any tests to spot a weapon in the
holster through visual means.
GEAR ACCESS
This feature allows items to be retrieved from the piece of
armor with more ease than usual. This means drawing or retrieving
items that are set up on the armor takes one lower action. Complex
becomes Simple, and Simple becomes Free. Free stays Free, but
gamemasters can consider allowing an extra Free Action for the
Action Phase.
NEWEST MODEL
These items are the most recent incarnations of their corporate
creators. That means they lose a little more when purchased as
Lightly Worn, namely a 20 percent loss of Armor Rating (round
adjusted Rating up) when buying older models of the clothes.
ILLUMINATING
Armor with this feature enhances lighting conditions by 1
category within 10 meters. That can be increased to 25 meters
when individuals in the vicinity uses special IR lights and contacts.
CUSTOM PROTECTION
These items come with a built-in environmental customization
(Fire Resistance, Chemical Protection, or Insulation) that cannot
be removed or changed. The option is chosen at purchase and
is included in the price. This customization does not go away for
Lightly Worn armor; when choosing the Lightly Worn items with
Custom Protection, the gamemaster can determine the features
randomly. Alternately, a character can look for a certain variety,
but that is harder to find, raising the Availability of the item by 1 for
each Rating point of the customization.
RESTRICTIVE
This armor is a little unwieldy. Armors with this quality halve
Movement and incur Fatigue rolls with every Running check, even
the first one.
PADDED
This armor has a little extra over the vitals, making them harder
to hit. Increase the Called Shot modifier by 2 (making it –6) for all
Called Shots to Vitals (p. 196, CRB).