Armour Modifications

MODIFICATION	CAPACITY	AVAIL	COST
Auto-Injector	[2]	4	1.500Y +Chemical Costs
Chemical Protection	[Rating]	6	Rating x250Y
Chemical Seal	6	12R	3.000Y
Drag Handle	[1]	-	50Y
Fire Resistance	[Rating]	6	Rating x250Y
Fresnel Fabric	[2]	14R	Rating x1.000Y
Gel Packs	-	6	1.500Y
Grey Mana Integration 1-3	[Rating]	6F	Rating x1.000Y
Grey Mana Integration 4-6	[Rating]	9F	Rating x2.000Y
Insulation	[Rating]	6	Rating x250Y
Nonconductivity	[Rating]	6	Rating x250Y
PAG modification	[6]	6	500Y
Pulse Weave	[3]	+8R	3.000Y
Radiation Shielding	[Rating]	Rating x2	Rating x200Y
Response Interface Gear (RIG)	[2]+[1]	8	2.500Y
Ruthenium Polymer Coating (Rating 1-4)	[4]	16F	Rating x5.000Y
Shock Frills	2	6R	250Y
Shock Weave	[3]	8	1.000Y
Thermal Damping	[Rating]	10R	Rating x500Y
Universal Mirror Material (per m2)	[3]	8F	Rating x250Y
Urban Explorer Daedalus	-	4	75Y
YNT Softweave Armor	-	+4	x2

Any piece of worn armour can be upgraded with a range of modifications. The Capacity of a piece of armour is equal to its Armour Rating. Armour modifications have variable Capacity costs. Each modification also has a rating between 1 and 6, except as noted.

Auto-Injector: An auto-injector is a small medical injection unit built into the armour and usually linked to the user’s biomonitor.

If one or more pre-programmed conditions are met (set by the character with a Simple Logic + Computer [Mental] (1) Test), or an instruction is received from the wearer, either manually or through the user’s PAN, the auto-injector dispenses a medication, drug, or chemical directly into the wearer’s bloodstream. Each auto-injector carries five doses that can hold one or more substances in any combination. Refilling the injector takes 1 minute per dose.
Wireless Bonus: Activating a drug injection is a Free Action.

Chemical protection: Water-resistant, non-porous, impermeable materials, and a coating of neutralising agents protect the wearer against contact-vector chemical attacks (Toxins, Drugs and BTLs, p. 408 CRB). Add the rating of the Chemical Protection modification to tests made to resist contact-vector toxin attacks.

Chemical seal: Available only to full body armour that includes a helmet, the chemical seal is an airtight environmental control that takes a Complex Action to activate (if you’re already wearing the armour, natch). It provides complete protection against contact and inhalation vector chemicals, but can only be used for a total of an hour (the limit of the air supply) at a time.
Wireless: Activating the chemical seal is a Free Action.

Drag handle: A relatively simple modification, the drag handle is a strap anchored to the back of an armoured jacket, vest, or suit that allows an injured character to be dragged or carried with greater ease. The Drag Handle adds +2 dice to Lifting and Carrying Tests (p. 152, CRB) to move the character.

Fire resistance: Fire-retardant, nonflammable materials protect the wearer against Fire damage (p. 171 CRB). Add the full rating of the Fire Resistance modification to the Armour value when resisting Fire attacks or checking if the armour catches fire.

Fresnel Fabric: I’m not a big tech head, so I don’t know exactly how this stuff works, but it’s a neat addition for anyone looking to maintain lines of communication in difficult areas. According to my tech specialist, this material can focus and concentrate light or radio waves like the lens on a lighthouse, boosting the directional power of a signal.

Reduce the Noise penalty by the rating of the Fabric. The Noise reduction is directional and the wearer needs to align their body in the direction of the device they are trying to connect with.
Wireless Bonus: Reduce the Noise penalty by 1 more.

Gel Packs: This stuff looks silly but can save your life. Gel packs look like a bunch of take-out soy sauce packets layered all over your clothes or armour. They come in a variety of colours and can even be custom ordered with different colours in each packet to make a pattern or just add a little flare. The gel hardens for an instant to absorb some of the force of impact but then gets all squishy again if it isn’t punctured. If the gel makes contact with air it turns dusty and brittle immediately.

Installed externally, gel packs require no Capacity and increase the Armour Rating of whatever they are added to by 2. Since gel packs solidify for a brief instant, they increase the possibility that the wearer will be knocked down by an attack. When comparing the Physical Limit of a character using armour with gel packs to the DV of an attack to determine knockdown (see Knockdown, p. 194, CRB), lower the character’s Physical Limit by 2.

Grey Mana Integration: Not actually made of any sort of mana, Grey Mana is the product of research by the so-called Grey Brothers, formerly of Manadyne and Boston Manatech. Experiments with orichalcum, reagents, paracritters, and Awakened plants and minerals yielded technology which, when integrated with armour or clothing, severely dampens magic around it. This affects the ability of the wearer to use magic as well as affecting any magic cast at them.
Add 1 bonus die per rating of Grey Mana integration to resist any targeted magical attacks or effects, including area of effect and beneficial magic. Any Awakened character wearing armour or clothing with grey mana integration suffers a dice pool penalty to any skill test involving their Magic attribute equal to the rating and permanently reduces the Force and hits of any spell the wearer is currently sustaining by 1. Note that Grey Mana modifications cannot be hidden from Astral Perception and are quite distinct from mundane and Awakened objects.
For Grey Mana integration ratings 4 and above, armour with a chemical seal is required. Grey Mana integration cannot be improved or reduced once installed; for example, an armour jacket with grey mana integration rating 3 cannot be improved to Rating 4, neither can it be reduced to 2.

Insulation: Thermal fibers and heat-retentive materials protect the wearer against Cold damage (p. 170 CRB). Add the full rating of the Insulation modification to the Armour value when resisting Cold attacks.

Nonconductivity: Electrical insulation and non-conductive materials protect the wearer against Electricity damage (p. 170 CRB). Add the full rating of this modification to the Armour value when resisting Electricity attacks.

Pulse Weave: Talk about a flashy suit! This stuff transforms a suit into one large flashpak. Like a nightclub in motion.

Anyone facing the pulse weave suit receives a –4 dice pool modifier on tests to make direct physical attacks on the wearer (flare compensation reduces this modifier to –2). The pulse weave offers a number of charges equal to its rating; it needs fifteen minutes to recharge.
Wireless Bonus: Increase the Attack Test penalties by 1.

Radiation Shielding: Do I need to express what this is for and who needs it? I think not. If you’re working in an area that’s pumping out the rads, you’ll need this worked into your gear.

Each point of Radiation shielding provides 1 extra die for resisting Radiation damage (see p. 152 R&G).

Response Interface Gear: This stuff is kind of fun, especially for those logged in to access live broadcasts during Desert Wars engagements, urban brawl games, or combat biker matches. It’s a full sim-suite and monitoring system. As of July 1, it also carries the official Miracle Shooter line, which comes with the feedback software to give soft simulations of hits during Miracle Shooter matches.

It acts as a combination trode net, sim module, and sim rig that connects to the wearer’s PAN. It allows records of each soldier’s actions and situations to be passed up the chain of command, as well as accessing the user’s natural senses for use as sensor channels. This system takes up 2 Capacity slots in the armour and 1 Capacity slot in the helmet; a RIG must be installed in both armour and helmet to work, and it only operates while all the armour is worn.
Wireless Bonus: +1 Mental Limit on Perception Tests.

Ruthenium Polymer Coating: I’ll admit I loved Manhunt, that remake of the old flatvid with the alien hunting a bunch of mercenaries in the jungle. This stuff makes me think of that trid every time I activate our display. It’s high-tech camouflage at its finest. Add this to your favourite outfit and be ready to blend in anywhere.

This modification can be added to any armour or clothing, but it only gains its full benefits when applied to pieces that cover the wearer’s whole body, like full body armours or cloaks. The ruthenium polymers are controlled by a sensor suite incorporated into the armour or clothing that scans the surroundings and replicates images of the area at the proper perspectives, helping the wearer blend in. The effectiveness is based on the Rating of the sensor suite and the extent of the suit’s coverage. The base modifier to a Perception Test to spot the wearer is –(Rating), adjusted by the extent of the suit; full +2, almost full +1, half +0.

Shock frills: These strips of “fur” are electrically charged when activated, standing on end and inflicting Electricity damage to anyone that touches you. Use Unarmed Combat to attack with the frills. The frills hold 10 charges; when attached to a power point, they recharge one charge per 10 seconds.
Wireless: The shock frills can be activated or deactivated as a Free Action. They can also recharge by induction, recharging one charge per hour.

Shock Weave: This is great at keeping grope-y guys off you at Dante’s or giving a nasty surprise to the sec guard trying to take you down. Shock weave delivers a moderate shock to anyone making contact with the protected area.

Anyone entering a Grapple or Clinch with someone wearing active Shock Weave armour must resist 8S(e) damage. The wearer can also choose to take a Block Action when attacked and intentionally block with an active Shock Weave plate on their armour. This test needs to generate at least 2 hits (not 2 net hits) for the Shock Weave to be effective. A glitch means the character accidentally zaps themselves. This armour modification cannot be used offensively.
Wireless Bonus: The Block Test only needs to generate 1 hit.

Thermal damping: Designed to reduce your thermal signature, these inner layers capture or bleed heat, so the outer layers maintain a surface temperature equal to the surrounding air. Add the rating to your limit on any Sneaking test against thermographic vision or thermal sensors.
Wireless: The suit uses the extra information about your surroundings and also gives you its rating as a dice pool bonus to Sneaking tests against heat-based detection.

Universal Mirror Material: This is some strange stuff. I originally refused to carry it since it was intended to jam up technomancers. Since then some creative individuals have used it as a defensive technique. Depending on which way you direct the fabric, this stuff jams wireless signals.

This material provides a Noise penalty against anything inside the material equal to twice the material’s rating.

Urban Explorer Daedalus: Already a favorite among traceurs, the Daedalus looks like the standard Urban Explorer Jumpsuit, but it can deploy microfiber wings under each arm and between the legs, creating an on-demand wingsuit. Deploying the wings requires a Complex Action. The Daedalus can hold up to 320 kilograms aloft. The user can cover three meters horizontally for every meter fallen and rolls Freefall + Body to maneuver, with a threshold determined by the gamemaster (p. 199, CRB). Like the Control Vehicle action, this test must be performed once per Combat Turn or the user loses control of her descent. Losing control imposes –2 dice pool penalty to all rolls, including the next Freefall + Body test. Failures on consecutive Combat Turns result in a cumulative penalty. Successfully hitting the threshold eliminates the penalty. The maximum safe speed a user can reach is 2R (p. 124, Rigger ). Although it is possible to make a hard bank to come to a safe stop without assistance (threshold 4), the Daedalus comes equipped with a discreetly- packed BASE parachute for the safety-inclined runner. This parachute is a one-use item.
Note: Parachutes for this item cost 750¥.

YNT Softweave Armor: SoftWeave was developed by Yamatetsu Naval Technologies for sapients and the less common metavarients because it’s easier to mold and work into alternative designs than standard armour technologies. It works for the everyday Joe, and it also makes for lighter gear with more flexibility for modifications.

Armour made with this material has its available Capacity increased by half.

Item type

Armor