EQUIPMENT

ARMOR

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Armor

Body armor comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, providing varying degrees of coverage and varying heaviness of materials.

Three feats cover proficiency in the use of armor: Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), and Armor Proficiency (heavy).

Armor Table

Armor is described by a number of statistics, as shown on Table: Armor.

Type: Armor comes in four types: archaic, impromptu, concealable, and tactical.

Archaic armor is old-fashioned armor, such as medieval chainmail and plate mail.

Impromptu armor includes items that provide protection even though they weren’t designed for that purpose, such as leather biker’s jackets and football pads.

Concealable armor is modern body armor designed to fit underneath regular clothing. It can be worn for extended periods of time without fatiguing the wearer.

Tactical armor is modern body armor that fits over clothing and can’t be easily concealed. Its weight and bulk make it impractical to wear all the time, and it’s generally only donned when a specific dangerous confrontation is likely. Because it’s worn over clothing in tactical situations, tactical armor often has pockets, clips, and velcro attachment points for carrying weapons, grenades, ammunition, flashlights, first aid kits, and other items.

Equipment Bonus: The protective value of the armor. This bonus adds to the wearer’s Defense.

Nonproficient Bonus: The maximum amount of the armor’s equipment bonus that can be applied to the wearer’s Defense if the wearer is using armor with which he or she isn’t proficient (doesn’t have the appropriate feat).

Maximum Dex Bonus:

Even if A character’s Dexterity bonus drops to +0 because of armor, the character are not considered to have lost his or her Dexterity bonus.

Armor Penalty: The heavier or bulkier the armor, the more it affects certain skills. This penalty applies to checks involving the following skills: Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, and Tumble.

Speed (30 ft.): Medium and heavy armor slows a character down. The number in this column is the character’s speed while in armor, assuming his or her base speed is 30 feet (the normal speed for most human beings).

Weight: This column gives the armor’s weight.

Purchase DC: This is the purchase DC for a Wealth check to acquire the armor. This number reflects the base price and doesn’t include any modifier for purchasing the armor on the black market.

Restriction: The restriction rating for the armor, if any, and the appropriate black market purchase DC modifier. Remember to apply this modifier to the purchase DC when making a Wealth check to acquire the armor on the black market.

Table: Armor

Light Armor

For the character who doesn’t want to be bogged down by more cumbersome armor types, a leather garment or some sort of concealable armor is just the ticket.

Leather Jacket: This armor is represented by a heavy leather biker’s jacket. A number of other impromptu armors, such as a football pads and a baseball catcher’s pads, offer similar protection and game statistics.

Leather Armor: This archaic armor consists of a breastplate made of thick, lacquered leather, along with softer leather coverings for other parts of the body.

Light Undercover Shirt: Designed for deep undercover work in which it’s critical that the wearer not appear to be armed or armored, this garment consists of a T-shirt with a band of light protective material sewn in around the lower torso.

Pull-Up Pouch Vest: This garment, consisting of a torso apron of light protective material held up by a loop around the neck, can be stored in an innocuous fanny pack. Deploying the apron is a move action. This garment provides no equipment bonus (and has no armor penalty or maximum Dexterity bonus) when undeployed.

Undercover Vest: Covering a larger area of the torso, this vest provides better protection than the light undercover shirt—but it’s also more easily noticed. It’s best used when the armor should remain unseen but the wearer doesn’t expect to face much scrutiny, granting a +2 bonus on Spot checks to notice the armor.

Medium Armor

Most medium armor (except for the archaic chainmail shirt) is not terribly heavy, but nonetheless provides a significant amount of protection—at the expense of some speed.

Concealable Vest: Standard issue in many police forces, this vest provides maximum protection in a garment that can be worn all day long under regular clothing. While it may go unnoticed by a quick glance, it is usually visible to anyone looking closely for it, granting a +4 bonus on Spot checks to notice the armor.

Chainmail Shirt: This medieval-era armor is a long shirt made of interlocking metal rings, with a layer of padding underneath. It’s heavy, making it uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Light-Duty Vest: A lightweight tactical vest designed for extended use by riot police and forces on alert for potential attack, this armor sacrifices a degree of protection for a modicum of comfort—at least compared to other tactical body armors.

Tactical Vest: The standard body armor for police tactical units, this vest provides full-torso protection in the toughest flexible protective materials available.

Heavy Armor

For the best protection money can buy, go with heavy armor, but watch out for the armor penalty.

Plate Mail: This medieval-era armor consists of metal plates that cover the entire body. It’s heavy and cumbersome compared to most modern armor, but it does provide a great deal of protection.

Special Response Vest: Built like the tactical vest, but incorporating groin and neck protection as well as a ceramic plate over the chest, this armor provides additional protection in battles against heavily armed opponents.

Forced Entry Unit: The most powerful protection available is built into this suit, which consists of a heavy torso jacket with ceramic plates over the chest and back, neck and groin guards, arm protection, and a helmet. Heavy and cumbersome, this armor is generally only donned by tactical officers heading into a dangerous assault.