Armour
Armour is your character’s safety net. It is designed to protect against only a small amount of high-powered attacks. However, advanced armour can be almost impervious to simpler weapons. Armour will protect the entirety of your body while it is worn.
Reaction Penalty
Wearing armour affects your ability to fight in combat. Heavier armour, though offering more protection, will affect your ability to react quickly. Your skill penalty will apply to all Skill Test you perform as part of a Reacting.
Weakness and Resistance
Some armour will be more susceptible or less susceptible to certain Types of Damage.
- If you are weak to an attack, increase the damage by 2.
- If you are resistant to an attack, reduce the damage by 2.
Critical Weakness
Some armours will be weak only when specific locations are targeted. This is a critical weakness, Called Attack that are a type of damage you have critical weakness to will cause 2 additional damage. Critical weakness is usually represented by an “!” after a type in the weakness list.
An armour with weakness to heat and rending! would have a regular weakness to heat and a critical weakness rending.
Armour Integrity
Your overall suit of armour will have an armour integrity, which is how well it all comes together to protect you. Armour integrity behaves similarly to hitpoints in other games.
Armour Traits
Some armour will have specialized Armour-Traits that provide additional utility and ability. These should be representative of specialized construction.
Style
Characters shouldn’t be punished for dressing their characters in a specific way that doesn’t describe perfect protection. The most obvious, however dated, example is a chain mail bikini. Though silly and perhaps not something players would be comfortable with, if it is in your game, it counts as fully functional armour with similar weaknesses to any other armour of similar material. Players and, in most cases, NPC characters should not have their narrative armour exploited.
This extends to hats and helmets as well. Many players love the idea of a hero with their hair flowing in the wind and a perfect smile as they rush into battle. This vision doesn’t need to conflict with having a protected vitals.