[SG:U] Body Armour (new optional rule)

In Sprawl Goons and the Carbon Edition, armour is abstracted and folded into the Dangerous Action Roll as a bonus. Here, I'd like to present an alternative way to handle PC and NPC personal protection.

BODY ARMOUR RULES OPTION

If a character is wearing body armour, they no longer add a +1 bonus to their combat Action Roll. Instead, if a category of armour is worn on the body location hit by an attack, the Armour Rating is deducted from the damage received by the character.

Example:

Katya Kaiser is running for the cover of a parked R-Cab after taking down a Genexus agent. As she does so, another agent takes aim and fires. She dives, but fails her Action Roll, taking damage from the shot which hits her in the torso for 6 points. Katya is still wearing her spiderweave vest, which is classed as medium armour and reduces the damage by 2. So, Katya slides across the rain-slick asphalt, losing just 4 points of Resilience, rather than 6.

There are now three categories of armour:

• Light (-1 damage)

• Medium (-2 damage)

• Heavy (-3 damage)

[Tanksuits are still classed as vehicles and use the Vehicle Combat rules]

PERSONAL PROTECTION / BODY ARMOUR

Roll 2d6

02. Motorcycle Leathers - Light Armour

03. Arachnoweave Sleeve (figure-hugging second skin) - Light Armour

04. Carbon Fibre Flak Vest - Medium Armour

05. Laser-ablative Fabric (only effective vs lasers) - Heavy Armour vs lasers only

06. Impact Gel Inserts - Medium Armour

07. Ceramic Plate (hard armour shell, in sections) - Heavy Armour

08. Heavy Kevlar Jacket - Heavy Armour

09. Exo-frame (doubles Loadout score until you take it off; +1 Morphology) - Light Armour

10. Coil Suit (light-absorbing, black, myomar body suite; artificial muscle fibres confer +1 to Reaction) 
      - Medium Armour

11. Flame Retardant Sleeve (thin body sleeve; only one round of fire damage applies) - Light Armour

12. Heavy Leather Overcoat - Medium Armour

Armour CANNOT be layered on one location, the minuses do not stack. Layering also reduces character movement at the GM's discretion.

GMs now have the tools to create more armour variation for their characters. The wearing of differing helmets is now also viable.

HELMETS

Examples:

Steel - Medium Armour (-1 Reaction due to weight)

Added Ballistic Visor - Light Armour to protect the face (2-in-6 chance the visor is struck, rather than the helmet proper)

Kevlar - Medium Armour

Motorcycle Helmet - Light Armour

Ceramic - Heavy Armour

Arachnoweave Bandana - Light Armour

ARMOUR DEGRADATION

Armour can still be Slagged, as per the SG:U rules. Whether that rule is in play or not, no armour is beyond destruction. Any armour will degrade by 1 point when hit, if any damage penetrates and gets through to the wearer. When that armour is rated 0, it becomes useless and must be repaired or replaced.

Any thoughts on this are welcome in the comments below.