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Posted by: Jolly Jun 4 2011, 02:00 PM

Per Arsenal page 44:

The Maximum Armor Modification paragraph states each piece of armor or clothing can accept a number of modification rating points equal to 6 or its highest armor rating (B or I) x 1.5.

The example is: Lined Coat (6/4) can take up to 9 rating points of modifications; i.e. Fire Resistance 5, Insulation 3, and Shock Frills but no more (5+3+1=9).

However:
The Armor Suit Capacity (black box) says to apply the listed capacities to items listed in Street Gear chapter of SR4. It divides the items into categories. Fire Resistance R5 (2 capacity), Insulation R3 (1 capacity), and Shock Frills – (1 capacity) are all Armor Modifications.

Only the SR4 full body armor and urban explorer jumpsuit are given capacities in Arsenal. So is "6 or the armor/clothing highest armor rating (B or I) x 1.5" also the capacity limit for armor or clothing that does not have a listed capacity?

The only way it makes sense to me is:
The Lined Coat has 9 capacity. It can hold Fire Resistance 5 [2], Insulation 3 [1], Shock Frills [1], and still has 5 more capacity which can be used for any add-ons other than the Armor Modification entries.

Is this correct? Thanks!

Posted by: Draco18s Jun 4 2011, 03:34 PM

This is correct. Capacity uses capacity and lined coats do not have capacity. QED.

Posted by: longbowrocks Jun 4 2011, 07:33 PM

Careful with this. In this case that doesn't specify capacity. If it has a capacity rating, then you can apply <capacity> points worth of mods to it. If there is no capacity rating for a piece of armor, you can apply <armor X 1.5> rating points of mods to it.

Lined coat can take fire resist 6 and insulation 3, for 9 rating points.
Heavy military armor (page 50 of arsenal with 20 capacity) can take: fire resist 6 [2]; insulation 6 [2]; nonconductivity 6 [2]; thermal damping 6 [5]; medkit 6 [5]; and a concealed holster [4].
The bracketed parts are the capacity costs.

Posted by: Faelan Jun 5 2011, 01:10 AM

Or you could go by the basic RAW which seems to indicate there is no limit based on SR4A, regardless the rules you are mentioning are all optional anyway. Even the basic SR4 does not use the rules. My view on it is that most of the modification to armor are chemical treatments that don't add bulk or layers to the armor so why bother adding another layer of complexity. If you can pay for it, buy it and wear it.

Posted by: Jolly Jun 5 2011, 04:02 PM

Draco18s and longbowrocks: makes sense, thanks very much!

Posted by: longbowrocks Jun 5 2011, 06:50 PM

D'oh! I should've noticed that. Thanks. I didn't want to have to rebuild all my characters.

Posted by: TheOOB Jun 5 2011, 09:37 PM

Except Arsenal is RAW.

Posted by: longbowrocks Jun 5 2011, 09:59 PM

*optional* rules. If they're optional, that means they're overriding normal RAW, and thus take a backseat. They still beat house rules in terms of relevance though.