Bio Booster Armor, In MY Shadowrun? Options

[Loch]

A little while back I found this from a friend of a friend: http://pastebin.com/Vi7W9gys

The concept was cool, but I was a teensy bit sad that the mechanics just amounted to a different version of Milspec armor. I figured that if SR was going to have symbiont armor, it'd be more like a wearable critter and not just another suit of armor. Here's my rudimentary stab at it:

[ Spoiler ]

Living Armor Systems represent the bleeding edge of EVO's forays into metahuman adaptation-- psychoactive symbionts that implant themselves in and protect their hosts from harm. Implanting an armor symbiont is a simple yet mildly invasive process that permanently depletes the host's essence, much like any other bioware implant. Essence loss for an armor symbiont is counted as bioware for purposes of essence rounding. Armor symbionts have two states; "active" and "dormant". A dormant symbiont lies beneath the host's skin, often visible outwardly only as a slight bump in the host's tissue, usually in the host's armpit, lower back, or neck (Tactile Perception 4 to notice). Upon neural command from the host (a Complex Action), the symbiont erupts from its hiding place and envelops the host's body from head to toe.

Armor symbionts are cultured to be highly resistant to physical and kinetic force, though thus far test batches seem more resilient to physical blows than to small arms fire. Once bonded to a host, an armor symbiont becomes wholly protective of its "wearer", even going as far as to give its own life to the host. This is represented mechanically by the symbiont's Condition Track, which is used in place of the host's track until the symbiont absorbs too much damage and goes into overflow.

A symbiont in overflow reverts to the "dormant" state in its host body and follows the rules for natural healing, with a few notable exceptions. Overflow damage suffered by a symbiont is transferred immediately to its host. The symbiont will also cannibalize parts of the host's tissue to rebuild itself. Hits on the symbiont's healing test are converted to an equal amount of Physical damage boxes for the host, resisted with Body.

Due to the dramatic fashion of a symbiont's activation and storage, worn armor is never cumulative with the armor provided by an armor symbiont, regardless of the source.

Light Armor Symbiont:
>6/8 Ballistic/Impact
>Condition: 6
>Essence Cost: 0.2, plus 0.2 per Optional Power
>Essence: 3
>cost: 20,000 ¥
>availability: 18F

Medium Armor Symbiont:
>8/10 Ballistic/Impact
>Condition: 8
>Essence Cost: 0.4 plus 0.2 per Optional Power
>Essence: 4
>cost: 40,000 ¥
>availability: 22F

Heavy Armor Symbiont:
>10/12 Ballistic/Impact
>Condition: 12
>Essence Cost: 0.6 plus 0.2 per Optional Power
>Essence: 5
>cost: 60,000 ¥
>availability: 26F

Optional Powers: an armor symbiont can come "custom-bred" for the host with one power from the following list per full 2 points of Essence the symbiont possesses. For powers that specify a Magic rating, use the symbiont's Essence total, rounding down to the nearest full point.

>Binding
>Concealment
>Corrosive Spit
>Enhanced Senses
>Hardened Armor
>Mimicry
>Movement
>Natural Weapon
>Noxious Breath
>Paralyzing Howl
>Psychokinesis
>Regeneration
>Search
>Venom

Symbionts can also be bred with any of the metagenetic qualities in Runner's Companion in place of an Optional Power, with equal essence cost to an Optional Power and an additional nuyen cost equal to (Metagenetic Quality BP)x2,500 ¥.

Armor Symbionts may not be implanted with cyberware, but may take bioware as normal.

Give it a look-see and tell me what you think (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)