Layered Armour, Rules Query Options

[rainbow]

Hello All,

I have a small conundrum in SR.

My PC's insist that you can wear Form Fitting body Armour (4/1), a houndstooth Suit (3/2), these combine into a (7/3) suit.

You then get HALF the armour rating for the next item (greatcoat) (4/2), halves to (2/1), for a total off (9/4).

I have read p.283-285 of the rulebook, p.50'ish off the cannon companion AND the erratta, I can find nothing confirming this ruling!, is their something I am missing?

Also, I am aware of quickness and combat pool penalties, so thats all cool.

Cheers

Flustered GM.

[Sphynx]

They are wrong, 3/2 on a FormFitting is 5/2, not 7/3.

That being said, if the GreatCoat is the more numerical(highest) of the armours, so it's counted FIRST. so 4/2 + 1/1 + 2/0 = 7/3, not 9/4.

Also, The book only says that the top 2 layers count, so even though they are wearing 3, you could, by-the-book, only let that 7/3 be 5/3 (or 6/2). ;)

Sphynx

[Edit]Numbers were off[/Edit]

[mfb]

what sphynx said. tell your players to show you where it says that formfit doesn't layer like every other type of armor, eg halve the lowest.

[Jr. Woodchuck]

Yup your player is wrong. Always go by your gut instinct, if it seems wrong in Shadowrun, it probably is. ...and the other one would be, Always make the players prove their point by showing you the rule.

[DigitalMage]

The Houndstooth is only directly additive to the clothing in its line i.e. Houndstooth Jacket can add with Trousers and Waist Coat (I am going from memory as to what the pieces are). They do not directly add to other pieces of armour i.e. FFB Armour and Great Coat and would use the normal layering rules in such a case. The rules also strongly imply -if not outright saying - that only the two highest ratings in each category count to the final total.

[Glyph]

FFBA's main benefit is that it doesn't factor in when you count armor ratings for Quickness and Combat Pool penalties. It is still treated the same way as other armors for the purpose of layering, though (it is halved if it is the lower-rated armor).

[Kurb]

Here's a question about the form fitting body armor. I understand the rule, and I strictly follow it as well. But reading these posts got me thinking. IMO form fitting body armor should be added to other armor at its full value and not halved. My reason for this is b/c if you got form fitting body armor, it means you found somebody that molded this armor to fit your body, and your body only. So it should be treated as a "special" type of armor. I dunno maybe this is just an idea for a house rule, strictly up to the GM. Then again, who knows what the heck I'm talking about... :sleepy:

[mfb]

two grand for 4/1 armor that doesn't count towards Qui / CP penalties and stacks on top of everything else? hell, that's more broken than called shots.

[KosherPickle]

[Kanada Ten]

[Fortune]

[The White Dwarf]

The above examples are pretty much correct. There is some discrepancey over whether or not you can layer more than 2 items, depending on your interpretation of the books wording. Its not neccessary to make a case for either side here, just know that both exist.

In any event, you take the highest armor rating, then add half of each other armor rating (round down) to determine a total.

In your case, they would be wearing a 4/1 (ffba), a 3/2 (houndstooth), and a 4/2 (greatcoat). If you follow the limit of two, you would get 4+(.5)4=6 for ballistic, and 2+(.5)2=3 for impact. If you allow all 3 to layer, it becomes 4+(.5)4+(.5)3=7 for ballistic, and 2+(.5)2+(.5)1=3 for impact.

Also, as stated above, the ffba doesnt count towards the quickness penalty or combat pool penalty for wearing armor.