The rules on page 149 refers worn armor. Mystic Armor is definately not "worn". But the GM could rule either way on it i think. [edit:at least until Fanpro clarifies] Whichever way you go you should definately treat Orthoskin and Dermal Plating with the same ruling as you do Mystic Armor. I would also suggest that adding Armor Modifications ratings on top of the Impact when determining encumbrance is even more applicable since it is actually worn.

P.S. That leaves the Chemical Seal and Environment Adaptation options of Full Body Armor, providing no addition to armor rating, fully outside the encumbrance rules as written. *shrug*

Good point, misread that somehow.

Because most elemental effects protect against half impact was wondering if it should be half impact plus enviromental protection.
Either way it would make sense for someone who is wearing the equivalent in protection of a full fireman's outfit to be more bogged down by his armor than someone who did not take the Fire resistance mod.

Maybe from a metagame perspective, but in-character I think most would strongly prefer bruises to bullet holes

Even from a metagame point of view, stun damage overflow knocks you out, while physical damage overflow has a good chance of killing you. It may not make much difference in who wins a given fight, but it can have a big effect on the lifespan of your character.

I would normally agree and treat it the same as dermal armor with exception to the fact that under the description of dermal armor it states that dermal armor adds to your armor rating. Under mystic armor it says its cumalitive, wich leads me to believe that you treat it as a seperate piece of armor worn and use the highest of the two armors when using armor rating instead of adding it strait to the top. Obviously the wording of the adept ability needs to be reconsidered and/or clarified.

.... or a dictionary needs to be consulted to understand that cumulative is a synonym for added.

EDIT: You might also note that this time 'round Mystic Armor is specifically described as toughing the skin, which is quite similar to Orthoskin. IMO an improvement over SR3 when it was a glowing freakin' aura....used by people who normally value stealth.

Doh, right .... and lets see ..... yup that little bit of stupidity was indeed faithfully cut-and-pasted forward. *sigh*

Hehehe, at 12 points only, it's not so much worth it.

But a troll adept with 10 levels of mystic armor, a 9 body, an armored coat (the 8/6 one), a helmet and a ballistic shield? mmm, 35/32 damage resistance dice. If you roll them out, he'll average roughly 10 boxes resisted. A literal walking tank. Secksy (said Eddie Murphy style).

(One trick pony, but still fun )

Street Sam: I draw my predator IV and shoot him twice!
Troll Tank: *giggles* Hey, that tickles! Cut it out!

Your mimax skills need some work

You can only have any adept power rating up to a max of your magic rating. No 10 points of mystic armor; you'll have to split it between combat sense and mystic armor. No problem though... check out the relevant stats for my concept (rules abuse) character Meathead the Invincible Troll:

Qualities: Toughness, Adept, Mentor Spirt: Bear Shaman
Body 10
Reaction 5
Magic 6 (4 after cyber)
Cyberwear: Bone Density 4, Orthoskin 3
Adept Powers: Combat Sense 4, Mystic Armor 4

Gear: Cammo Suit, Helmet, Ballistic shield

You first roll 9 dice to dodge (hey, pick up the dodge skill and roll even more on full dodge!). Next, you roll 24 + 16 dice for soak (10 body, +1 toughness, +2 bear shaman, + 4 bone density, +3 orthoskin, +4 mystic armor -- then add armor of 8 + 1 +6 for ballistic, +1 Troll dermal armor,).

That's a total of 49 dice you're rolling against incoming damage. After you fail to dodge, you could BUY 10 hits, enough to soak a panther cannon. That panther cannon, btw, will do stun. You'd need to take 24 DV ballistic to take physical damage.

This is with a legal starting character -- assuming your GM lets you have mentor spirits for adepts. If not, well, blow another 25 BP on Exceptional Attribute: Body, and you'll "only" roll 48 dice dodge + soak...

Full autofire from a smartmounted HMG will still be a threat -- though perhaps not a lethal one. For anything that suffers recoil penalties, your 9 dodge dice will be very helpful.

Of course, you'll be a one trick pony -- and who wants their one trick to be getting shot?

You'd look like Calvin playing Master Chief from the Calvin & Halo comic strip.

Well, I was assuming synaptic accelerator (2) so that you weren't a *total* one trick pony.

And if you're really really going for minmax, don't forget to grab mystic adept, drop exactly one point into actual magic, and max up that counterspelling skill with a specialization in combat spells.