Like everybody else I want to be as protected as I can when I'm out Shadowrunning.

So, what is the best combo for a starting quickness 6 character?

Without loosing quickness or combat pool I have found the following combination

Industrious Line Winterized Coverall 4/4
Armanté London Fog Professional 2/2
Form-Fitting Body Armor Full Body 4/1

That should add up to 7/5

Has I done this right? What other combos have you used?

Van: 5 points vehicle armor.

~J

The armor? 8. The van itself, not so much

~J

which is why you go the route of "hiding in plain sight"

active camo can be configured to look like anything from the local plumber's union, to an Aztechnology delivery truck. and can be changed on the fly.

(don't forget: rotating liscence plates, and LMGs behind the headlights.)

Rapid transit line light jump suit 1/2.
Armoured vest with plates 4/3
Full form fit 4/1
Forearm guards 0/1
Helmet 0/2
Total of 7/8 with the advange of 10 colour changes, some of which can be camo...

How is forearm guard treated? I mean, is it a impact 1 or impact +1?

If I have a vest and clothes does forearm guards do anything then or just waste of space?

Impact +1. A few small items like that are explicitly treated differently.

~J

I don't have my SR3 books in front of me, but I am sure that they most definitely are listed that way in SR3 ... and in SR1/2, when they were introduced in the Street Samurai Catalog.

They aren't. It's an oversight, though, as is made explicit in the text: "Forearm guards add 1 to Impact armor" and, later, "Treat as a helmet for purposes of layering armor."

A strict reading would make them incompatible with helmets, as you can't wear two helmets—though, is there a rule for that? Maybe you could wear a tower of helmets…

~J

No SR3 books here, either, but I'm also 99% sure forearms guards are supposed to be +1, not regular 1.
edit: Thanks Kagetenshi. Glad someone had their SR3 books handy.

Actually, it is explicit:

You could get all cybered up and add in cyber-armor too, but then you wouldn't be a very good adept, methinks.


-karma

Go with the classic Secure Jacket+FFBA+Forearm Guards+Helmet.

That gives you 7/6. Unless you are regularly in melee with dikoted-claymore-wielding trolls it is enough. Your TN against Heavy Pistols and most melee fighters will be 2 (watch out for dikoted katanas). It also has the advantage of being relatively cheap.

During the game, save up for a set of Medium Security Armor and a Security Helmet. Replacing your Secure Jacket with the Medium Security Armor and the Rapid Transit Helmet with the Security Helmet will give you 9/8 and it is still relatively cheap. Go for the Security Helmet first since it is only 250

Nope. It says you do that once, if you're wearing more than one layer of armor. It doesn't say you repeat, or recur, or anything else. It doesn't talk about how to find the combined armor rating of two pieces of armor, or how to convert two layers into one layer, it tells you how to find the combined value of more than one piece of armor. You do it once, and you're done.

~J

Wouldn't it have said when wearing two layers of armour rather than more than one if you only count two layers.

Just to fan the flames some more.

No. In fact, if it had said that it would have been an argument that you might, indeed, count more than two layers, as that case would have been left unhandled. The fact that they clearly indicate that this rule applies to any number of layers greater than one, and also clearly indicate that you add the first to half of the second and do nothing with any additional layers, demonstrates with finality that no further layers contribute to armor.

~J

agreed

So I checked on my question above. There is no rule against wearing more than one helmet. Your potential armor is limited only by your Quickness and the point at which a local jury would find your GM not guilty for murdering you.

(Note that while I'm approaching both matters in a similarly legalistic fashion, I believe the armor layering system to be intentional—I do not believe similarly for the many-helmets issue.)

~J

Bulletman gear is the only way: http://www.safecity.com.au/redsuitm.jpg

We run Kage's way. Some people do wear more than 2 layers but usually because they wear uber armour on the outside until running away / hiding / changing becomes more important than stopping bullets. They can ditch their shot up outer shell and recalculate their armour using their remaining two highest pieces.

For full combat (or street luge) we go with standard armour (or secure) clothes with an armoured jacket (or longcoat), form fitting, and forearm guards. We also have homebrewed shin guards (greaves) with the same stats as the forearm guards. And a helmet.

Haven't got any of my books out of storage to do the numbers. Sorry.

For the wealthy, there is always the DiKote™ option.

Actually it is the "highest" rated peice, not the higher rated peice.

A) By the wording of the layered rules Kagetenshi is absolutely right: Highest value plus 1/2 rounded down of second highest, regardless of total numbers of layers. However, those highest values need not necessarily come come from the same layers when calculating ballistics and impact => layering 3 pieces of armor might be good in some cases.

B) While the rules do not prohibit to wear more than one helmet, I as GM would never allow anything like that without imposing further penalties

C) My personal favourite setup when it comes to armor:

- Rapid Transit Heavy Jumpsuit 2/4
- Formfitting Body Armor (Fullsuit) 4/1 *doesn't count against layered for all penalties
- Actioneer Longcoat 2/2 *doesn't count against layered for quickness related penalties
- Forearm Guards +0/+1 in melee

Ballistic value 5 (4 [FFBA]+ 2/2 [either Jumpsuit or Longcoat])
Impact value ranged: 5 (4 [Jumpsuit] +2/2 [Longcoat])
Impact value melee: 6


Advantage: Only requires Quickness 5 in order to go without penalties (4 for purposes of quickness related penalties, 5 for combat pool related penalties).
Personal preference: High impact values more important since it accounts for more damage sources

Jumpsuit helmet could be added if needed
Additional armor through implants like dermal sheath or orthoskin

Technically, it means that when combined with the other pieces of the Actioneer clothing line, the individual items themselves (including the long coat) do not count as seperate pieces of armor. The whole Actioneer outfit counts as one 'layer'.

When you talk about layering armour, I suddenly flash on images of the Michelin Man running about...

It's all very well to go for a min/max approach to armour, but if it doesn't have a cohesive style, then you just look like a damn fool and no-ones going to take you seriously on the street, no matter how big a gun you carry.

I disagree, especially if you're a Troll.

~J

Now let's not be so hasty.

If I was the prospective employer and I saw a runner dressed like that, I'd hire them on the spot.

If they can survive the ridicule of walking around like that and still have the cojones to show their face on the scene, they must be tough.

(Edit: Damn double posts.)