Recently at my weekly game day it was asked...why are there no armor foci in Shadowrun?

My answer was "There never have been, it is a world where it is easier to destroy then it is to defend and Armor Foci like Lined Coat Force 3 would just change the feel of Shadowrun so there are no Armor Foci."

All the same though I am tossing the question out there to you Dumpshockers to see what the rest of the community has to say.

Wouldn't this just be like a sustaining focus for armour spell?

I realize that there are sustaining and quickening and anchoring foci that you could attach an armor spell to that would provide a foci that gives you extra armor dice through magical means, but what I was asking about is why are there no specific Armor Foci existing in Shadowrun.

Sustaining Focus (Manipulation) + Armor Spell = Armor Focus

EDIT:

Dammit, cx2 beat me to it! This is what I get for opening all active threads in tabs...

I dont get it. Are you talking about making a foci out of a piece of armor ?? A jacket or coat or whatever would be pretty easy to trash or lose and it would be easily visable to enemy mages for attack spells and stuff?? Would be kinda pointless. Like a giant picket sign that you have to hold in both hands to sustain improved reflexes .........

The Tir folks actually do have magic armor. They've never been given stats.

For most purposes an Armor or Combat Senses spell sustained on a target is better protection. However it is indisputably true that an Armor Focus that came with you on astral projections like a Weapon Focus does would be bad ass.

-Frank

I think the OP is wondering about a device whose sole purpose is to add armor to the wearer. This would not have to be a piece of clothing, and it also would likely be less difficult/expensive to make because its function is much more limited (one spell) than a sustaining focus.

I don't see a problem making such a thing, but the actual costs are debatable.

i don't know why there isn't, but it makes sense that there would be armor foci. i had been wondering about an adept taking attunement for armor, which wouldn't be as cool.

One problem would be that it would make mystic armor a worthless power. Mages already have a spell that duplicates the function of mystic armor, so they don't exactly need a focus that does that.

Also, foci do not, and never have, mimicked spells. The only reason an armor focus even sort of makes sense is that there are weapon foci, and "armor" goes with "weapons." But that's it. Other than that, it's just a focus that does the same thing as a spell, which is not what foci are for. It's what spells are for

There are considerations of game balance and setting flavor that come into play with "armor foci." For one, you have to decide what you actually want the focus to do. Armor is naturally very passive and very physical, whereas foci are very active and very astral. An armor focus would have to add some sort of dice to a test, it couldn't simply be "Okay, now you have a dual-natured armor vest, go have fun in astral combat." Astral combat itself is a very abstract thing: do you really think your astral form has any particular vital areas? ("Oh noes! I punch him in the third eye!") On the other hand, if the focus doesn't provide an astral armor rating, then why does its particular form matter? Weapon foci, at the least, need to be weapons because they still deal damage; if an armor foci does not provide an equivalent armor rating, then why enchant a piece of armor? On a larger scale, people concerned with magical protections have a number of options already available to them: quickened and anchored spells, spirit powers, mana lodges, Awakened ivy, etc.

...now if your looking at an anchored item the Armour spell has one drawback, it kills any stealth as you would still have that glow around you whenever you wore the item of clothing. The other strike is that you need to find a mage willing to burn karma to anchor the spell and deal with one of his spell signatures wandering about town (I forgot, is there still also that "astral thread" link back to the mage?).

There is Astral Armor spell right? Since Foci travel with you astrally, and the spell is on your Astral Form, isn't it the same thing? I know it may be cooler from a fluff point of view, but I don't see the point. If anything, it is more limited. The only upside to it is that the only drawback is an active focus. The bound magician has no drain to resist.

Personally I don't like it. It just seems too easy.

I have to agree, the very notion of Armor Foci makes my teeth ache.