A new character Lina created named "Boom" has 3 Quickness, and is a troll with titanium bone lacing (2/1 Armor), Orthoskin 3 (1/2 Armor) and then has armed clothing (3/2) + Lined Coat (total external armor 5/2 I believe).

Now according to the rules, the total armor is 8/5 I believe. now, according to armor and combat pool rules (SR3 pg. 285) He is -3 dice in his combat pool. However, do the bone lacing and orthoskin count in any way towards the layering armor rules? I initially have ruled that it didn't, but I'm curious what the bookninjas think. If it does count then this character can't move (he is over 3 points over his quickness, which means his movement is negative) If it doesn't then he can barely move (1x3 movement...heh)

Sorry if this has been answered in a different thread, just point me at it or answer this question, whichever is easier.

I would just count the weight, not the armor rating. Add whatever weight the augments give towards the encumberance, but towards the quickness penalties... Just extermal armor.

i agree with smiley, the armor he gets from cyberware hes purchased not only with money but essence also its a part of him, external armor isnt.

Don't forget the penalty also gives +TNs to quickness linked skills. That's sort of major in most cases.

Only the worn armour is considered for the quickness and other related penalties. The "armour" that cybernetics provides are bonuses, not armour per se.

I'd suggest a vest with plates and an unarmored long coat if he wants a concealment bonus.

I believe the armor value for worn armor is 5/2 (lined coat 4/2 + layered armor clothing which is 3/0 rounded down to 1/0)

So the consensus is the ortho/titanium shouldn't affect either the combat pool penalty or the quickness related penalties? In which case he is still walking around at 1x3 because of the armor, and -1 dice to combat pool...but at least he's mobile.

Just making sure - it makes sense to me, frankly, I just wanted to poll the bookninjas to see if they agreed or not. I tend to be as canon as possible, so I want to get things right and not houserule things (with a few exceptions, but who doesn't have those, 'cept toturi?)

Yes, armor values round down, and it does not say to a minimum of 1, therefore they will round down to zero if the second piece has a 1 in a rating.

Cyber/bio do noes not count as layering, it just adds to the end total.

Oh I see...so technically Boom can't move? His movement is negative (3-4=!@#$!#)...plus the -4 to quickness tests and -2 die to combat pool.

Eeek. He's gotta dump the armor clothing *quick*

I'd say that it would be to a minimum of 1, so he could still move, but not very quickly.

And it's +4 to the TN for Quickness-related tests (like Firearms and Stealth).

Tell him to dump the Armored Clothing and pick up some Form-Fitted Body Armor (which doesn't count towards those penalties) to go along with his Lined Coat. Then he'd have no penalties at all, and have an Armor Rating of 6/2 to boot.

That's probably what he'll do, but he'll still have a +1 TN to quickness because I believe the lined coat is 4/2 and his Quick is 3.

Thanks for the help tho...that does clarify things and I need to educate the group now. *grin* I think everybody in there is fine...they have good armor but generally not above quickness plus the form fit.

You only take quickness penalties when you layer armor. A single piece will only make you lose combat pool, which in your case would be nothing.

o_o

Thanks for the clarification. bookninjas uber alles!

Clarification:

Boom doesn't have Orthoskin, but he does have Titanium Bone Lace. Strength-based encumberance is *not* a factor for him; this guy has a Strength of 12. His normal layout is Lined Coat (yes, I want the Conceal bonus) and Armor Clothing. His unmodified Combat Pool is 7d6, and he also doesn't have any Quick-based skills, though the total loss of movement is obviously bad.

Short term; dump the Armor Clothing for now; get Form Fit as quick as possible.

Mid-term; get my Quick to racial max of 5.

Long-term (if I continue to play this char); get Muscle Augments to improve his quickness so he can get more armor...

EDIT: My bad; his unmodified Combat pool is only 4d6. I mis-read the writeup.

Remember that any long coat will give you the conceal bonus, even an unarmored one...

So you could wear form fit 4 and a vest with plates and a perfectly normal long coat...

Hmm, not sure how you are getting combat pool of 7, if you have Int 4 and Will 6 and quick 3, that should only be a CP of 6...

Eh, I don't buy the unarmored long coat having the same conceal bonuses as an armored one. IMO the reason you get conceal bonuses is it is a bulky coat that's stiff, so it doesn't show odd bulges as easily. A normal long coat would not have that stiffness because it doesn't have the armoring. And if it DOES have that stiffening, I probably has some kind of protection, and should count.

Sorry, not going to fly in my game.