# How Armour Works

*The Stellar Armory, Space Opera Weapons and Armour for Exodus NDS. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/stellar-armory/how-armour-works*

Armour has four numbers and a line of qualities.

| Field | What it does |
|:--|:--|
| **Resistance** | Added to the wearer's Resistance, which is half Might, rounded up. No armour in this book adds more than +3 |
| **Melee Defense** | Attacks against the wearer at Engaged range add this many Bane Dice |
| **Ranged Defense** | Ranged attacks against the wearer add this many Bane Dice |
| **Encumbrance** | What the armour counts for while worn |

## Deflecting and Vulnerable

Two qualities decide how armour meets a damage type. There is no table to consult: read the armour's own line.

**Deflecting X (type).** Attacks of that type add X Bane Dice. The armour is built for that attack.

**Vulnerable X (type).** Against attacks of that type, reduce this armour's Resistance bonus by X, to a minimum of 0. The armour has a gap that attack finds.

A type the armour does not name is neutral: the armour gives its full Resistance and no Bane Dice.

## Five Rules

**1. Armour is never worse than no armour.** Vulnerable reduces only the armour's own bonus. The wearer's Resistance from Might is never touched.

**2. Deflecting does not stack above 2.** A character behind a Deflection Screen and inside a Reflec Coat adds 2 Bane Dice to a beam attack, not 4. Melee Defense and Ranged Defense are separate and add on top.

**3. One body armour at a time.** A belt unit and a shield are used with it.

**4. Natural attacks do not trigger Vulnerable.** Claws, bites, and slams apply their type for Deflecting, and never reduce armour through Vulnerable, unless the creature's entry says its attack does.

**5. An untyped attack is Crushing if hand-to-hand and Ballistic if fired.**

## Worked Example

A marine in **Combat Armour** (Resistance +2; Deflecting 1 Ballistic, Deflecting 1 Beam; Vulnerable 1 Disruption) has Might 3, so her Resistance is 2 from Might plus 2 from the armour: 4.

- A pirate fires a **Slug Carbine** (Ballistic) at her. The attack adds 1 Bane Die for Deflecting and 1 more for the armour's Ranged Defense. A hit meets Resistance 4.
- A second pirate fires a **Plasma Carbine** (Plasma). The armour names neither Deflecting nor Vulnerable for Plasma. The attack adds only the Ranged Defense die, and a hit meets Resistance 4.
- A third fires an **Ion Rifle** (Disruption). Vulnerable 1 reduces the armour's bonus to +1. A hit meets Resistance 3.

Had she worn a **Powered Assault Suit**, the Ion Rifle would have met Vulnerable 2, leaving +1 of the suit's +3, and 2 Boons would have shut the suit down for six rounds.

## Wearing Armour

**Donning.** Light armour (+0 or +1) takes a minute. Medium (+2) takes five. Heavy (+3) takes ten.

**Sealed** armour carries its own air for the listed time. A Critical Injury to the wearer breaches the suit; patching it is an action with a suit kit.

**Powered** armour runs for a day of ordinary use on a charge. Shut down by Ion, or out of power, it is dead weight until restarted.

**Cumbersome** on armour adds its shortfall as Bane Dice to every physical check, and its full rating as Bane Dice to Stealth and to swimming regardless of the wearer's Might.