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| Artwork by Louis Glanzman |
As with weapons, highly advanced armors and shields are not commonly available, and are treated more like treasure to be sought than merchandise to be bought. And many cultures still favor the use of the good ol' sword, hammer or axe, so shields are still quite useful. By the way, I changed how shields work. This make it more useful for players with a high Physique and put the responsibility of using the shield rules on the players instead of on the Referee.
As usual, the text below is still a draft, and maybe modified in the final version.
Armor
With so many dangers in the Universe, everyone needs some kind of protection. That's where armors come in. They protect the wearer from damage, but they can also slow them down if they are too bulky. That's why most people only wear the lightest of them. As we did with weapons, this game categorizes armor in 3 general categories. First there is the Light category, composed basically of heavy clothing and leather garments and coats. These reduce all physical damage by 1 point. Then there is the medium category, comprising more tactics armors, especially those worn by guards, mercenaries, and mobile forces. They reduce physical damage damage by 2 points but limit the effective Agility score to a maximum of 13, due to their hard parts and bulkiness. The heavy category includes military grade armor that covers almost the entire body and is quite bulky to use. It reduces physical damage taken by 3 points, however it limits the wearer’s Agility to 13 and imposes a Negative Die on all actions regarding movement or reflexes. The table below summarizes this information.
Armor Category
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Damage Reduction (DR)
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Notes
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Light
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1
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-
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Medium
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2
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Limits effective Agility to 13.
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Heavy
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3
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Limits effective Agility to 13, and imposes a Negative Die on actions involving movement and reflexes.
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Shields
It’s not rare to find warriors among the stars that still carry shields to the battles they face. These items favor those who are strong enough to block attacks coming in their direction. In game terms, shield bearers can opt to make a Physique test against physical attacks made against them. This test is influenced by all normal rules, including the Powerful Opponent rule. If they succeed, the attack is negated. The number of times a character can do that depends on the shield size category. Small shields can attempt to block 1 attack per round, and allow the user to use a item on his shield hand if he foregoes his block attempt. Medium shields allow 2 block attempts per round, but the user cannot equip other items in his shield hand. Finally, large shields allow 3 block attempts per round, but they impose a Negative Die to actions related to movement and attacks, unless the bearer stands still.
Shield Category
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Blocks / Round
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Notes
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Small
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1
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Allow the use of shield hand when not blocking attacks.
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Medium
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2
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Wielder can’t hold other items on shield hand.
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Large
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3
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Imposes a Negative Die to actions related to movement and attacks, unless the bearer stands still.
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