Pedestrians have always had it bad. Not that that's to be unexpected, they can't stand upto the power of a car, still there's always been someone who wants that little bit more from their pedestrians, and it was only inevitable that someone would invent the powered armour suit.
Powered Armour is much like normal body armour in that it protects the wearer, but the similarity ends. PA is a fully enclosed suit that the user wears and it contains servos, motors, its own power supply and other extras to basically turn it into a small man sized combat vehicle. It travels under its own steam, can carry some truly heavy weaponry, and can be a definite eye opener for motorists.
PA comes in three flavours:
| Type | Cost | Speed | Weight | DP |
HTH | Reduction | HP |
|---|
| Recon | $35,000 | 25 mph | 250 lbs. | 7 | DB +3 | 70 | LA,RA,S,S |
| Standard | $50,000 | 15 mph | 250 lbs. | 10 | DB +4 | 110 | LA,RA,S,S |
| Heavy | $75,000 | 15 mph | 500 lbs. | 16 | DB +6 | 150 | 2 LA, 2 RA, 4 S |
Speed: This is the speed of the suit under its own power. It is treated as pedestrian speed, not normal vehicular speed. Bonuses to runner skill to do not apply to this, and it may not be increased.
DP: This is the armour value of the suit. However it is treated as full vehicular armour grade quality, thus severely reducing the effectiveness of normal pedestrian weapons.
HTH: The damage bonus scored in hand to hand combat using the suits powerful fists. These score half damage versus vehicles, and the value is higher than standard DB rules allow.
Reduction: These suits can carry an awful lots of gear, and because of their powerful servos they aren't as effected in the normal encumbrance. Thus whenever a suit carries a load that would be a multiple of this value, the top speed is reduced by 2.5 mph.
HP or Hardpoints: There is a limit to the amount of gear that a suit can carry, and this is it. A suit may only carry a weapon (or handed piece of equipment that a referee decides can't be built into a suit) if it has a hardpoint free. LA = left arm, RA = right arm, S = shoulder mount. Note that if carrying vehicular weaponry, each of these requires two hardpoints in one area.
Each suit comes with the following equipment:
Military ISH, hi-res telescopic sights, IR suit, NBC suit, and the suit functions as MBA in that it takes half damage from lasers, flamers and burst effects.
Suits can be loaded with any sort of gear that players and referees deem appropriate, but this generally only applies to weapons. Pedestrian gear may be built into the suit if desired, but vehicular components are out, except for weapons which may be mounted on hardpoints. Lasers and equipment requiring power may be powered from the suits supply.
The hands may be used to carry normal hand held equipment. Extra ammunition may be carried and may be used instantly (just like extra magazines), but each extra mag requires 1 HP.
Recon special:
Recon suit, smg (la), laser rifle (ra). Weight: 269 lbs, $39,870
Assault:
Heavy suit, infantry vulcan (ra), 1 tripod missile launcher with 2 missiles (s,s,s). Weight: 825 lbs, speed 10 mph, cost $102,350
[Editors note: I can't believe how much of this article I missed out when I initially wrote it. Things like combat modifiers, hand weapons, movement and more. Still, despite having most of the extra notes on paper, I haven't decided to update this page due to the fact that since it was written, two far better articles have entered the Powered Armour scene, and so I direct the reader to them instead:
Both of these articles provide much more detail than I ever did, and if you have an interest in this subject, then I recommend you check them out.]
Here are some additional items to make your armour the scourge of the roads.
Aqua propulsion pack:
Designed to turn the armour into a mini-sub! To be able to do this, the armour must be sealed and have a life support unit. In or under the water, the unit gives the armour an HC 1, accel of 5 mph and top speed of 20 mph. Costs and weight as per the chart below. 1/2 space.
Rocket Pack:
Turn your armour into a flyer! With this addition, the armour functions exactly like a normal rocket pack. Cost and weights as per the chart below. 1 space.
| Aqua Pack | Rocket Pack |
|---|
| Armour type | Cost | Weight | Cost |
Weight |
|---|
Light Battlesuit
Small/Medium Assault Power Armour | $350 | 20 lbs. | $10,000 | 100 lbs |
Medium Battlesuit
Large Assault Power Armour | $450 | 30 lbs. | $12,000 | 150 lbs. |
| Heavy Battlesuit | $550 | 50 lbs. | $13,500 | 225 lbs. |
| X-hvy Battlesuit | $700 | 75 lbs. | $15,000 | 400 lbs. |
| S-hvy Battlesuit | $1,000 | 100 lbs. | $17,500 | 600 lbs. |
Skates:
Allow yourself the true potential of wheels! These cost $400 amd weigh 10 lbs. They double the normal speed of the armour, but only on paved surfaces. The user must also have the skating skill. For an additional $200 and 10 lbs. the skates can be made retractable. This counts as a firing action, and for one whole second no ground movement is possible as the skates retract or come out.
