Shadowrun Clothing and Armor

## **Clothing**

No one wants to walk the streets naked—not just because of the social implications, but also because of everyday dangers like acid rain and ultraviolet radiation.

Clothing in 2072 comes with some incredible options to enhance its wearer’s quality of life. Commlinks, music players, and other electronic devices are often woven right into the fabric, powered by interwoven batteries or special fabrics with solar recharging capability. Electrochromic threads that change color with low voltage, flexible screens, woven fiberoptics, and similar features allow you to alter the color or display complex images and patterns. Combined with a wireless link, you can set your clothing to display messages and images from a library file on your commlink, change color according to the weather forecast, or even glow brighter when in the vicinity of more commlinks. More advanced ruthenium polymer systems can take on any color the user wishes in seconds, scanning the surroundings so she can melt into the background (or stand out from a crowd).

* **Clothing**: Clothing in 2075 comes with amazing features you’ll likely completely take for granted. Commlinks, music players, and other electronic devices can be woven right into the fabric, powered by interwoven batteries or special energy-gathering fabrics. On the other side of the economy, cheap soybased “flats” can be had for five nuyen per article of clothing from vending machines around the Sprawl. The more money you spend on your threads, the more impressive you look.
* **Electrochromic Clothing**: Electrochromic threads can change color with voltage, letting you alter the color of your clothing or display text, images, or patterns. This is good for fashion, but great for vanishing into a crowd if you need a quick costume change. You can even get armored clothing in electrochromic styles. It takes a Simple Action to change the settings on your electrochromic clothes, but a couple of Combat Turns to complete the change.
* **Feedback Clothing**: This clothing modification creates feedback and resistance in order to allow for a tactile augmented reality experience. This technology is still rare, as full immersion solutions are cheaper and also more effective.

* **Leather Jacket/Duster**: Whether a basic jacket or a knee-length duster the leather jacket never goes out of style and offers a modicum of protection.

## **Armor**

Thanks to monofilament ballistic fabrics, spiderweave threads, ceramictitanium composite plates, and liquid armor packs to cover non-rigid areas, modern armor is lightweight, flexible, and concealable. The following armor items offer tremendous damage resistance without slowing the wearer down or drawing too much attention.

* **Actioneer Business Clothes**: These discreetly armored “power suits” are still très chic among Mr. Johnsons, fixers, and executives who are looking for a little high-class protection with their neo-Japanese style. Features a concealed holster (an additional –1D+1 Concealability modifier) inside the jacket.

* **Armor Clothing**: The extra-resilient ballistic fiber in armor clothing offers basic protection while being indistinguishable from regular clothing.

* **Armor Jacket**: The most popular armor solution on the streets comes in all styles imaginable. It offers good protection without catching too much attention, but don’t think of wearing it to a dinner party.

* **Armor Vest**: Modern flexible-wrap vests are designed to be worn under regular clothing without displaying any bulk.

* **Chameleon Suit**: A full body suit made from ruthenium polymers supported by a sensor suite that scans the surroundings and replicates the images at the proper perspectives, providing the wearer with chameleon abilities. Apply a +2D+2 dice pool modifier to Sneak and Hide Tests. Also armored for additional protection.

* **Full Body Armor**: Worn by military and security personnel around the world, full body armor is often styled for intimidation as much as ease of movement. It features a padded undersuit, over which patches of liquid armor gel and extensive armor plates are attached. Though surprisingly lightweight, full body armor is certain to draw attention. In addition to an array of useful tactical gear and webbing, full body armor can be outfitted with environmental adaptation (for hot or cold environments) and/or a chemical seal to completely protect the wearer from toxic environments or attacks.
Full body armor is electronically integrated with a wireless link, and can be enhanced with additional features such as vision enhancements, tracking/RFID signals, smartlink, and more.
The armor suit’s helmet incorporates a wireless link and can be equipped with any of the vision enhancements.

* **Lined Coat**: Reminiscent of the long dusters worn in the days of the Wild West, lined coats offer good protection and also provide an additional –1D+1 Concealability modifier to items hidden underneath.

* **Urban Explorer Jumpsuit**: Ideal for messengers, athletes, and anyone on-the-go, these colorful jumpsuits are well-ventilated for lots of action but surprisingly protective with light-weight densiplast and liquid reactive armor. Features a built-in music-player and biomonitor.

## **Armor Modifications**

Worn armor can be upgraded with a range of modifications.

* **Chemical Protection**: The application of water-resistant, nonporous, and impermeable materials helps protect the wearer against contact-vector chemical attacks. For full body armor, this will also protect against inhalation-vector attacks.

* **Chemical Seal**: Only available to full body armor, the chemical seal is an actual airtight environmental control that takes 1 Complex Action to implement. It provides complete protection against contact and inhalation vector chemicals, and has a built-in 1-hour air supply.

* **Fire Resistance**: Fire-retardant, heat-resistant, and nonflammable materials protect the wearer against Fire damage, adding its full rating to the armor value.

* **Insulation**: Thermal fibers, insulating layers, and heat-retentive materials protect the wearer against Cold damage, adding its full rating to the armor value.

* **Nonconductivity**: Electrical insulation and grounding materials protect the wearer against Electricity damage, adding its full rating to the armor value.

* **Shock Frills**: These strips of “fur” are electrically charged when activated, standing on end and inflicting Electricity damage to anyone that comes into contact. This modification must be used with the nonconductivity modification (so that the wearer does not get shocked). Use the Brawling skill to attack with the frills. The frills hold 10 charges; when attached to a power point, they reload one charge per 10 seconds.

* **Thermal Damping**: Designed to reduce the wearer’s thermal signature, inner layers capture and retain heat while outer layers maintain a surface temperature equal to the surrounding air. Thermal damping adds its rating x 2 pips (3 pips = 1D) as a bonus to Sneak Tests to avoid thermal sensors, thermographic vision, etc.

## **Helmets and Shields**

Helmets and shields do not count as separate pieces of armor; instead, they modify the rating of worn armor by their rating.

Due to the unwieldiness of a shield, a character using one suffers a –2 dice pool modifier on any physical tests (including attacks). Shields can also be used as a melee weapon (using the Melee Combat skill).

Shields may be upgraded with the chemical protection, fire resistance, and nonconductivity armor modifications. When combining armor and a shield, only one of them provides the modification bonus (wearer’s choice).

* **Helmet**: Helmets come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but their common purpose is to protect the head from trauma. Helmets are often tricked out with accessories such as trode nets and visual aids.

* **Ballistic Shield**: This large opaque shield is used for house raids and other SWAT activities. It features a clear plastic window and a built-in ladder frame along the inside so that it can be used to climb over small obstacles.

* **Riot Shield**: As an added crowd control measure, a riot shield can be used to shock anyone who comes into contact with it, inflicting Electricity damage. The taser shield holds 10 charges; when attached to a power point, it regains one charge per 10 seconds.

 Riot Shield

## **Source**

* Shadowrun 5th Edition Core Rulebook (2nd Printing) (pages 436-438)
* thedemonapostle