Forums of the Megaverse®

Since noticing that Biotics start off with Living Armor (though not Host Armor, dunno if they could ever use something like that, or Proto-Armor) it got me wondering about some of their natural abilities and how they mesh with that.

For example... since Biotics themselves can have weapons grown from them, be they projectile or energy... not to mention things like blades growing out of their limbs, extra limbs, wings, or a built-in jetpack...

For a lot of this stuff it seems like they would actually have to remove their armor to use it. Otherwise they could not move extra limbs or wings, and body weapons seem like they would have to damage the Living Armor to get through.

This got me wondering if there are guide-lines for custom-building living armor. Like for example if a Biotic had a horn growing out of his head, if there could be a hole in the helmet of the living armor to allot it to go through and them to use it. Or similarly, if a biotic had a Heat Blaster, if a hole could be made in the shoulder of the living armor to allow it to shoot.

If stuff like that isnt possible, many features available to Biotics may end up being back-up weapons for after their Living Armor gets destroyed. Not necessarily bad I guess, though some chars could get around that by buying passive bonus-boosting abilities (like metabolism, reflexes, speed, etc) which would not be impeded by armor.

This also got me wondering... if you bought a ForceField as a Biotic and then your Living Armor ALSO had a force-field... if they could both be active simultaneously or if they would interfere with each other and you had to choose one or the other, wait for the 1st to drop before using the 2nd...

Come to think of it, I wonder if you can (rather than pay to enhance the MDC of a single field) simply buy multiple force fields for the same Armor (Living or Host) or Biotic. On average you get a higher amount of MDC by buying the upgrades, but buying multiple fields would allow better long-term regeneration of damage by cycling them, even if it was not possible to have more than 1 active at a time.

generally speaking, the biotic's body armour is already being customized to the biotic when they spend their bio-e.

as such, I would assume that their living armour is designed to allow their enhancements to function. wearing "generic" or borrowed living armour might cause them some trouble, though.

Yeah, a Biotic with add-ons they need holes for is going to wreck armor borrowed from a normal, and conversely, a normal being lent such a Biotic`s armor is probably going to have holes in his coverage, perhaps vulnerable to called shots or something.

Would such to wear the Living Armor owned by a Biotic who has an Omega Cannon since then you would have a massive bulls-eye on the front of your chest to be shot through, where the panels would normally have to be exposed to pull open.

possibly. it's also possible the armour simply is designed to be able to attach to the plates that cover your omega blaster.

it's organic, so it is actually possible that they simply design it to be able to close tightly, and even seal, if there is no weapon present in the location (though i'd argue that if you know what to look for, those locations would still be weaker than a point without such a gap... conveniently, there's a skill for that sort of applied knowledge, called vital points )

I'm not sure if living armor would be intelligent enough to be able to sense the location of weapons on the body, that does sound like a good idea for an optional upgrade that any Biotic with body-weapons would want built on their armor though. Would probably demand they spend a melee action to open it and another melee action to close it, although they could just keep it open, so long as they realize that leaves their weapon vulnerable to called shots.

This might actually be a good feature for non-Biotics too, some people might want to be able to do stuff like mentally retract their helmets to make out, or mentally retract their hand-armor to shake hands, or mentally retract pelvic portions to be able to evacuate waste products or mate without leaving themselves as vulnerable to assassins as entirely removing the armor would.

Whoever it is that's writing that Genetic Splicers sourcebook, please make this an optional upgrade.

to be clear, i'm not suggesting that all living armour has chest plates that open... i'm suggesting that a biotic equipped with omega blasters will also be equipped with living armour that attaches to the covers for the omega blaster, and moves with it, in much the same way that your living armour is able to move with your legs or hands.

and that if it does not have anything to grab onto where the omega blaster plates are supposed to be, the armour will instead respond by simply sealing shut in much the same way that you can seal your mouth shut when you put it below water.

An unusual enhanced feature like that should cost at least 5 Bio-E IMO though, I don`t think it should be a free upgrade to the armor, too useful.

Was not aware of the mouth-sealing thing, sounds like chest-opening or shoulder-opening could build on that default feature as an added optional feature.

*shrug* the sealing thing is speculation on my part. but think about it, you're not exactly built for underwater activities, yet most of your major orifices are relatively easy to render watertight, with only one of them requiring anything outside of that orifice.

causing a biological creation to have a tight seal isn't an unusual thing... if anything, you'd have to specifically design it to *not* have a fairly tight seal by default.

as to paying extra for it, nobody is going to go to the trouble of giving a biotic an omega blaster if they can't use it while in their armour. when you buy an omega blaster, you've already paid quite enough; there's no need to make it cost more than it already does.

Biotics do not need to be in armor, they are already MDC beings with massive regen capabilities who can grow additional armor just like Host Armor.

I think someone still might go to the trouble of doing it, even if Living Armor got in the way. Someone could easily disrobe and fire it from a distance as a sniping-death weapon and be able to suit up again before enemies got close, or wait until the Living Armor got destroyed before using it as an emergency weapon.

Also if we make it an armor option with a cheap cost then I think people would buy it.

you think someone is going to spend 80 bio-e (plus prereqs) for something that situational?

that's 4/5 of the average biotic's starting budget (which is also typically their total budget across the entire character's existence). you really think anyone is going to blow that much on a weapon that can barely ever be used?

no, that's just ridiculous. if you're spending that much on a single item, it's because you expect to use that item a lot.

and no, biotics are not going to just go into a battle with no armour on. they specifically usually pick the heavier armours... they're not going to have a strong preference for something they never use.

Sure, it's not that horrible a situation. Living Armor regenerates so fast that the GM could calculate the MDC of the portion of the chest that is blown off when you fire it, and it could end up being fully regenerated by the time enemies close the distance with you.

The situation is also escaped entirely if someone has a chest-retraction feature for their Living Armor, which could be assigned a cheap cost. You could even make it something like 1 Bio-E per weapon-system or additional limb to have an optional opening.

Biotics go for heavy Living Armor for 'front-line' protection. The Omega-Blaster is not a front-line weapon, it is a long-range weapon, so they could easily use it to pick off targets at a distance and then suit up into their Living Armor when attackers close into melee range.

The weapon systems on Host Armor are supposed to be targetable, allowing Living Armor to be worn on top of Biotic Weapons would protect them from that, and allowing automatic open-shut in tandem is just too convenient. Allowing a mental retraction (1 action to open, 1 open to close) would help balance that out a bit. A cost is needed to know how to modify armor. Even if we assume that the armor Biotics start with is tailored with this feature for free based on their starting weapon systems, modifications would be necessary if they later gained additional weapon systems or if they took Living Armor belonging to someone else.

the omega blaster is fairly long range, but it works just fine if you're standing 5 feet away from your target too (arguably better than at max range, if your target has other targets standing behind it). and while living armour heals quickly, it doesn't heal so quickly that you should be blowing out your chest plate just before a fight.

Yeah, but since 'open a hole wherever I want and close it whenever I want' is not a built-in feature of Living Armor (seems to be just for the mouth) the exposure of weapons should be a unique feature.

You could simply have a non-active hole cut/blasted in the armor without damaging the MDC too severely, perhaps prevent it healing shut somehow (expander?) but that would mean a Biotic's weapons are ALWAYS exposed (and can't be covered over) and that if they lend that armor to a buddy, their gentle SDC flesh could be damaged through that exposed area.

I'm not sure if there is a way to dice-manage lined-up opponents or side-by-side ones, I know the OB should be able to do that but the 1-target-per-strike system doesn't cater to it so it would require a lot of GM judgement.

There is also that perspective some take that the blast doesn't immediately become 20 feet wide (that would be pretty strange since the opening isn't that wide) so really it should have some kind of minimum distance before it begins to hit multiple opponents, even if just a couple feet, which would still make it useable in Melee combat but it wouldn't vape your ENTIRE armor, just a small exit hole at first.

living armour issued to someone is going to be designed such that they can use it. otherwise, it wouldn't be issued to them. for most people, that just means it has to be approximately the right size (or able to become approximately the right size). for biotics, that means that the armour they're assigned for protective purposes must be able to accommodate their enhancements, otherwise they wouldn't be able to pick weapons for their bio-enhancements.

would those exist in the suit issued to a packmaster? almost definitely not. would it exist in a suit issued to a dreadguard? almost definitely not. but for the suit issued to a biotic, it almost definitely will, because otherwise what's the point? why not just issue them a living armour with all the enhancements, and who cares about giving the person inside any sort of enhancements at all?

for a suit that a biotic is stuck picking up off a battlefield or something, ruling something along those lines would make sense. for a suit issued to the biotic, though, it really only makes sense for the armour to allow their enhancements to work.

the changes would be relatively minor. the suit doesn't need anything to open an area, it simply needs to be designed to seal around enhancements that would protrude (like a spore discharger) or attach to parts that are already designed to move (like the plates that cover the omega blaster).

also, i never said anything about living armour allowing your mouth to be covered or uncovered. i said that just like your mouth (assuming you have a fairly ordinary mouth not in need of restorative surgery or anything like that) is capable of sealing itself shut, a living armour could be designed with orifices that seal shut unless needed. i certainly would consider it reasonable to speculate that a typical living armour is essentially sealed shut after putting it on by such a method, but there's nothing to indicate that is the case.

Your initial paragraph is a stance on the side of giving biotics as many free mental-operated-hole upgrades as necessary to accomodate whatever weapons they start out with at first level (sounds reasonable), but it is still good to come up with a cost for them (even if we skip charging the cost for their first living-armor) for future considerations, if they get new armor or new weapons.

the changes would be relatively minor. the suit doesn't need anything to open an area, it simply needs to be designed to seal around enhancements that would protrude (like a spore discharger) or attach to parts that are already designed to move (like the plates that cover the omega blaster)

A simple passive opening is minor, I can see that as being a simple 1 Bio-E cosmetic. But openings which can close when a weapon is not in use (like if they attach to sliding plates for the Omni-Blaster) are more-than Cosmetic so while it's fine to give this type of thing free for a Biotic's starting armor, I think it should cost 2 Bio-E for that, since it is an active-cosmetic instead of a passive-cosmetic.