Armor Crafting

Forging a new set of armor can be a meaningful step in a Guardian's story, signifying a new stage of life, an advancement in knowledge, a renewed resolve to protect others, or even a new philosophy.

Find out more about armor crafting on page 90 of Keeping the Peace: A Sourcebook for Guardians.

Armor crafting follows three simple steps. In Step 1: Select Template, the PC chooses what kind of armor to make. In Step 2: Acquire Materials, the PC acquires the supplies to build that armor. In Step 3: Construction, the PC actually crafts the armor.

STEP 1: SELECT TEMPLATE

When a craftsperson sets about forging a piece of armor, the character first chooses a template from the table below. The template dictates the materials required (Material Price/Rarity), the difficulty of building it (Check), an estimate of how long construction takes (Time), and the base mechanical statistics of the armor should the character succeed on the check (Profile).

ARMOR TEMPLATES

Name	Material Price/Rarity	Check	Time	Profile
Reinforced Clothing	25 credits/0	Average difficulty Mechanics or Survival check	6 hours	+1 soak, +0 defense, 1 encumbrance, 0 hard points
Light Armor	250 credits/0	Average difficulty Mechanics or Survival check	12 hours	+2 soak, +0 defense, 2 encumbrance, 0 hard points
Customizable Armor	500 credits/4	Average difficulty Mechanics check	16 hours	+1 soak, +0 defense, 4 encumbrance, 4 hard points
Deflective Armor	500 credits/5	Average difficulty Mechanics check	24 hours	+1 soak, +1 defense, 2 encumbrance, 1 hard point
Combat Armor	1,250 credits/4	Hard difficulty Mechanics check	48 hours	+2 soak, +0 defense, 4 encumbrance, 3 hard points
Segmented Armor	(R) 2,500 credits/6	Daunting difficulty Mechanics check	72 hours	+2 soak, +1 defense, 6 encumbrance, 4 hard points
Augmentative Armor	(R) 4,500 credits/8	Formidable difficulty Mechanics check	120 hours	+2 soak, +2 defense, 6 encumbrance, 6 hard points

STEP 2: ACQUIRE MATERIALS

To attempt to build armor based on a particular template, the PC must acquire appropriate materials for that template. These are listed under Material Price/Rarity on the table above, and for acquisition purposes count as a single item with the listed price and rarity. As always, at the GM's discretion, certain supplies might not always be available for the listed price at a given market.

At the GM's discretion, PCs can acquire materials for a template via means other than paying for them (such as salvaging them, stealing them, or being gifted with them).

STEP 3: CONSTRUCTION

After acquiring the materials to make the armor, the character must make the associated check listed under Check on the table above to actually build the armor. If the character succeeds, the armor is fully functional and has the profile listed in its template (see table above). If the character fails on the check, the product that comes out of the attempt is unusable, and the materials are lost.

See the table below for suggestions on how to integrate other results into construction. First, crafters can use advantage and triumph results to make improvements to the armor. Then, the GM can spend threat and despair results to add flaws.

The amount of time Step 3: Construction takes is determined by the estimate of working hours listed in the template under Time. Every success result the character scores on the check beyond the first reduces this time by 2 hours (to the minimum of 1 hour). Other factors can also affect the time required at the GM's discretion.

SPENDING ADVANTAGE, TRIUMPH, THREAT, AND DESPAIR RESULTS WHEN CRAFTING ARMOR

Symbols	Effect
Advantage or Triumph	Practice Makes Perfect: The character learns something valuable, and gains a boost die on the next check [they] make with the same skill before the end of the session. Lightweight: Reduce the armor's encumbrance by 1 (to a minimum of 1). Sealable: The armor covers the entire body, and is eligible to have the Vacuum Sealed attachment applied to it (this can only be selected once).
Two advantages or a triumph	Lessons Learned: Reduce the difficulty of the character's next crafting check by 1. Extra Melee Defense: Add +1 melee defense to the armor (this can only be selected once). Special Embellishment: The wearer of this armor adds an automatic advantage result to checks for one of the following skills: Charm, Coercion, Negotiation, Leadership, Resilience, or Stealth (this can only be selected once).
Three advantages or a triumph	Efficient Construction: A sizeable portion of the material is unused or can be reclaimed from the process: the character retains supplies worth 50% of the Material Price needed to craft the item (this can only be selected once). Extra Ranged Defense: Add +1 ranged defense to the armor (this can only be selected once). Extra Hard Point: Add 1 hard point to the armor (to a maximum of 2 additional hard points).
Four advantages or a triumph	Extra Soak: Add +1 soak to the armor (this can only be selected once). Duplicate: Create one additional, identical set of armor (with all of the qualities, improvements, and flaws that the first possesses) at no extra cost. Armor Schematic: Create a schematic that permanently reduces the difficulty of checks to create armor of this template by 1, to a minimum of Simple (—) (this can only be selected once).
Two triumphs	Integral Attachment: Add +1 hard point to the armor, then install one applicable armor attachment that requires 1 hard point. No check is required to obtain this attachment, and it costs 0 credits.
Threat or Despair	Exhausting Effort: Upon completing Step 3: Construction, the character suffers 3 strain. Heavy: Increase the armor's encumbrance by +1. Poor Fit: Donning and removing this armor requires 1 additional action (this can only be selected once).
Two threats or a despair	Complex: The armor is difficult to maintain. Increase the difficulty of checks to repair this item by 1. Difficult to Customize: Increase the difficulty of checks to modify attachments on this armor by 1. Restrictive: The wearer of this armor adds an automatic threat to checks for one of the following skills: Athletics, Coordination, Perception, Skulduggery, or Vigilance (this can only be selected once).
Three threats or a despair	Wear and Tear: The tools the character was using to craft the armor are worn down or destroyed, and are damaged one step (minor damage if undamaged, from minor to moderate, or moderate to major). Fragile: The armor has a substantial vulnerability that can be exploited: whenever the armor becomes damaged, the damage always counts as moderate damage unless it could be worse (this can only be selected once).
Four threats or a despair	Expensive: The armor has intricate mechanisms that can only be replaced at substantial cost. Whenever it becomes damaged, the cost to repair the armor is doubled. Supply Shortage: The character runs out of equipment midway through constructing the armor. The crafter cannot finish it until [they] have a chance to acquire more supplies and spends credits equal to 25% of the Material Price on these additional supplies (this can only be selected once).
Two despairs	Unexpected Flaw: The armor has a serious problem the crafter does not detect. At some point in the future, the GM may spend a Destiny point to cause the armor to fail. When [they] do so, the armor counts as suffering major damage, and thus becomes unusable. Once the armor has been repaired, this flaw is removed and cannot be exploited this way again (this can only be selected once).