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Armor

The post-Armageddon world is a surprisingly safe place, given its history, but this does not mean much on an absolute scale: wildlife attacks are common and law enforcement or military presence sporadic. While larger settlements in Blue or Green zones have some form of gun control law in place, travelers are well advised to carry means of self-protection, whether it be weapons or armor. The reality of grid travel also makes it a good idea to know how to defend oneself with no or improvised weapons.

Possibly owing to the perceived ineffectiveness of conventional weapons in numerous episodes during the Tribulation, or to the simple fact that ammo manufacturing has taken a step backwards since pre-Event times (lovingly hand-loaded rounds do not have this problem; mass-produced rounds do), the eternal antagonism between weapons and armor has switched back in favor of the latter. On top of it, textiles through most of the world take full advantage of any synergy that might exist between Blue and Yellow zones: fibers that would otherwise require advanced manufacturing and large amounts of hydrocarbons can simply be spun with barely more processing than linen or cotton require.

Armor gives extra Threshold to a character according to its armor value; it may also give a bonus of 1 to defense rolls against melee or ranged attacks.

• : A particular design of armor, derived from the Roman lorica segmentata for the trunk and hips and supplemented by machined plate for the limbs, was used during the events of the Snare. This is called "Jacobite armor" and is universally known to to be Empyrean-resistant, if not Empyrean-proof. The thin plating offers almost no protection against arrows or bullets, but its shape and reputation make it extremely effective against supernatural threats.

Environmental effects such as fire, miasma, extreme cold and so on can be replicated by some sprayers.

Anything expressly designed as armor will eventually cause fatigue to anyone who isn't trained in its use; medium and heavy armor will cause fatigue regardless, but do so much more quickly to untrained users. Armor can be custom-tailored to reduce this effect for the character the armor is being tailored to.

Power armor exists; linear motors built into a frame connected to the the legs and back allow for an effective negation of the suit's weight as long as they are powered, which allows for wearing heavy armor for an extended period of time without fatigue. Linear motors are generally not precise enough to work with shoulder joints, so motorized armor that also confers strength bonuses is limited to custom builds that end up relying at least partially on narrative causality to operate. Either way, motorized armor is slow and unwieldy.

Shields

Shields work as mobile cover in firefights, and tools to parry a blow in melee fights. Defense bonuses due to shields are removed from the damage calculation if the blow hits, since the shield has effectively been bypassed. Light shields give a bonus of 1, medium shields give a bonus of 2, and heavy or tower shields and partial cover gives a bonus of 4. Full cover gives a bonus of 8, but cannot be fired through.

Like armor, medium and heavy shields will eventually cause fatigue to anyone who isn't trained in their use; heavy shields will cause fatigue regardless, but do so much more quickly to untrained users.