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Armor

The galaxy is not a safe place; even discounting human activity, wildlife attacks are common planetside since most worlds that aren't highly integrated tend to have large uninhabited areas, and in any case law enforcement or military presence sporadic. Nearly all territories with the exception of each kingdom's core world or worlds do not practice weapons control past requiring visitors to carry openly and keep safeties bound. This of course causes fights to turn serious pretty quickly, which makes armor a necessity.

Textiles through the galaxy take full advantage of any synergy that might exist between different local environments and the global supply network: as a result fibers that would otherwise require advanced manufacturing and large amounts of hydrocarbons can usually be obtained even in relative backwaters.

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.

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

Spacesuits, except for improvised ones, always have some level of self-sealing and will only start leaking after the first wound.

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.

Motorized armor exists, using the same linear servos employed in robot manufacture; it gives great strength to the user, and replaces physical fatigue with mental fatigue. However, the use will have the same movement penalties that a robot has. This is also the case for standard prostheses (advanced or custom prostheses, once the user is acclimated to them, lose the malus as long as they are kept in good repair and charge).

Shields

Active shields use the same ferrofluid system that spaceship shielding employs; effectively, they react to blows in a non-newtonian manner and take no damage from deflecting blows from melee or ranged weapons. Of note, plasma weapons will destroy a shield on the first hit, and some melee weapons (ceramic kindjals, for example) will bypass shields. Shields do, however, use a lot of battery power. Low-tech forms of shielding such as bucklers and the like act as ablative armor and are generally discarded or put away in a fight when broken; alternatively, they may be used one more time at the cost of their destruction. Since shields are used as mobile cover in firefights, calculations for melee and ranged combat are the same for ease of use.

Light shields give a bonus of 1 total defensive die, medium shields give a bonus of 2, and heavy or tower shields gives a bonus of 4, which ablates when broken through. Energy shields give a bonus of 1 which does not ablate unless a plasma weapon is used against them.

Motorized and Power Armor

power armor in PK

motorized armor is pretty standard for heavy troopers - it allows using heavy weapons (such as autocannons or light artillery) but greatly decreases dexterity. it generally has passive plating on the upper body and arms.

motorized environmental suits allow long duration (days) stays in space or underwater, but give no combat bonuses. the user can set them to autowalk/autonav, which can be very handy.

do not confuse power armor and motorized armor!

what IS considered power armor? armor that gives powers to their users. they tend to be seriously expensive.

ironback armor is somewhere between the two: essentially a nicer version of motorized armor, with arm actuators: deep-space or deep-diving suit that allows for supreme survivability but -really- makes dexterous movement impossible; used in breaching actions for the first person in, when robots cannot be used. relic versions exist, but tend to be worth more to museums and researchers than to field troops -- modern version has more or less caught up, trading durability for maintainability.

engineering armor gives no combat bonuses, but works as an environmental suit and has a micro nuclear furnace that feeds a drill, grinder, welder, and schematics database; a competent technician with engineering armor can repair or cannibalize almost anything; a skilled engineer or inventor with engineering armor can single-handedly uplift a civilization. Engineering armor is one of the few cases in which relic versions are inferior to a good modern version: relic versions are self-maintaining, which isn't a big advantage unless you're on a solo incursion, but can't have their schematics updated and tend to only have a few basic designs available without other precursor equipment that is generally not available.

energy armor is used by ki specialists who have more money than skills and lets them generate shields and vectors as if they were a lot more skilled in the art. possession is illegal in zardoz systems. since it's mostly a system of capacitors, it tends to exist in the shape of a chest/backplate with integrated backpack. modern versions are about as good as baseline relics. some versions carry a plasma shield unit.

wraith armor is a variant of energy armor that is heavily optimized for stealth and subterfuge, at the expense of power generation; it requires a skilled ki user to operate fully. while it does not turn someone invisible, it can mess with automated sensors and help the user distract sentient guards. relic versions are a lot thinner, enough so that they can be worn under clothing by at least some beings, and tend to be sought after by knights and spies.

berserker armor is a rare relic, with gauntlets and boots suffused by microelectromechanical pumps that drain the bodily fluids of fallen foes after a close-range kill, catabolize them, and infuse the user with them. the infusion keeps the user going, and the adrenaline that was likely felt by the victim in their final moments is transfered over, giving additional strenght and speed, and a feeling of invulnerability - the bloodlust that tends to derive from this isn't entirely chemically induced; it's at least partially a side effect of feeling invulnerable. zarth-arn is known to have one. berserker armor is thought to be derived from preator armor that has been damaged, kitbashed, rebuilt, or similar, but sets have been found that were clearly designed for their role (hint: it's the ones with the spikes and scary runes on them).

preator armor is extremely rare; only five fully functional sets are known to exist. like berserker armor, it cannibalizes fallen enemies to keep the user alive, but also reloads its integrated weapons by the same process instead of boosting the user's strength. Notably, it does not mess with the users' perception. it integrates jump thrusters, a grapple, a double-barrel scattergun, a motorized sword, a rail crossbow, and a microwave beam. in the hands of a skilled fighter and tactician, a set of preator armor is sufficient to bring any one populated planet liberation -- or doom.

there is, allegedly, one preator armor with berserker enhancement, called the slayer armor. legend has it that it is buried in the crypt of shuwa, to be used against something that would threaten the galaxy, a greater threat than even the scourge lord, since the scourge lord was defeated without it. nobody knows where or even what the crypt of shuwa is (the zardoz say they do, but they do that)