“From the simplest of Jedi robes to the impenetrable Mandalorian Iron, there are many forms of armor available. At the end of the day, however, they all have the same job: to keep you out of my infirmary.” - Dr. Scerri Pellis

Armor can come in categories ranging from light attire to heavy armor and be made of material to offer protection from a variety of threats. As all types of armor will have benefits and drawbacks, it’s important to know how to choose the appropriate equipment for you, your task and your environment. This course will help you make that decision with information on armor categories, protection and modifications.

In the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, you can purchase armor in the Item Stores, with Antares Consolidated Armorers being the primary store for armor. You may also find specialty armor in other stores, such as the Mandalorian Forge for Mandalorian armor. In addition, some armors can be awarded or unlocked for purchase by attaining ranks in the various societies.

Categories of Armor

Armor is divided into four broad categories, ranging from the least amount of protection to the greatest: attire, light, medium, and heavy armor. As a general rule, greater protection comes with greater encumbrance. Stormtroopers equipped in heavy armor are not likely to perform feats of acrobatics to dodge blows, and the added weight may cause them to tire before an enemy equipped in lighter armor.

In the club’s character sheet system used in fiction writing and the Antei Combat Center, encumbrance translates to a reduction of both Athletics and Stamina. Attire and Light Armor will not significantly encumber the average person, but Medium Armor will encumber the average person (one-point reduction), and Heavy Armor will be difficult for most people to wear (two-point reduction).

With training and experience, some are capable of negating the encumbering effects of armor. This ability requires the Beast of Burden feat, which enables a character to wear Medium Armor without being encumbered, and Heavy Armor with less difficulty.

Attire

Not typically considered armor since it affords only superficial protection, clothing is worn by species throughout the galaxy for modesty, fashion and/or moderate protection from the environment and certain weather conditions.

A knife, blaster, or slugthrower won’t even notice clothes in the way, but many Force users or other combatants confident in their ability to stay out of the fray will don them alone or beneath other armor. Those that require ease of movement, stealth or subterfuge may also opt for clothing, which can have greater capacity for item storage – hidden and otherwise.

Officers, diplomats and politicians may wear simple uniforms or more extravagant attire in peacetime or low-threat situations. And, for the general public that is not in fear of being shot or stabbed, casual attire is sufficient for day-to-day activities and generally more suitable for leisure or formal occasions.

Despite not being traditional armor, this kind of basic attire is also available from Antares Consolidated Armorers.

Light Armor

Light armor focuses on being as protective as possible while impeding the wearer as little as possible. With an emphasis on being lightweight and flexible, light armor is not designed to take hits, but to avoid them – protecting only from light blunt force or glancing strikes from bladed weapons.

The same characters who may prefer clothing in low-risk situations will often select light armor in scenarios where they expect confrontation. The robes of a Force user, as well as the uniforms of many wartime officers, fall into this category, as they are often woven with Kevlar and other stiff fabrics designed to stop glancing cuts and blows. They know that the armor won’t stop any serious attack, but prefer it because it doesn’t slow them down or cause any unnecessary noise.

Relying on the Force and their skills to protect them from more serious blows, many Force users favor robes for their superior mobility. They do not impede the user’s movements, allowing them to quickly react while still providing a modicum of protection. Assassins, snipers and spies will also select light armor where dangerous missions require a degree of stealth not afforded by medium or heavy armors.

Police officers on tranquil worlds may be outfitted in light armor since the cost and weight of medium and heavy armors would be an unnecessary expense and burden on the officers. In general, light armor was extremely rare for military use and generally only used if troops were considered expendable or if the military simply lacked the funds to properly outfit them. An example of the latter would be the Alliance to Restore the Republic, who were known to use light armor for many of their regular troops.

Assassin Armor

For those that favor stealth and infiltration, assassin armor offers lightweight protection while maintaining quiet and flexibility in a form-fitting suit complete with hidden weapon compartments and a cowl and face wrap to conceal your identity.

Security-officer-armor

Security Officer Armor

Commonly used by law enforcement and security personnel on calm worlds, security officer armor and similar armors are light, cheap, and protect against little. It often consists of a vest and markings to identify them.

Medium Armor

Medium armor is the first tier of armor that provides its users with enough protection that it may begin to impede their movement, flexibility, stamina and/or stealth. It is stiffer, heavier and more protective than light armor while still being lighter and more flexible than heavy armor. This is an attempt to provide the best of both worlds.

This category of armor can take glancing hits from both blasters and slugthrowers, as well as withstand cuts and blows and even a few direct hits from a sword. As such, it is more forgiving than light armor and still maintains enough flexibility to allow its wearer to dodge heavier weaponry.

Medium armor is primarily worn by soldiers who are not on the frontlines, scouts, and law enforcement on less peaceful worlds. This category of armor is favored by light military troops as well as special response officers on tranquil worlds, or regular police officers on more dangerous worlds.

While rare, some Force users have been known to wear medium armor that has been developed to allow as much freedom of movement as possible for their unique users. The Jedi General Armor of Obi-Wan Kenobi or the robes of the Knights of Ren would be examples of such, as well as the Dark Side tradition that produces Dark Armor.

Underworld Police Armor

Used on Coruscant and many more violent worlds, Underworld Police Armor is far heavier than normal Security Officer Armor. It uses a stiffer metal vest and pauldrons, and leather arms and sleeves to provide greater protection, allowing the officer to confront more violent offenders safely.

Dark-Armor

Dark Armor

A common sight among users of the Dark Side of the Force, Dark Armor is often custom made for the wearer. Extremely expensive, the set provides decent mobility while still protecting the user from a wide variety of threats.

Heavy Armor

Heavy armor is, quite simply, the best armor one can wear in terms of protection. The tradeoff is that heavy armor is (shockingly) heavy and stiff. It can withstand repeated blunt force and bladed attacks. Even small arms, like holdout blasters and small slugthrowers, are very little threat against heavy armor, but the armor’s bulkiness and stiffness make it more difficult for the wearer to hide from an enemy or dodge more powerful or vehicle-based weaponry.

Heavy armor is normally worn by first-line soldiers around the galaxy and is often designed to reflect that fact. It has been the preferred armor of many major standing militaries, particularly the Republic, the Galactic Empire, and the First Order. Heavy armor is rare in non-government or military possession due to the cost of the armor, but military armor sets have increasingly fallen into the hands of criminal syndicates and even some local police forces.

Outside of the criminal element, non-military heavy armors are also seen among the Mandalorian and were once even used by the dark age Sith during the Jedi-Sith war.

In the same way that those with special training may be able to negate the encumbering effects of medium and heavy armor, there are also a rare few who have learned to move silently in the same, balancing their weight in such a way to mask any clinking or creaking. This ability is only possible with the Won’t Attract the Worm feat achieved by high-ranking members of the Inquisitorius.

Mandalorian Armor

Mandalorian armor is one of the most immediately recognizable armors in the galaxy. Made of energy-resistant Beskar, or Mandalorian Iron, it is highly prized by both the Mandalorians and their admirers.

Stormtrooper-Armor

Stormtrooper Armor

Both clone and stormtrooper armors, as well as their variants, are considered heavy armor. Consisting of plastoid composite over a black body stocking, stormtrooper armor is the most commonly available heavy armor on the market.


Types of Protection

In addition to the protection afforded by the category of armor, armor of all categories may be specifically designed with a resistance to specific types of energy, weaponry, or environmental threats. We’ll look at those protections here.

Energy

The most basic types of armor protect against energy weapons. Blasters are the most common weapon system in the galaxy, so most medium to heavy armor will protect against blasters, at least a little.

Ballistics

Somewhat less common than blasters are slugthrowers. Accordingly, armor that protects against slugs is less common, but still readily available.

Blades

Vibroblades, vibroswords, and simple metal blades are still common across the galaxy, so many armors offer at least a little protection against blades.

Environmental effects

Cold, heat, radiation, water, electricity, and vacuum are natural hazards that can be encountered throughout the galaxy. Many specialty or armor variants will focus on hazards such as these, either instead of or in addition to protecting against blasters or slugthrowers.

Lightsaber Resistance

Despite their prevalence within the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, lightsabers are a rare and deadly weapon in the galaxy at large. As such, few armors offer protection from its blade. In the club’s possession system, lightsaber resistance is applied only to specific armor, which will be explicitly labeled as such, either through the item’s description or an Item Aspect.


Armor modification

Some armor sets can be modified from their original design to provide additional protections or simply to alter their appearance. Armor modifications are split into four basic categories: functional, cosmetic, resistance, and helmet. It’s worth noting that functional modifications often come with an offsetting expense to a pre-existing aspect of the armor.

armormod

If your armor can be modified, you will notice an appropriate Aspect Slot where you can assign or change item aspects. To learn more about this process and the possessions system, take the Possessions & Loadouts course.

Functional modifications

Functional modifications change something about how the armor works. While it’s difficult to make armor more protective or more flexible, it’s relatively simple to add additional functionality such as stimulant and bacta injectors, magnetic boots, sound dampening, or even heating elements to keep you warmer.

Helmet modifications

Helmets have their own subset of functional modifications such as radar, thermals, voice changers, and built-in binoculars.

Resistance modifications

Just as functional modifications add extra abilities to armor, resistance modifications add extra resistances to armor. Adding extra layers to resist cold or heat is the most common and simplest form of resistance modification, but armor can be modified to resist energy, radiation, vacuum, and several other threats.

Cosmetic modifications

Cosmetic modifications change how the armor looks, not how it works. How armor looks has a big impact on people. The mere sight of Mandalorian armor is enough to quiet a crowd. Armor can look however the wearer wants it to look. It can be extremely colorful, or black as night. You can select from predefined cosmetic alterations or design your own – as long as the modification doesn’t affect the function of the armor, you’re only limited by your imagination!

Display and Custom Robes

In addition to equipping your character for fictional purposes, you may display your “robes” (this term is used generally and includes both attire and traditional armor) on your dossier using the robe construction tool. From there, you may select robes, outfits, or armor appropriate to your rank, society status, or unit. Additionally, custom robes may be graphically designed by the Herald staff for members who fill certain positions, reach certain ranks, win special competitions, or otherwise excel in the eyes of the Herald and the Dark Council.

Armor Variants

Many sets of armor have variants, especially mass-produced military versions like stormtrooper and clone trooper armors. Variants are designed to fulfill a specific role that the base model cannot do (like added resistance to heat or cold for specific climates), but will generally share the same category as the armor they are based on. An exception to this rule would be the Phoenix Mandalorian Armor, a medium armor variant of the traditional heavy Mandalorian Armor designed to remove much of the plating to give the armor as much mobility as possible while maintaining the material and iconic style of the original.

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