Armor protects you from damage by absorbing it. Each body part has an Armor SP rating depending on the armor a target is wearing. SP stands for Stopping Power, and this number is subtracted by the damage taken from a hit. The remaining amount is the damage the target takes. If the damage done is does not exceed the SP value, no damage is taken.
Example: A player takes a 9mm to the right arm. Their armored jacket has an SP value of 4, and the attacker rolled an 8 on the damage dice. The player then takes 4 points of damage, as the other 4 was absorbed by the armor.
    Listed here is a table of common armor as found on pages 66-67 of the core rule book. It is listed here for convenience. These armors broadly refer to either a material, type, or tech for the armor. A heavy leather jacket does have to be leather, and probably should be outerwear, but how it looks is up to the player. You're a punk, so let that imagination flow!
Armor Type | Covers | SP | EV | Cost |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cloth, leather√ | Arms, torso, possibly legs | 0 | +0 | Varies |
Heavy leather | Arms, torso, possibly legs | 4 | +0 | 50.oo |
Kevlar T-Shirt, vest√ | Torso | 10 | +0 | 90.oo |
Steel helmet | Head | 14 | +0 | 20.oo |
Light armor jacket√ | Torso, arms | 14 | +0 | 150.oo |
Med armor jacket√ | Torso, arms | 18 | +1 | 200.oo |
Flack vest | Torso | 20 | +1 | 200.oo |
Flack pants | Legs | 20 | +1 | 200.oo |
Nylon helmet | Head | 20 | +0 | 100.oo |
Heavy armor jacket√ | Torso, arms | 20 | +2 | 250.oo |
Door Gunner's vest | Torso | 25 | +3 | 250.oo |
MetalGear™ | Whole body | 25 | +2 | 650.oo |
    Armor can be categorized based on it's material. Metal and composite plastics are considered hard armor. Flexible and fabrics are considered soft armor. This distinction is only made for the purpose of layering armor.
Hard Armor | Soft Armor |
---|---|
Metal Gear | Heavy Armor Jacket |
Police Riot Armor | Medium Armor Jacket |
Door Gunner's Vest | Police Patrol Armor |
Steel Helmet | M-78 RPA Jacket |
Flak Vest/Pants | Light Armor Jacket |
Ballistic Nylon Helmet | Kevlar T-Shirt/Vest |
M-78 RPA Heavy Vest | M-78 RPA T-Shirt |
Corp Mil Body Armor | Heavy Leather |
(RPA = Militech Revised Personal Armor)
    The encumbrance value (EV) indicated how heavy and bulky it is. It is a cumulative stat, meaning every armor piece with an EV and the EV applied from layering all stack. The EV is subtracted from the REF stat.
    Generally speaking, layering armor is considered impractical as the added weight slows you down significantly. That being said, you can have up to 3 layers of armor. Each new layer adds an EV penalty, slowing you down. Only a single layer can be hard armor, the other two must be soft armor.