Powered Armor

Unlike light and heavy armor, powered armor requires its own battery, and comes with a fully charged battery at purchase. Powered armor uses the same type of batteries as other items, including charged weapons, and the battery for a suit of powered armor can be recharged as normal using a generator or recharging station (see page 234), or it can be replaced with a new battery when spent (see Table 7–9: Ammunition for battery pricing).

Using Powered Armor
Powered armor augments the wearer’s Strength and has weapon mounts on which ranged weapons can be installed. More about using powered armor is below.

Entering and Exiting
Getting into or exiting a suit of powered armor requires a full action. Unless noted otherwise, a suit of powered armor has an electronic lock preventing anyone from opening it without knowing the passcode. The passcode can be determined with a successful Computers check (DC = 15 + double the armor’s level).

Powered Armor Proficiency
Characters can gain proficiency with powered armor by taking the Powered Armor Proficiency feat (see page 160) or at 5th level through the soldier’s guard fighting style. Lacking proficiency in powered armor comes with more significant drawbacks than with other types of armor. If you are wearing powered armor with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty to both EAC and KAC, you are always flat-footed and off-target, and you move at half speed. If the armor has a special form of movement (such as a fly speed), you cannot use that movement.

Improving Powered Armor
It is possible (though expensive) to improve powered armor to make it a more effective, higher-level piece of equipment. It costs a number of credits equal to 150% of the armor’s current price to improve the armor’s item level by 1 and takes at least 24 hours for each level gained. Thus improving an ironclad bulwark to 11th level would cost 28,875 credits. The price paid to improve powered armor by 1 level becomes its new current price, so selling an ironclad bulwark improved to 11th level would bring in 2,887 credits, while improving it to 12th level would cost 43,312 credits.

Anyone who could build a suit of powered armor of the new level can improve powered armor to the same level. Increasing powered armor’s item level by 1 increases its bonus to EAC and KAC by 1 each; if the new item level is evenly divisible by 5, then the powered armor’s bonus to EAC and KAC increase by 2 each instead. If you improve powered armor by 5 item levels, its maximum Dexterity bonus increases by 1, its Strength score increases by 2, and it gains one additional upgrade slot. Powered armor can’t be improved beyond 20th level.

EAC and KAC Bonuses
These are the bonuses the powered armor adds to your Energy Armor Class, which protects against attacks from laser weapons and the like, and to your Kinetic Armor Class, which protects against projectiles and other solid objects.

The cockpit of powered armor is too small to fit a person wearing heavy armor. If you’re wearing light armor while in powered armor, you gain the higher of the EAC bonuses and the higher of the KAC bonuses between the two suits of armor, and you take the worse maximum Dexterity bonus and armor check  penalty. Powered armor is normally designed to be operated by any roughly humanoid creature of Small or Medium size—only creatures not matching those criteria must have the armor tailored to fit them (see Adjusting Armor on page 196).

Maximum Dexterity Bonus
You normally add your Dexterity modifier to your EAC and KAC, but it’s limited by your powered armor. A suit of powered armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus indicates how much of your Dexterity modifier you can add to your AC. Any excess Dexterity bonus doesn’t raise your AC further.

Armor Check Penalty
You take a penalty to most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks equal to this number.

Speed
Rather than using your normal speed, the powered armor has a maximum land speed of its own. In some cases, powered armor has additional movement types as well.

Strength
When wearing powered armor, the armor determines your effective Strength. You use it for all Strength-based rolls. Even if your Strength is higher, you’re limited to the armor’s Strength.

Damage
When you make an unarmed melee attack with the powered armor, it deals damage equal to the armor’s listed damage value plus its Strength modifier.

Size
A suit of powered armor has the listed size, so you may take up more space when you’re wearing it. Some suits of powered armor list a reach in parentheses after size. Powered armor with a reach greater than 5 feet allows you to attack creatures within that range in melee even if they aren’t adjacent to you. Add the reach of the powered armor to the reach of any weapons you wield using the powered armor.

Powered armors of Large or greater size use their own arms and hands, rather than allowing the user to manipulate objects or weapons with their own hands. Operating such a suit of powered armor requires all your hands to be free (within the armor’s cockpit) and allows you use of all the armor’s hands. Large and bigger suits of powered armor have two arms and hands unless specified otherwise.

Powered armors of Medium or smaller size allow the operator to use its own limbs (however many that is), and does not require any hands be free in order to operate the functions of the powered armor.

Capacity and Usage
Powered armor requires a great deal of electricity to function, and it has a battery capacity and usage value.

A suit of powered armor’s battery capacity indicates the number of charges its battery holds. This battery can be recharged as normal using a generator or a recharging station (see page 234), or it can be replaced with a new battery (see Table 7–9: Ammunition). You can put a battery with a smaller charge capacity into powered armor, but you can’t recharge one to hold more than its maximum number of charges.

Powered armor’s usage indicates how long a single battery charge runs the armor. For example, a character in a battle harness with a fully charged battery can use that powered armor for 20 hours before its battery needs to be replaced or recharged. Once you have entered a suit of powered armor, you can tell how many battery charges it has remaining, if any. You can turn a suit of powered armor on or off as a standard action, and you do not need to use all charges for a suit of powered armor consecutively, but you must use them in 1-charge increments.

If you’re in armor that’s out of power, you are flat-footed and off-target, you don’t benefit from the armor’s Strength or damage, and you can’t attack with it or cause it to move. None of its mounted weapons (see below) or upgrades (see Armor Upgrades below) function, even if they have their own power sources. You can’t attempt any Strength- or Dexterity-based skill checks, and the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus is +0 (or the armor’s regular maximum Dexterity bonus, if lower). You can still exit the armor.

Weapon Slots
A suit of powered armor can mount a number of one- or twohanded ranged weapons, as indicated by its weapon slot value. The weapons mounted in powered armor’s weapon slots require no hands to wield or carry as long as the armor has power, but reloading such weapons requires a free hand (unless you have an automated loader upgrade; Core Rulebook 205). Mounted weapons designed for a creature the size of the powered armor or smaller impose no penalty to attack rolls. It takes a full action to mount or remove a weapon. A weapon can’t be removed and you cannot be disarmed of the weapon if the armor has power and you do not wish the weapon to be removed. Weapons in weapon slots can be subject to sunder combat maneuvers.

Upgrade Slots
You can improve your powered armor with technological upgrades (see below). This entry shows how many total upgrades your powered armor can accommodate. Some larger or more complicated upgrades take up multiple upgrade slots.

Bulk
A powered armor’s listed bulk refers to its bulk when it is picked up or carried as cargo, and it does not count toward your own normal carrying capacity. When you’re wearing powered armor, you use that armor’s Strength to determine your carrying capacity. Count everything you’re wearing, everything the powered armor is holding, and any armor upgrades and weapons mounted to the powered armor against this bulk limit.

Absorptive Shell (Level 6)
EAC Bonus +7; KAC Bonus +12

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 18 (+4); Damage 1d10 B

Weapon Slots 0; Upgrade Slots 1

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Medium; Bulk 18

This powered armor consists of a thin frame around a central command unit (which fits around the torso for a typical wearer), covered in form-fitting plates filled with a rheopectic fluid that hardens when struck, dispersing force throughout the armor and absorbing crushing blows. Although an absorptive shell provides significant protection, the fluid-filled plates can’t support a weapon mount.

Unlike many forms of powered armor which are primarily used as military combat gear, absorptive shells are also often used as safety equipment for skilled rescue workers operating in extremely hazardous conditions, ranging from areas prone to rockfalls, starship crashes, and vehicles that still have explosives and industrial chemicals leaking from them, to actual war zones where rescue workers may come under fire.

Battle Harness (Level 5)
EAC Bonus +9; KAC Bonus +12

Max Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 30 feet

Strength 20 (+5); Damage 1d10 B

Weapon Slots 1; Upgrade Slots 1

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Medium; Bulk 20

The battle harness is the basic powered armor frame used by infantry units in professional militaries.

Brawler Frame (Level 6)
EAC Bonus +12; KAC Bonus +18

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 20 (+5); Damage 3d6 B

Weapon Slots 3; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 40; Usage 1/minute

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 38

Designed for brutal gladiatorial matches against other fighters in powered armor, a brawler frame consists of nanotech shock absorbers sandwiched between rigid metal plates. The default frame comes with blunt piston-powered fists designed to deal bludgeoning damage, but customized models with heavy blades or picks (dealing slashing or piercing damage, respectively) are not uncommon. Many owners paint their brawler frames with garish colors to be more distinctive in the arena.

Cargo Lifter (Level 4)
EAC Bonus +0; KAC Bonus +7

Max Dex Bonus +0; Armor Check Penalty –10; Speed 15 feet

Strength 20 (+5); Damage 1d10 B

Weapon Slots 0; Upgrade Slots 0

Capacity 40; Usage 1/minute

Size Large (5-foot reach); Bulk 34

A cargo lifter consists of a simple metal frame atop slow-moving legs or treads. Rather than having articulated hands, its arms end in specialized gripping tools meant to lift bulky containers. A cargo lifter can’t use weapons and takes a –4 penalty to all attack rolls. It can carry 10 bulk more than normal for its Strength score without becoming encumbered or overburdened.

Commander's Harness (Level 15)
EAC Bonus +19; KAC Bonus +24

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 28 (+9); Damage 2d8 B

Weapon Slots 3; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 40; Usage 1/hour

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 40

A reinforced version of the standard battle harness, this powered armor frame is most often used by squad leaders commanding units of heavily armored soldiers. Its larger size helps leaders of entire armored battalions maintain visibility and control during a confrontation.

Explorer's Cradle (Level 14)
EAC Bonus +17; KAC Bonus +23

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 23 (+6); Damage 3d6 B

Weapon Slots 2; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 100; Usage 1/hour

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 35

Travelers on alien worlds must be prepared to confront a variety of difficult environments. This long-range powered armor resembles a humanoid torso atop several bristly metal tendrils ending in sharp, grasping claws. The armor has comfortable seating and a supply of nutritious paste delivered intravenously; while wearing an explorer’s cradle, you do not need to eat or drink. As a standard action, you can extend and reshape the tentacles into a variety of forms resembling limbs, fins, or wings, gaining one of the following abilities until you next rearrange the tentacles.


 * Bladed Strikes: The damage dealt by this armor increases to 4d8 slashing damage.
 * Climbing Claws: You gain a climb speed of 20 feet.
 * Creeping Legs: Your movement is not slowed by difficult terrain, although you still cannot run or charge through difficult terrain.
 * Fluttering Wings: The tentacles splay out behind you and form connective membranes to create wings, granting you a fly speed of 20 feet with clumsy maneuverability.
 * Undulating Tendrils: You gain a swim speed of 20 feet.

Flight Frame (Level 11)
EAC Bonus +12; KAC Bonus +19

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –5; Speed 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average)

Strength 22 (+6); Damage 2d6 B

Weapon Slots 3; Upgrade Slots 4

Capacity 100; Usage 1/minute

Size Huge (10-foot reach); Bulk 40

This massive, sleek machine is shaped like a person and equipped with powerful thrusters built into the feet and attached to the back, giving it a fly speed with average maneuverability.

Ironclad Bulwark (Level 10)
EAC Bonus +16; KAC Bonus +19

Max Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty –6; Speed 20 feet

Strength 20 (+5); Damage 1d10 B

Weapon Slots 2; Upgrade Slots 3

Capacity 100; Usage 4/hour

Size Large (5-foot reach); Bulk 32

This heavy suit of reinforced metal and polymer powered armor provides superior protection at the expense of mobility. It can mount melee weapons in its weapon slots, rather than only ranged weapons.

Jarlslayer (Level 15)
EAC Bonus +18; KAC Bonus +24

Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty –6; Speed 20 feet

Strength 29 (+9); Damage 2d8 B

Weapon Slots 2; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 100; Usage 1/minute

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 43

The dwarven-built jarlslayer suit is traditionally shaped like a stocky, heavily armored dwarf with articulated hands, though other races have created sleeker, more modern-looking versions.

Personal Submersible (Level 7)
EAC Bonus +10; KAC Bonus +14

Max Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 20 feet, swim 30 feet

Strength 18 (+4); Damage 1d10 P

Weapon Slots 1; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 40; Usage 1/hour

Size Large (5-foot reach); Bulk 32

This bulky, bulbous armor is made of pressure-resistant plates with durable seals. Retractable ridges along the armor’s arms, legs, and back function as fins, providing increased mobility in most fluids. The armor grants you a swim speed and allows you to both breathe underwater and survive the pressure of thick atmospheres and great depths even when your environmental protections are not active.

Reactor Guard (Level 17)
EAC Bonus +24; KAC Bonus +27

Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 25 feet

Strength 30 (+10); Damage 4d6 B

Weapon Slots 3; Upgrade Slots 4

Capacity 40; Usage 1/minute

Size Large (5-foot reach); Bulk 35

This heavy, awkward armor is built with the highest levels of radiation shielding and anti-radiation materials known in the Pact Worlds. Primarily used to lift ultra-dense materials within reactor cores, reactor guard armor is useful for anyone fighting or working in areas with toxic levels of radiation. You and the armor are both immune to radiation (Core Rulebook 403) even when your environmental protections are not active, and you can’t contract radiation sickness while wearing the armor.

Scrapper's Rig (Level 4)
EAC Bonus +5; KAC Bonus +9

Max Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty –6; Speed 20 feet

Strength 16 (+3); Damage 1d8 B

Weapon Slots 3; Upgrade Slots 1

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Medium; Bulk 22

Most often constructed by desperate scavengers, a scrapper’s rig is a mismatched, ungainly amalgamation of exposed wires, steel plates, and leaky hydraulics. You cannot run or charge when wearing a scrapper’s rig.

Spacer Carapace (Level 6)
EAC Bonus +8; KAC Bonus +13

Max Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 18 (+4); Damage 1d10 B

Weapon Slots 1; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Medium; Bulk 20

This powered armor resembles a bulky humanoid insect, including helmet-mounted oxygen canisters that appear as stylized mandibles. The armor’s wide boots contain powerful magnets useful for navigating the exterior of starships and space stations for repair work or guard duty. You can move your land speed across metal surfaces in zero gravity without having to attempt checks; if you are adjacent to a metal surface, you do not automatically move at the beginning of your turn each round. You also gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your AC against bull rush and trip combat maneuvers when you are standing on a metal surface.

Spider Harness (Level 10)
EAC Bonus +10; KAC Bonus +13

Max Dex Bonus +5; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 25 feet, climb 25 feet

Strength 18 (+4); Damage 1d10 P

Weapon Slots 1; Upgrade Slots 2

Capacity 40; Usage 1/minute

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 28

This suspension harness has six arachnid legs. Each leg has a gravitic attraction device at the tip, allowing the armor to climb up walls and even walk across ceilings. The armor grants the wearer a climb speed of 25 feet. A spider harness also has powered arm braces that attach to the wearer’s arms, allowing the wearer to use weapons.

Starguard (Level 20)
EAC Bonus +27; KAC Bonus +29

Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty –3; Speed 30 feet

Strength 30 (+10); Damage 4d8 B

Weapon Slots 4; Upgrade Slots 5

Capacity 40; Usage 1/hour

Size Medium (10-foot reach); Bulk 10

This shimmering golden armor is made primarily of reinforced esaris, a extremely light and durable proprietary material developed by the kasathan doyenate. One of the most expensive and well-designed armors produced by kasathans, starguard deflects energy attacks nearly as effectively as its reinforced frame absorbs physical blows. The interior of the helmet provides continuous status updates about your surroundings, providing you blindsight (vibration) with a range of 120 feet.

Surnoch Suit (Level 18)
EAC Bonus +23; KAC Bonus +27

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 30 feet, burrow 20 feet

Strength 29 (+9); Damage 3d10 S

Weapon Slots 4; Upgrade Slots 3

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 35

This sturdy gray suit of powered armor has rows of fine blades running along the body and limbs, which serve as digging claws; it is often used by elite sapper teams to reach entrenched enemies. A surnoch suit grants you a burrow speed. You can tunnel through rock while wearing a surnoch suit, but your speed is reduced to 5 feet.

Warmaster's Harness (Level 19)
EAC Bonus +24; KAC Bonus +28

Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty –5; Speed 30 feet

Strength 31 (+10); Damage 5d10 S

Weapon Slots 5; Upgrade Slots 4

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Gargantuan (20-foot reach); Bulk 110

The most sophisticated and powerful version of the common powered battle harness, the warmaster’s harness resembles a towering, armored titan. Its wide shoulder frame normally mounts short-range communication equipment to orchestrate troop movements or an enormous banner to identify military affiliation. It is often used by the generals of entire armies (or by assistants to such generals, in cases where the general cannot be risked directly on the front lines).

Winter Walker (Level 13)
EAC Bonus +16; KAC Bonus +22

Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty –4; Speed 30 feet

Strength 26 (+8); Damage 2d6 B

Weapon Slots 2; Upgrade Slots 3

Capacity 20; Usage 1/hour

Size Large (10-foot reach); Bulk 34

The thick legs of this heavily insulated armor end in short retractable spikes, allowing you to easily anchor yourself to most surfaces. You gain a +2 bonus to your AC when resisting bull rush, reposition, and trip combat maneuvers as long as you are standing on the ground. You and the armor are immune to cold damage and cold environments, even when your environmental protections are not active. Your movement is not slowed by icy surfaces, and the DCs of Acrobatics checks you attempt on such surfaces do not increase.