MilSpec Armor Update [Hardened Armor]

[Polecat]

Would it be possible to have the dice to automatic successes show up on stuff with hardened armor?

For example, Heavy Milspec Armor has 20 armor, but you only roll 10 dice and have 10 automatic successes. Its a very minor thing but I can't help but feel it wouldn't be that hard to update.

That way you'd have like 10 (dice symbol) + 10 as your soak instead of 20 (dice symbol).

Its a little thing but it would be particularly handy, especially where spirits and critters are concerned.

I only ask because I have had to explain a few times to other players that you don't just "halve your total soak" and turn that into automatic successes and that it only applies to "armor" soak and that provided by the milspec suit. If this was factored in on their character sheet during character creation it would make it a lot clearer from the get go.

Thanks!

 

[Kiirnodel]

That isn't quite how Hardened Armor works. You still roll your full dice pool before adding the automatic successes. Last sentence of Hardened Armor from SR5 Core rules pg. 397:

Additionally, half of the Hardened Armor rating
(modified by AP, rounded up) counts as automatic extra
hits on this test.

So from your example, someone wearing the Heavy Milspec Armor with a Body of 4 would roll 24 dice to resist damage, then add 10 more hits on top of that. On average that would mean about 18 hits worth of resistance (average hits from 24 dice [8 hits], plus 10).

But remember, all of that is before factoring in AP from the attack. If someone was using an attack that had say: -6 AP, then that reduces both the armor for the roll and how many auto-hits you get. In that case it would be down to only 18 dice plus 7 auto-hits (average of about 13 total).

At best, I think what you want is some sort of situational tacked onto the Defense value, like the part I quoted up above. But Armor doesn't currently support situationals.