Some armor ideas. The math will assume 12 dice to attack, 6 dice to dodge, and a base damage of 8P when you are attacking. That leaves an average of 2 net hits to stage the damage up to 10P.
When you are being attacked, the math will assume that you have 12 to dodge (although you range between 10 and 15) and that the attack connects with no net hits.
Method 1 - Roll soak
Idea: The SR4-5 method. Roll Strength + Armor.
Example: You guys would roll 16-18 dice so let's say you average 6 hits. Against an 8P attack that would leave you with 2 boxes of damage. On attacks you initiate, the average damage will be 4 boxes, so most enemies would go down with three hits.
Pros: Established, reasonably balanced. One-shots potentially possible due to bad soak rolling.
Cons: Much more rolling that the GM would rather not do.
Method 2 - Armor auto-soaks
Idea: Armor soaks hits at a 3:1 ratio with no rolling. Armor rating 12 is now effectively Armor 4. Optional: armor degrades 1 point after each Physical (not Stun) attack until repaired.
Example: Armor 12 would now soak 4 hits the first attack, 3 hits the second attack, 2 hits the third attack, then 1 hit the last attack. Your 8P+2 net hit attack would do 6 boxes the first time, then 7 boxes the second time. On the receiving end, you would take 4 boxes the first attack, 5 boxes the second attack, 6 boxes the third attack. Enemies go down on the second hit on average. Players would go down on the third hit.
Pros: Maintains the idea of armor degrading. Motivation to spend plot points on armor repair. No additional rolling required. Similar to the SR1-3 approach.
Cons: No opportunity to one-shot an opponent. Stacked auto-soaking could lead someone to be impervious (see Chrome Bison, p. 91, who would auto-soak 9 boxes per attack).
Method 3 - All attacks assumed to have Armor Avoidance
Idea: Base damage goes to armor, net hits go directly to damage track.
Example: On average, the players would not be affected by this. On the attack, 2 boxes would go to the enemy's damage monitor while the rest went to their armor.
Pros: Established precedent. Getting wounds on the damage track will lead to negative modifiers sooner, which could then help end battles faster. The least invasive/radical change.
Cons: Invalidates the AA benefits of attacks that currently have it. One-shots are still impossible. Preserves some of the unrealistic ways that armor would degrade after meaningless attacks. (Twelve punches from Granny still wipe out your milspec suit.)
Method 4 - Armor adds to your dodge pool at a 3:1 ratio
Idea: I believe this is what MDMann was suggesting. You roll dodge + 4 dice for your milspec armor. Armor no longer soaks.
Example: That would be enough to break the tie between attack/dodge so that most attacks wouldn't hit the players. On the flip side, the players would be connecting with 1 net hit instead of 2.
Pros: No additional rolling. If armor doesn't soak anymore, then most player attacks will do 9 boxes of damage and knock the grunt out of the fight.
Cons: No soak also means that players would be KO'd after just 1-2 attacks, making dodging all but mandatory. That removes any gradation between "uninjured" and "almost dead".
Method 5 - Compare net hits on the attack vs. dodge and armor separately (but simultaneously)
Idea: Roll dodge and armor at the same time in Orokos. If attack > dodge+armor, then armor doesn't soak. If attack > dodge but attack < dodge+armor then armor soaks. If attack < dodge then attack misses.
Example: The players would have 2 net hits but Armor 12 would roll 4. That means the attack would go to the armor more often than not. Same for the reverse situation.
Pros: Potential for one-shots vs. bad dodge/armor rolls. Realistic that most attacks would hit full body armor.
Cons: More rolling, although the additional syntax is modest since the rolls can be done simultaneously. Much more mental math to figure out where the attack connects. On average, most attacks will hit armor, so this is no faster than the current system.
Those are some of the mechanical concepts. I am aware that, as GM, I can also just give goons less armor, or have them give up sooner and not fight to the bitter end. I would say that I am doing my best to be realistic about these considerations.
That's a pretty good summary of what was rolling around my head over the weekend. The floor is open for feedback.