[RuleLawyer]

My Street Samurai has rating 6 in the "Bodyguard Practices" Knowledge Skill. From a close reading of the rules about barriers and penetration weapons (SR5 pp. 197-198) I assume he knows the following techniques:

#1) To protect the client from bullets and swords he can stand (as a barrier) between the client and the attacker. Against a successful attack he might absorb a high of 4 points of damage (ten bullets) down to a low of 1 point of damage (a sword or one bullet) and the client takes the rest.

#2) Or to better protect the client from bullets and swords he can stand behind the client (using the client as barrier). The client only takes one to four points of damage and the samurai takes the rest.

So when the client is speaking at a podium on an open stage he doesn't need any armor, he just needs my Samurai standing close behind him.

Am I misreading something?

Taking this further, when the Samurai enters the Redmond Barrens he can greatly reduce potential damage from bullets and swords if he carries a dead dwarf in his backpack. As the dwarf is completely concealed, the attacker loses 6 dice.

[Michael Chandra]

Option #2 would only work if they aim to fire through the client, rather than at the client. Otherwise nobody would ever take more than 4 damage from bullets.

I'd still let the client wear armor, to better soak the damage that pierces through the bodyguard.

As for carrying a backpack with a corpse in it: I'd add that armor to your armor carrying limit, meaning encumbrance penalties!

[Horsemen]

I agree with and would do the same as what Michael stated with armor encumbrance. I may also look at other penalties pending a few things and what lengths a character went to mitigate them when using a body as a form of armor shielding.

Stench being one possible.