[Hjarne]

Hi guys.
I'm new at shadowrun, both the game in general and this forum in particular, so please bear with me.
I'm drawing up my very first shadowrun char, a bear shaman. Regarding gear, I was wondering if you could get/make an armor focus, sort of like a weapon focus but for armor/defense. I'm quite familiar with the setting, but haven't actually played sr before, so it might be a stupid question.

[8-bit]

Not currently, no. Although, you could always houserule it.

I wouldn't recommend it though, it's so easy to get huge dice pools for soaking damage, that any more would just be overkill.

[Herr Brackhaus]

What you could do is make a piece of armor a Sustaining Focus, and then cast Armor (or Deflection, unless you want to be noticed since Armor has a visible "glow" effect as per the spell description) through it.

It's not technically what you're thinking of, but it's close enough as far as I'm concerned. Note that the Force of a spell sustained through a Sustaining focus cannot exceed the Force of the Focus (unless you use Edge or Reagents). This means that at character generation, you are limited to a Force 4 Spell Focus (Sustaining, Manipulation) (because the Focus is Availability (Force * 3)).

For more information, see page 292 (Armor Manipulation spell), pages 318-320 (Foci), and page 461 (Magical Equipment).

Edit:
An Armor Jacket could be your Force 1 Spell Focus (Sustaining, Manipulation), and if you used Edge to Push The Limit you could cast a Force 1 Armor Manipulation spell through the Sustaining Focus and take any and all hits you could get. This would cost you 4000¥ and 2 Karma at character generation, as well as the point of Edge (obviously) when casting the spell. Alternatively, you can use Reagents to set the limit of the spell that way. See page 316 for information on Reagents and what they do.

That being said, I would probably use an amulet or ring or something more portable as a focus, as opposed to a suit or piece of armor; it's a lot easier to bring a piece of jewelry with you into a secure area than a set of combat fatigues, after all.

[Namikaze]

armor focus, sort of like a weapon focus but for armor/defense.

Armor doesn't have the ability to become a focus in the same method as a weapon can become a Weapon Focus.  Note the capitalization there, because that's the crux of it all.  A weapon can be made into a Weapon Focus, which has special rules about it.  There is no such thing as an Armor Focus, because as Herr Brackhaus pointed out you could easily make a Sustaining Focus that holds any spell you want it to hold (including Armor or Deflection).  Your Sustaining Focus could be a piece of armor, but you'd probably be better off just making it a necklace or bracelet or something.  In addition to making the Sustaining Focus something you can get away with wearing any time and any place, it isn't likely to get damaged.  If your GM plays with the armor damage rules, then as soon as your armor (which is a Sustaining Focus in this scenario) becomes damaged the focus is disrupted.

[psycho835]

What you could do is make a piece of armor a Sustaining Focus, and then cast Armor (or Deflection, unless you want to be noticed since Armor has a visible "glow" effect as per the spell description) through it.

There's always the "Body Glove" from 4E Tir Tairngire supplement, higher drain, no lights, should be easy enough to convert to 5E. But you better come up with a good reason for knowing it.

[Hjarne]

Thanks for the answers. I hesitate to mention it, but a friend suggested rolling a mystic adept, and stacking on mystic armor qi foci. Suggestions or input?

[Michael Chandra]

Do you mean Stacking Qi Foci of the same power? If so, there was a topic about that recently. My own opinion: Given how this strategy helps avoid Focus Addiction problems and Availability trouble, I am fully opposed to it. Unfortunately the RAW is not up to date, but RAI always was 'you can't use the same kind of focus twice for doubling up on a boost', this should not just apply to dicepool modifiers but also for Qi Foci.

If the question is 'what do you think of a mystic adept who uses mystic armor qi foci', keep in mind the total power of your own + foci is still limited by your Magic. And Mystic Armor isn't always the most useful power, Combat Sense and Improved Reflexes often are better since it's always best to avoid the hit entirely. But it's possible, you wouldn't want the armor itself to be the focus though.

[All4BigGuns]

I wouldn't recommend it though, it's so easy to get huge dice pools for soaking damage, that any more would just be overkill.

Easy solution: Just have it grant ITNW with the threshold to bypass the hardened aspect being the armor's Force x 2. Though Force x 3 might be better considering it would take a really high Force to affect Heavy Pistols, and Sniper Rifles/Assault Rifles would render it moot.

[Xenon]

Thanks for the answers. I hesitate to mention it, but a friend suggested rolling a mystic adept, and stacking on mystic armor qi foci. Suggestions or input?

pretty sure only your highest rating active Mystic Armor qi focus count.

...and if not, you will run into the hard limit of number of focus you can bind.

[MijRai]

Anyone else want to help me stat out an 'armor' focus, where the rating provides Hardened Armor (either Rating amount or Rating x 2, depending on balance)?  Nuyen cost seems like it'd be high, not sure on Karma cost. 

[Herr Brackhaus]

Hardened Mil-Spec Armor is 15k for AV 15, 20k for AV 20, and 25k for AV 20 with availability of 16F, 18F, and 22F, respectively.

Given that a magical version wouldn't impede your movement, I think the cost for such a focus should be very high and very, very hard to get.

[All4BigGuns]

Anyone else want to help me stat out an 'armor' focus, where the rating provides Hardened Armor (either Rating amount or Rating x 2, depending on balance)?  Nuyen cost seems like it'd be high, not sure on Karma cost.

I'd probably go with the Force x 3 for the Hardened value while only adding it's actual Force to the Armor Value. This is because at Force x 2, it would take a Force 4 to ever have any effect on something like a Heavy Pistol, and it would never have a chance at all of impeding a Sniper Rifle (and would need Force 6 or higher to affect an Assault Rifle).

As to cost, I'd probably set it around 6,000 x Force for the Nuyen cost and have it cost 5 Karma per point of Force to bind.

[MijRai]

And perhaps count the normal armor value as an Accessory (So you take penalties if you try to stack too much on).  That, or perhaps make it so the focus' force can't exceed the armor value of whatever it's being put on?  I'd assume, like weapon foci, that armor foci would have to be armor of some sort. 

Also, this should go without saying, but the Armor Focus shouldn't stack with Hardened Armor from other equipment. 

[All4BigGuns]

Also, this should go without saying, but the Armor Focus shouldn't stack with Hardened Armor from other equipment.

Well, to be fair if someone paid the cost to put that on Military Armor, I don't see a problem with the magic increasing the Hardened value. The cost and difficulty to obtain it all would make it rare enough as-is.

[MijRai]

Well, to be fair if someone paid the cost to put that on Military Armor, I don't see a problem with the magic increasing the Hardened value. The cost and difficulty to obtain it all would make it rare enough as-is.

At first I would agree, but having Hardened Armor into the thirties (easy with a set of mil-spec and a moderately high Force Armor Focus, assuming 3 points of Hardened per point of Force), gets a little too crazy from my perspective.  With Heavy Mil-Spec w/ Helmet, you're getting 32 points of Hardened Armor with it being enchanted at Force 3.  Assuming an equal Restricted Rating to Power/Weapon foci, Force 3 is only 12R, which is easy compared to the armor itself.  Light Mil-Spec w/ Helmet would hit 30 at Force 4, so 16 Availability for both Focus and Armor.  Assuming a tied cost with Weapon Foci, and that's 21,000 nuyen and 28,000 respectively, so it only surpasses the armor's inherent value by a little (or the armor surpasses it a bit if you have fancy upgrades like a chem-seal). 

Also, though this doesn't factor into Character Creation, the Object Resistance of the modern Mil-Spec Armor, with all the bells and whistles, would probably make it tough to enchant in the first place.  That could be a possible limit, I suppose. 

My big concern is the fact that you can ignore most everything.  Even the super-tank-troll with full mil-spec, along with all the bone lacing and dermal armor he could get, is only getting 23 Hardened, and 50-60 soak.  A high enough hit could hurt him, provided he flubs his soak roll.  Allowing Hardened Armor to stack takes that 'high enough hit' and makes it near impossible.  I mean, a guy with a Thunderstruck or Panther XXL sniping him might be able to damage that guy (23 Hardened, -8AP to 15, 15P damage as the base, or -6 AP with 17P as the base, respectively), provided he can shoot the guy; same goes for high-explosive rockets/missiles if they get a direct hit; he's ignoring grenades and frag missiles.  At that point, the only guaranteed penetration is from a anti-vehicle missile, what with 24P, -4AP (he's not a vehicle, so it uses the lower AP value).  Once you hit 29 Hardened, you're immune to practically every weapon (Actually, unless I'm missing something, it IS every weapon) in the book; it'd take a dedicated combat mage to hurt you, what with the AP value of combat spells cast high enough.  It'd take a Force 15 Indirect spell to supersede the anti-vehicle missile in damage, and hit the 29 Hardened with a good chance of success.  Direct Mana Spells would be the only realistic way of touching him, and you'd think he'd have a high Willpower if somebody put him in that suit.