[TH13TEEN]

Simple question: I have armor. I want to make it Hardened (like Milspec). What (in addition to ranks in Armorer) should I need to pull that off?

[Marcus]

My answer would be, go call your fixer ask your fixer to find an arms dealer and then get the arms dealer to see if a suit can be track down. But don't hold your breath, and make sure you have a large pile of credits on hand.

But keep in mind hardened armor is mil-spec and no kidding illegal or at all subtle. You're way way better off with a nice sleeping tiger suit, and anti-ballistic face mask or a nice helmet, and maybe some add on pieces if you still feel like your resistance roll is to light. Adding some gel-packs can also help but it does make it easier to knock ya down.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

My answer would be, go call your fixer ask your fixer to find an arms dealer and then get the arms dealer to see if a suit can be track down. But don't hold your breath, and make sure you have a large pile of credits on hand.

I'd second that.  There are some activities that are beyond the scope of what shadowrunners are even allowed to do (e.g. Creating forged SINs).  Designing and manufacturing military grade hardware is another.

[firebug]

You can't make armor gain the Hardened quality.  If you want Hardened armor, you'll have to find armor that's Hardened.  If someone could just make some normal armor Hardened Armor, that would be the new normal.  Everyone would use that, because it would be incredibly powerful.

[Kincaid]

Make sure you read the mobility restrictions that come with hardened armor closely.  Halved movement rates and extra fatigue really hurt in a game that generally involves running away from authorities.

[Reaver]

Simple question: I have armor. I want to make it Hardened (like Milspec). What (in addition to ranks in Armorer) should I need to pull that off?

If I am understanding you, you want to self make a suit of hardened armor using skills??!?

OK.

First, you need some engineering skills to design the suit in an extended test (probably a test around 20 hits or so)
Next, you need some knowledge skills for materials that would be suitable to your purpose.
Finally you need a crafting skill (like Armorer) to actually craft the suit in an extended test - again probably 20 hits or so.
You also need a Facility to do this type of work.

*****

Now, just so you understand what hardened armor is: Hardened Armor is generally a material so dense or thick that it completely absorbs the full kinetic impact of the projectile so that none of it is transferred to the wearer.
When talking about flying lead, you are talking about a LOT of energy! For example, a .44 mag 300 grain round hits with 1411 Joules of energy. - and that is not the top end, just what I shoot! that 1400 joules is similar to the impact energy of most assault weapons as well (the standard 5.56mm hits with 1398 Joules).

and in case you are wondering, 1400 joules = roughly 1000 foot pounds of pressure...

So you need to design a suit that can shield you from a Ton (literally!) of force and not that that impact work against you...


Good luck.

[Mirikon]

Simple question: I have armor. I want to make it Hardened (like Milspec). What (in addition to ranks in Armorer) should I need to pull that off?

If I am understanding you, you want to self make a suit of hardened armor using skills??!?

OK.

First, you need some engineering skills to design the suit in an extended test (probably a test around 20 hits or so)
Next, you need some knowledge skills for materials that would be suitable to your purpose.
Finally you need a crafting skill (like Armorer) to actually craft the suit in an extended test - again probably 20 hits or so.
You also need a Facility to do this type of work.

*****

Now, just so you understand what hardened armor is: Hardened Armor is generally a material so dense or thick that it completely absorbs the full kinetic impact of the projectile so that none of it is transferred to the wearer.
When talking about flying lead, you are talking about a LOT of energy! For example, a .44 mag 300 grain round hits with 1411 Joules of energy. - and that is not the top end, just what I shoot! that 1400 joules is similar to the impact energy of most assault weapons as well (the standard 5.56mm hits with 1398 Joules).

and in case you are wondering, 1400 joules = roughly 1000 foot pounds of pressure...

So you need to design a suit that can shield you from a Ton (literally!) of force and not that that impact work against you...


Good luck.

And this is why when you look at pics of milspec armor, it looks like superhero power armor (even though heavy milspec is junk compared to Iron Man's suit). F=ma is the ultimate equalizer. You don't get to shrug off that stuff unless you have the mass to back it up, and the compensators to keep the energy from rattling the poor carbon-based sack of mostly water inside the armor too much. The only beings that get to raise the middle finger to that are spirits and dragons, because Magic.

So unless you have several high end skills, your own facility, and a LOT of R&D money, you're not making your own hardened armor suit. Moreover, doing this is going to put you on the radar of pretty much any corp, syndicate, and gang in the sprawl, wanting to acquire you and 'persuade' you to turn your talents to their use. That's not even counting the utter shitstorm that rains down any time someone hauls out milspec armor in situations that don't need milspec.