Elements

Skin Modifications

You may call it a cover, shell, panel, or exo-frame, but just like your own personal exterior, everything on the outside of a vehicle is covered by Skin. This can be as simple as the mass-produced polymer panels installed at the factory to the exotic (and illegal-to-own) nanoforge-created densiplast/ferro-ceramic/dura-tungsten milspec composite.

Skin has three defining characteristics: Form, Foundation, and Element. Forms are how much skin a vehicle has - its appearance, shape, and how well it protects the passengers (if any). Foundations are the actual protective material that defines the Armor value of the vehicle. Finally, elements are the wiz accessory layers that have some specialty function beyond the basics.

Skin modifications are considered a Chassis modification for the sake of determining modification slot use.

Forms

The form is basically just the shape of the outer skin on a vehicle. Sometimes the appearance of the skin is the only real difference between two makes of vehicles.

Open Construction

(Level 1)

The vehicle either has no skin, such as an open chassis dune buggy, or the riders sit outside the skin like on a motorcycle. Occupants have very little protection unless there is enough armor for a windshield or a fairing.

With an open vehicle, a Take Cover major action will provide Cover I when the rider uses the vehicle as a shield from incoming fire. If there’s actually a little protection provided by a windshield or fairing, this becomes Cover II (if the Armor rating is at least half the Body rating) or III (if the vehicle’s Armor value equals or exceeds the vehicle’s Body rating).

By stripping some of the Skin and paying for the change to an open construction form, any vehicle can be changed to this form. This change in form frees up one Chassis mod slot for standard forms and two for totally enclosed forms. Note that this is due to the different form, not just stripping the Armor. Removing armor will, however, increase vehicle performance by reducing its weight. An open form vehicle can be converted to a standard form by paying for the upgrade and spending one Mod slot. To do this, the Armor must be at least equal to Body. This can be continued to a totally enclosed construction style for 2 mod slots when the Armor is at least 1.5 times Body. Adding any extra armor is a separate cost from the form upgrade. If the vehicle is already a standard form vehicle, then this modification only requires one mod slot and 1.5 x Body in armor. Remember to include the performance effects after any change.

Standard Construction

(Level 2)

This is the typical passenger-vehicle-style construction and is the default for most vehicles. Astandard construction vehicle can be stripped down to open construction or upgraded to a totally enclosed construction by the method described under the Open Construction section.

Being inside a standard construction vehicle in a firefight provides protection similar to being behind a barrier. If the windows or doors are open to return fire, the occupants can use a Take Cover major action providing Cover II, III, or IV (Cover status level is up to the GM’s discretion, depending on the vehicle and the runner’s position in it). If the vehicle is closed, the occupants may not attack (unless it has gun ports) and everyone inside the vehicle counts as being behind a barrier. Vehicles use their Armor rating as the Structure rating, so incoming fire subtracts half of this value (rounded up) from the incoming unmodified damage, same as any other type of barrier.

Totally Enclosed Construction

(Level 3)

This style of construction has long been the standard on military vehicles and is relatively uncommon on civilian vehicles. Drones normally use this form also, but do not gain any advantage or disadvantage from it (but it does make water- proofing them easier).

Standard form passenger vehicles can be upgraded to this form by spending one mod slot and if their Armor rating is at least 1.5 x Body. Totally enclosed construction adds two to the effective DR provided by the Armor rating since it extends over the areas normally used for windows; the drawback (other than decreased performance from more weight) is that occupants must use sensors for all outside information. A totally enclosed construction vehicle can be stripped down to standard construction or even open construction by the method outlined in the open construction section. In combat, a totally enclosed form provides all of the protection of a standard construction vehicle with the doors or windows closed. Also, since attackers cannot see where the defenders actually are inside the vehicle, all of the defenders automatically gain an Edge point.

Stripping Form

Mod Slots: Adds 1 per level

Availability: 2

Cost: ¥4,000 per level reduced

Increasing Form

Mod Slots: Adds 1 per level

Availability: 3

Cost: ¥6,000 per level increased

Realistic Features

This is more of a form mod than an actual form. Any vehicle (but most often a drone), can have its Skin foundation sculpted and covered in a synthetic material to mimic fur, feathers, or even human skin. The intricacy of the disguise can vary depending on how much time and resources are put into it. This can range from a simple coating of realistic-looking skin made from a synthetic material, to a full covering of living tissue fed by an artificial circulation system with devices to simulate organs. The realistic features mod has a rating from 1 to 4. The rating sets the threshold of the Perception test to recognize the machine as artificial. The true nature of the vehicle is always instantly recognizable by checking its aura with the Astral skill, which quickly shows it to be an inanimate object.

Mod Slots: 1 per level

Rating: 1 - 4

Availability: Rating x 2

Cost: Rating x Body x ¥1,000

Foundations

Commercial vehicles (almost all the vehicles in SR6) use a polymer plate foundation; this type of Skin is also called standard or softshell. Some se- curity vehicles incorporate ceramic plate into the Skin creating a hardshell-style of armor. Vehicles designed exclusively for military use will have one of the three grades of milspec plate worked into their vehicle Skins.

Adding layers of Foundation beyond what’s provided by the factory-installed Skin will negatively affect the vehicle’s performance, just as removing it will improve some performance. Integrating layers of ceramic plate generally has no effect on performance, but using layers of heavy milspec protection changes the distribution of mass in the vehicle and lowers its Speed Interval.

Armor's Effect on Performance

Acceleration
- Every two points of standard armor added over the original armor rating reduces the vehicle’s Acceleration by one meter per combat round; removing two points of standard armor from the original armor rating increases the Acceleration by one meter per combat round.
Top Speed
- Every 1 point of standard armor added over the original armor rating reduces the vehicle’s top speed by ten meters per combat round; removing one point of standard armor from the original armor rating increases the vehicle’s top speed by ten meters per combat round. If the top speed of ground vehicles is lowered to zero, they can’t move. Aircraft cannot get off the ground after their top speed is cut by 50 percent.

Standard Armor

(Softshell)

Cheap, durable, easy to find, and easy to work with, polymer plate is the standard Skin found on almost all commercially produced vehicles. Increasing (or reducing) the thickness of a polymer plate foundation directly modifies the Armor attribute of the vehicle at a 1:1 ratio. Adding extra layers of standard armor does not cost any mod slot points, so there is no advantage to removing it except to reduce weight (or to change the construction Form). Additional layers of foundation material can be installed without reworking the existing armor, so the cost of the additional armor added is the only expense. The maximum thickness of standard armor that can be added to a vehicle is twice the original Body rating or when the extra armor plating would reduce the vehicle’s top speed to zero (or half of the original top speed for aircraft).

Mod Slots: -

Rating: Up to 2 x Body

Availability: 3

Cost: Rating x ¥800

Ceramic Plate

(Hardshell)

Light and tough but expensive, restricted, and difficult to work with, micro-layer ferro-ceramic armor can be found in some security and military vehicles. Incorporating ceramic plate into a vehicle’s Skin provides much better protection than standard armor’s polymer plate. If ceramic plate is added to a vehicle, every 4 rating points of Armor on the vehicle (rounded down) add one die to Body for any Damage Resistance tests the vehicle takes.

Ceramic plate is an accessory layer integrated into polymer plate, not an actual standalone armor system. While less obvious than milspec plate, it can still be easily spotted if you know what to look for. Ceramic plate does not have a rating, so pricing and mod slot cost will always be the rating of the vehicle’s Armor attribute. If additional standard polymer plate armor is later added, the mod slot and nuyen cost of ceramic plate must be included in the upgrade. If mod slots are not available to include the ceramic plate, the upgrade of additional armor cannot be made.

Mod Slots: 0.25 x Armor

Rating: -

Availability: 5 (Illegal)

Cost: Armor Rating x ¥1,500

Milspec Plate

(Level 3)

This foundation type covers a wide assortment of heavy composite armors that combine integrated layers of exotic metal alloys, specialty ceramics, and hyper-dense polymers. Extremely hard to acquire and even harder to work with, milspec plate vehicle armor is illegal to possess outside of corporate and government militaries. It still, however, manages to find its way into the shadows.

Similar in use to ceramic plate, milspec plate is actually additional layers of foundation material integrated into standard armor—not an independent armor system. Milspec plate is only available in heavy plates, and it gives skins the boxy hard-angled look that’s associated with military hardware. It cannot be concealed, and its use is obvious to anyone looking at it. It’s also hyper-dense and alters the distribution of mass in negative ways when it’s used on commercial vehicles. Milspec plate only has three rating grades, regardless of the thickness of the armor it’s integrated into.

This Foundation material reduces the Damage Value of any attack by 1 per rating point, and each rating point applied reduces the Speed Interval by 5.

Milspec Plate (Rating 1)

Mod Slots: 2

Availability: 9 (Illegal)

Cost: ¥30,000

Milspec Plate (Rating 2)

Mod Slots: 4

Availability: 10 (Illegal)

Cost: ¥40,000

Milspec Plate (Rating 3)

Mod Slots: 6

Availability: 11 (Illegal)

Cost: ¥50,000

Elements

Layers of specialized material installed over, under, or inside the Foundation provide a wide spectrum of passive benefits. This may be extra protection against specific energy types, including arcane energy, or even protection against astral surveillance.

Elemental Hardening

This is a group of similar skin modifications that can provide protection from specific energies or specific conditions. Elemental hardening is equivalent to the armor mods (p. 266, SR6).

Chemical protection, cold, fire, and electricity resistance can be installed on passenger vehicles and drones.

Mod Slots: 0.5 x Rating

Rating: 1 - 6

Availability: -

Cost: Rating x ¥1,000

Ram Plating

This installs layers of radio-absorbing material that increase the noise modifier when avoiding sensor lock actions and radar detection systems. This system also grants a point of Edge when performing Stealth tests. See p. 140, Double Clutch for more information on Sensor Locks.

Mod Slots: 0.5 x Rating

Rating: 1 - 6

Availability: 4 (Illegal)

Cost: ¥1,500

Grey Mana Integration

The Grey Brothers and a number of other entrepreneurs provide this material as arcane protection for vehicles. This modification grants one extra die per rating to resist any magical effect affecting the vehicle or its occupants. The downside is that any Magic test except drain originating from within the vehicle subtracts one die per rating point.

For totally enclosed vehicles, this can be upgraded to grey mana warding, a tech analog of a mana barrier, stopping astral travel in addition to the effects noted above. Grey mana warding of a vehicle is 2 x the cost per level of Gray Mana Integration and generates a permanent dual-natured mana barrier with the same barrier rating as the mod’s rating. This barrier cannot be dispelled and has no owner, so it affects everyone and everything equally.

Mod Slots: 1 per level

Rating: 1 - 6

Availability: 4 (Illegal)

Cost: Rating x ¥2,500/¥4,000

Skin Modifications

Forms

Open Construction

(Level 1)

Standard Construction

(Level 2)

Totally Enclosed Construction

(Level 3)

Stripping Form

Increasing Form

Realistic Features

Foundations

Armor's Effect on Performance

Acceleration

Top Speed

Standard Armor

(Softshell)

Ceramic Plate

(Hardshell)

Milspec Plate

(Level 3)

Milspec Plate (Rating 1)

Milspec Plate (Rating 2)

Milspec Plate (Rating 3)

Elements

Elemental Hardening

Ram Plating

Grey Mana Integration