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Archives of Nethys

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Scaling Equipment

Scaling Armor

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
There’s no shortage of armor types at every level, but if you want an outfit that’s tailor-made to your needs, scaling armor lets you build what you want, keep upgrading it, and maintain consistent fashion sense over your character’s adventuring career.

Create a Concept

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
In brief, what is your armor, and what does it look like? Are you creating deceptively defensive street clothes that can deflect lasers? Is this an intimidating suit of heavy armor covered in spikes? Is this heavy-duty protective gear used to explore volcanoes (but can deflect a knife if needed)? Whatever your idea, a succinct concept can inform which features you choose for your armor.

Light Armor Progression

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
ARMOR LEVELEACKACMAXIMUM DEX BONUSARMOR CHECK PENALTYSPEED ADJUSTMENTUPGRADE SLOTSBUILD POINTS
1+0+2+4——00
2+1+3+4——00
3+2+4+4——00
4+3+5+4——00
5+4+6+4——10
6+6+7+4——10
7+7+8+5——10
8+8+9+5——11
9+9+10+5——11
10+10+12+5——21
11+11+13+5——21
12+12+14+6——21
13+13+15+6——22
14+14+16+6——22
15+15+17+6——32
16+16+18+6——32
17+17+19+6——32
18+18+20+7——33
19+19+21+7——33
20+20+22+7——43

Heavy Armor Progression

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
ARMOR LEVELEACKACMAXIMUM DEX BONUSARMOR CHECK PENALTYSPEED ADJUSTMENTUPGRADE SLOTSBUILD POINTS
1+2+3+1–2–5 ft.10
2+3+4+1–2–5 ft.10
3+4+6+1–2–5 ft.10
4+5+7+1–2–5 ft.10
5+7+8+1–2–5 ft.20
6+8+9+1–2–5 ft.20
7+9+10+2–2–5 ft.20
8+10+12+2–2–5 ft.21
9+12+13+2–2–5 ft.21
10+13+15+2–2–5 ft.31
11+14+16+2–2–5 ft.31
12+15+17+3–2–5 ft.31
13+16+18+3–2–5 ft.32
14+17+20+3–2–5 ft.32
15+19+21+3–2–5 ft.42
16+20+22+3–2–5 ft.42
17+21+23+4–2–5 ft.42
18+22+24+4–2–5 ft.43
19+23+25+4–2–5 ft.43
20+24+26+4–2–5 ft.53

Choose an Armor Type

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
For this system, you can choose between light armor or heavy armor. Your armor’s type and item level determine its base statistics for EAC bonus, KAC bonus, maximum Dexterity bonus, armor check penalty, number of upgrade slots, and perks. Determine your armor’s base statistics for its type and item level by referencing the appropriate armor progression table below. Some perks and flaws modify these statistics further.
Bulk: Light armor has a starting bulk of light bulk. Heavy armor has a starting bulk of 2. Some perks and flaws modify these values but can’t reduce the bulk below light bulk.

Armor Flaws and Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
The best part of designing your own armor is customizing it! Perks grant special bonuses, helping you specialize your armor. Optionally, you can add flaws that inhibit some part of the armor’s performance but grant you additional perks.
Flaw (Optional): Your custom armor might perfectly fulfill some of your needs at the cost of another. When creating or upgrading your armor, you can choose for it to have one flaw (or change its existing flaw). A flaw provides some penalty, but in return, you gain an additional Build Point you can use to buy perks.
BP Cost for Perks: Except where noted, armor perks each cost 1 Build Point to acquire. Exceptions list the cost in BP alongside the perk’s name.
Design Perks: Some perks are marked as design perks, which provide numerous changes to the armor’s statistics that represent a major adjustment to how the armor is built. Your armor can only have one design perk.
Duplicate Perks: Except where noted, you can’t purchase and apply multiple copies of the same perk to a suit of armor. For perks marked with an asterisk (*), you can purchase and apply the perk a second time, but the second perk’s BP increases by 1. For example, you could purchase the responsive perk twice for 3 BP (1 BP for the first, and then 2 BP for the second perk).

Armor Flaws (Optional)

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 142
You can select a flaw from the following list.
Flimsy: Reduce either the armor’s EAC bonus or its KAC bonus by 1. You can’t select this flaw if it would reduce the bonus below +0.
Minimalist: Reduce the armor’s number of upgrade slots by 50%, rounding the number of slots down.
Rigid: Increase the armor’s armor check penalty by 1, and reduce the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus by 1 (minimum +0). You can’t choose this flaw if the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus is already +0.
Vulnerable: Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The chosen energy type triggers catastrophic side effects for your armor, such as your armor being especially flammable, conducting electricity painfully well, or amplifying sound waves. When you take damage from the chosen energy type, you increase the damage taken by an amount equal to half the armor’s item level (rounded up).

Armor Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 142
You can select perks from the following list.
Adaptive Fashion: Choose three 1st-level clothing personal items (such as those presented on page 230 of the Core Rulebook). As a full action, you can adjust your armor to provide yourself the benefits of one of these sets of clothing. This effect lasts until you use a full action to instead gain the benefits of one of the other chosen sets of clothing. This adjustment doesn’t hide the fact that you’re wearing armor, but it might alter the armor’s cosmetics.
Ample Upgrades*: Increase the armor’s number of upgrade slots by 1.
Antiradiation Weave: When you fail a saving throw against initial exposure to radiation while wearing this armor, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to reroll the saving throw without the armor’s circumstance bonus to saving throws and use the higher result.
Deflective (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 1. This can’t cause the armor’s EAC bonus to exceed its KAC bonus.
Environmental Endurance: The armor’s larger internal batteries double the amount of time you can operate the armor’s environmental protections to 2 days per item level.
Flexible*: Reduce the armor’s armor check penalty by 1 (minimum 0).
Heavy Duty (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 1, increase its KAC bonus by 1, and increase its armor check penalty by 1.
Massive (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 2, increase its KAC bonus by 2, increase its armor check penalty by 1, decrease its maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and increase its speed adjustment penalty by 5 feet (e.g., a speed adjustment of –5 feet becomes –10 feet). This perk can’t be applied to light armor.
Reinforced (design): Increase the armor’s KAC bonus by 1.Resistant: Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The armor dissipates this form of energy especially well, granting you resistance to that energy type equal to the armor’s item level divided by 3 (rounded up).
Responsive*: Increase the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus by 1.