Powered suits enhance the wearer’s strength and mobility. They come in two styles: open exoskeletons and enclosed battlesuits. Most powered suits provide a bonus to Lifting ST (p. B65) and Striking ST (p. B88).

A powered exoskeleton (or “exo”) is an open framework of artificial “muscles.” When the user moves, the sensors in the suit react to and match his movements. The wearer uses the physical attributes of the exoskeleton rather than his own.

Exoskeletons provide little protection, but unless noted, they may be worn over clothing or any flexible armor.

These are attached to the body and limbs. They provide a bonus to Lifting ST and Striking ST. Battlesuit skill limits DX and DX-based skills; see p. B192. With the power on, a full-body exoskeleton’s weight is not counted toward encumbrance.

A rugged, heavy-duty exoskeleton designed for cargo loading and construction work. It’s often used as a substitute for a fork-lift truck or construction robot. It is very strong, but the oversized arms are not suited for fine work. It stands eight feet tall (SM +1). The wearer gains Lifting ST+12 and Striking ST+8. In addition to any penalties for low skill, the wearer is Ham-Fisted (-3 DX).

The exoskeleton has a built-in laser torch (p. 80), a mini tool kit (p. 82) for Mechanic skill, and a fire extinguisher tube (p. 87).

This is a lower-powered but less bulky exoskeleton. It grants the wearer Lifting ST+10 and Striking ST+6.

Basically a battlesuit without the armor, this light but powerful exoskeleton is used for military or paramilitary operations. Its leg braces and motors boost the wearer’s agility as well as his strength. It grants Lifting ST+12, Striking ST+12, and Super Jump 2.

This lightweight exoskeleton can be concealed under heavy clothing, such as a jacket or trousers. It can only be worn over skimpy clothing. It’s useful for covert operations, and visitors or first-generation colonists may wear stealth exoskeletons as normal clothing on high-gravity worlds. It’s also useful for natives of low-gravity worlds visiting a planet like Earth. The stealth exoskeleton gives Lifting ST+4 and Striking ST+4.

Lower-body exoskeletons are worn by porters, soldiers, and anyone else who needs to carry heavy loads without straining. They include an exo-supported backpack capable of carrying up to a 70-pound Payload; when the power is on, this load is not counted toward encumbrance. Battlesuit skill only limits DX and skills for tasks that require lower-body agility, such as melee attacks or jumping.

A bulky “power glove” and arm brace that enhances gripping power. The glove can also be set on “auto-grip,” which makes it “freeze” in any desired position; the user can then slip his hand out of the glove and leave it clamped onto something. It gives Arm ST+6 for crushing, gripping, and holding to the arm it is worn on (the user can wear one glove on each arm, if desired). It requires Battlesuit skill, but this only limits DX and skills for tasks involving the power-sleeved arm.

This belt projects an invisible force field around the user that not only protects him, but also follows his movements and enhances his physical strength and mobility. The exofield belt gives Lifting ST+20 and Striking ST+20, as well as Super Jump 3. It is operated using Battlesuit skill. Its weight is counted toward encumbrance. The field provides no DR or enhancement when the power is turned off.

If an exoskeleton has a split DR, use the higher DR against any swinging melee attacks, falls, or collisions. Use the lower DR against all other damage types.

A battlesuit is an armored exoskeleton. Its strengthamplifying feature lets a battlesuit trooper carry squad-support weapons like heavy machine guns or semi-portable blasters. Many battlesuits have built-in tactical systems such as sensors or weapon mounts, and are designed for hostile environments.

Battlesuits are much more expensive than ordinary combat armor, and require more training to use, but they greatly increase effectiveness. A single battlesuit trooper with heavy weapons can be as effective as an entire squad, and nearly as mobile as an armored vehicle. Gadgeteers also love to build futuristic battlesuits: an ultra-tech suit in the modern world lets even a normal person become a super-powered hero or villain.

Battlesuits do not run any faster, since the user’s speed is limited by the length of his legs, but suits with strong leg muscles can move quickly by using a series of jumps, which may provide both the Super Jump advantage and an increase in Basic Move. Wearing a suit is not fatiguing; except for the helmet, the armor’s weight does not count as encumbrance while powered up. If the suit loses power, the wearer can still move (unless he’s in a combat walker), but he must use his own ST to carry the weight!

Unless otherwise noted, a battlesuit opens at the waist so that the user can easily step in or out. This takes three seconds, plus another three to screw on the separate helmet, if there is one. However, it takes 30 seconds to do this and perform all the subsystem checks, power everything up, and connect all features (such as the waste relief and biomedical telemetry). This time is halved on a successful Battlesuit skill roll. It’s also possible to omit the check-out procedure and just start moving, but if so, the GM should feel free to have internal systems fail (“due to your rush, the suit filter wasn’t properly locked down – looks like that nerve gas will affect you after all”).

At TL9-10, most battlesuits should be fitted to the wearer. Refitting takes two hours and requires an Armoury (Body Armor)+2 roll. Failure means another attempt is required. Critical failure damages the suit, which will need minor repairs before it is usable, or suffer a fault that will not be apparent until it is used in action. It is possible to use an unfitted suit, provided the user is the same size, shape, and sex as the last wearer (height/weight should be no more than 2% off). However, the wearer will suffer a -1 penalty to DX and all DX-based skills.

At TL11+, nanogel systems based on smart bioplastic layers are routinely built into all battlesuits. A nanogel system fits like a glove and adjusts itself to conform to any wearer within 10% of the weight and height of whatever average it was built for.

Many battlesuits are used with flight systems, since the suit’s strength amplification makes it easy to carry extra gear. For maximum flexibility, these systems are not included in the suit designs, but are usually worn as external packs or belts. See Flight Pack (pp. 230-231) for various options. Flight systems interface with battlesuits, allowing the suit’s own navigation displays to be used for flight control.

Units operating underwater will use an aquatic propulsion pack (p. 228) or a contragrav belt (p. 231) for submerged mobility. A few suits have integral aquatic propulsion.

These early designs have a barrel-shaped torso that blends into the head. There is no neck or waist articulation; the user must rely on sensors to see behind him and cannot twist his torso around. The suit’s hands are also crude (but very strong) grippers. Combat walkers built for humans stand eight feet tall (SM +2).

A combat walker is more mobile than a tank, but its agility remains limited. The suit can sit or kneel, but the user cannot crawl, get up from a prone position, jump, or swim. On the other hand, the walker is covered with depleted uranium composite laminate over high hardness steel alloy, and can shrug off fire from light anti-tank weapons.

The suit’s exoskeleton provides Lifting ST+20 and Striking ST+20. Due to its longer legs, it also adds +1 to Basic Move. While wearing the suit, the wearer suffers Bad Grip 2 (p. B123). The entire suit’s weight is ignored for encumbrance. However, if the combat walker loses power, the wearer is effectively paralyzed until he leaves the suit.

The suit has several standard accessories: a GPS (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), biomedical sensors (p. 187), and a waste relief system (p. 187). Its helmet electronics include a hyperspectral visor (p. 61), a medium radio (p. 44), and a small laser comm (p. 44). The helmet has audio sensors so the user can hear outside the suit, but it lacks olfactory sensors; unless the hatch is opened, the user suffers from No Sense of Smell/Taste (p. B146) when dealing with the outside world. The suit’s surface has a tactical ESM (p. 62), and incorporates infrared cloaking (p. 99) and radar stealth (p. 100).

A combat walker is slightly more roomy than most other battlesuits. This means that it is a “one size fits all” suit that does not require special fitting to each user. It has a hatch at the back that the user must climb into; due to its height, the suit should be in a kneeling posture to enter, or it takes an extra second to clamber into it. Entry and exit are otherwise similar to most battlesuits. Different variations of combat walker are described below. Combat walkers become obsolete at TL10+, and are replaced with heavy battlesuits (p. 184).

This is the standard model, designed for operations in terrestrial conditions. It is sealed (p. 171), with a filter mask (p. 177), climate control (-20°F to 140°F) (p. 171), and radiation protection (PF 10) (p. 171). It can be equipped with air tanks (pp. 176-177), but these add to its weight.

This model can swim underwater using ballast tanks and a waterjet propulsion system. It has Water Move 4, and a built-in small sonar (p. 65). It is sealed, and provides climate control (-20°F to 150°F), pressure support (10 atm.), and radiation protection (PF 10). It has a large air tank, giving a it a 24-hour air supply at TL9.

This battlesuit is designed for operations on hostile alien worlds. It can walk underwater, but cannot float or swim. It has vacuum support, and can operate underwater or in superdense atmospheres. It is sealed, and provides climate control (-459°F to 300°F), pressure support (30 atm.), radiation protection (PF 10), and vacuum support. It has two large air tanks, giving a it a 48 hour air supply at TL9.

This is a standard medium-weight combat battlesuit. It is seven feet tall, made of articulated plates of metalmatrix composites with an inner layer of reflex armor. Powered combat armor is intended to resist rifles or light machine guns, but can’t stand up to anti-tank weapons. It is small enough to fit through ordinary doors, making it a superb tool for house-to-house fighting, urban warfare, and boarding actions. It may be assigned to elite forces or every soldier, depending on resources and doctrine.

Powered combat armor gives +10 to Lifting and Striking ST and Super Jump 1. Biomedical sensors (p. 187) and a waste relief system (p. 187) are standard features. The suit’s surface has a tactical ESM (p. 62).

The helmet comes with a filter mask (p. 177), a GPS (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), a small radio (p. 44), a small laser comm (p. 44), and a hyperspectral sensor array (p. 61). The helmet has olfactory and audio sensors so the user can hear and smell outside the suit.

With the helmet on, the suit is sealed. It provides climate control (-459°F to 250°F), pressure support (10 atm.), radiation protection (PF 10), and vacuum support. It has a large air tank with 24 hours of air at TL9. In a contaminated but breathable atmosphere, it can operate using the standard filter mask.

Powered combat armor incorporates infrared cloaking (p. 99). Chameleon surfaces (pp. 98-99) are common but not standard.

Note: This suit is similar to the Battlesuit on p. B285.

This suit is more like a miniature spaceship than a vacc suit. It is a rigid pressurized cylinder with a transparent helmet dome; the whole thing is slightly larger than a man. It has no legs, but is propelled by an integral thruster pack mounted in the base. The suit’s thrusters accelerate or decelerate it at up to three yards/second2, with enough fuel for 300 seconds of acceleration. A Piloting (HighPerformance Spacecraft) roll is required to quickly change direction.

In addition to its normal suit sleeves, it has three ST 15 waldoes – remote-controlled arms – for heavy duty work; they can be used as normal arms but at a -3 DX penalty. Any two waldoes may be used at once. One waldo also mounts an integral laser torch (p. 80). A waldo’s grip can be power-locked onto a structure (e.g., a ship’s hull) to hold the suit steady while the other limbs are used for work.

It is sealed, providing climate control (-459°F to 300°F), radiation protection (PF 10), and vacuum support. It has two weeks of air. A small (eight-inch diameter) airlock in its side is used to transfer small items (such as tools, food, or air) without breaking suit integrity. It has a built-in medium radio (p. 44). The suit is powered by an E cell, and has sockets for a second cell.

Like a combat walker (p. 182), a zero-G worksuit does not need to be specially fitted to each user.

This is a lightweight, agile, form-fitting powered armor suit. It may be popular with commandos, SWAT teams, or costumed heroes.

Its exoskeleton gives +15 to Lifting and Striking ST and Super Jump 2. Biomedical sensors (p. 187) and a waste relief system (p. 187) are standard features. The suit’s surface has infrared cloaking (p. 99), radar stealth (p. 100), and a tactical ESM (p. 62). The helmet comes with a filter mask (p. 177), an inertial compass (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), a small radio (p. 44), a small laser comm (p. 44), and a hyperspectral visor (p. 61). The helmet has olfactory and audio sensors so the user can hear and smell outside the suit.

With the helmet locked down the suit is sealed, providing climate control (absolute zero to 500°F), pressure support (20 atm.), radiation protection (PF 10), and vacuum support. It has a large air tank (p. 176) with 36 hours of air at TL10. In a contaminated but breathable atmosphere, it can operate using the filter mask.

These highly-mobile suits can fight in almost any environment. They have enough life support to keep the user alive for days in a contaminated war zone. They are smaller than TL9 combat walkers, but still stand seven feet tall and are bulky (SM +1).

The armor is a thick shell of laminated nanocomposites and ceramic armor over an inner layer of shock-absorbing liquid armor. This gives torso protection equal to at least three inches of steel plate. It also has integral superconductor-based electromagnetic armor, which doubles the suit’s DR against shaped-charge warheads and plasma bolts. The electromagnetic armor operates off a separate D cell and is good for 10 uses.

A powered exoskeleton amplifies the user’s muscles and ground speed (see below). Except for the helmet, the armor’s weight does not count as encumbrance while powered up. It is powered by an integral radiothermal generator which operates it for up to 10 years.

The suit’s helmet includes a filter mask (p. 177), an inertial compass (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), a hyperspectral visor (p. 61), a small laser comm (p. 44), and a medium radio (p. 44). The suit’s body incorporates biomedical sensors (p. 187), trauma maintenance (p. 189), a provisions dispenser (p. 187) with a week’s provisions, tactical ESM (p. 62), and a waste relief system (p. 187). The suit also has infrared cloaking (p. 99) and radar stealth (p. 100).

With its helmet on, it is sealed, and has climate control (-459°F to 500°F), pressure support (10 atm.), radiation protection (PF 5), and vacuum support. It has two large air tanks with a 72-hour air supply at TL10.

The suit’s exoskeleton grants Lifting and Striking ST+20. It has Basic Move +2 and Super Jump 1.

These variations have almost identical statistics.

Command Battlesuit (TL10): A suit designed for officers, not quite as strong as a heavy battlesuit, but with equivalent armor and greater mobility. It includes a medium laser comm (p. 44) and a large radio (p. 44). Its exoskeleton grants Lifting and Striking ST+18, Basic Move +3, and Super Jump 2.

Scout Battlesuit (TL10): A variation on the command battlesuit for reconnaissance and special ops units. It has a chemsniffer (p. 61), and a deceptive radar jammer (p. 99). The helmet has a small genius computer (p. 22). Its exoskeleton is less strong but faster: it grants Lifting and Striking ST+16, Basic Move +4, and Super Jump 3.

The Hostile Environment eXosuit is a suit of powered space armor reinforced for operations in extremely dangerous environments, such as the hellish surfaces of Mercury or Venus. The HEX is most often used by explorers and workers, but might be issued to military forces.

The suit is eight feet tall (SM +1). Its bulbous, heavilyarmored body is reinforced and shielded to resist extremes of pressure, temperature and radiation, and it has a heavyduty life support system. It is sealed, providing climate control (-459°F to 800°F), pressure support (50 atm.), radiation protection (PF 100), and vacuum support. It has 120 hours of air and water.

Its exoskeleton provides Lifting ST+8 and Striking ST+4, and cancels the weight of the suit for encumbrance. Unlike most other battlesuits, it does not otherwise increase the wearer’s mobility. The suit requires 60 seconds to put on or take off.

Standard accessories include a waste relief system (p. 187), a provisions dispenser (p. 187) with a week’s water and rations, and an automatic backscratcher. The helmet has hyperspectral goggles (p. 61), a small multi-mode radar (p. 65), and a medium radio (p. 44).

Battlesuit skill is used to operate the suit, and does limit DX and skill use (see p. B192). Unlike most ultra-tech suits, the HEX suit is nearly as clumsy as a TL7 vacc suit.

An advanced form of “smart” body armor, the cybersuit resembles a skin-tight vacc suit with a small backpack. Its armor is a multi-layered, three-dimensional molecular weave of diamond-based fibers with microscopic computer-controlled electric motors. The fabric of the suit acts like artificial muscle, reading the wearer’s every movement with pressure sensors, then duplicating each movement instantly and without resistance. More pressure sensors covering the suit’s surface feel the shape of whatever the user touches and transmit it through the suit.

The suit’s muscles are normally programmed to match the user’s normal strength and running or jumping ability, but the user can set it to amplify ST and mobility instead. If the user lacks Battlesuit skill, he may choose to deactivate the suit’s strength-augmentation feature (removing the ST enhancement and Super Jump). If so, no DX penalties are applied for lack of skill. Even without strength augmentation, suit weight does not count toward encumbrance.

Cybersuits incorporate a built-in responsive clothing (p. 39) feature, and can perform minor fitting adjustments so that “one size fits all.” It takes only three seconds to don and one second to remove. The suit incorporates a dynamic chameleon surface (pp. 98-99) that automatically changes color, pattern and infrared signature to blend in with its surroundings. If the wearer desires, he can use voice control to override the suit chameleon circuits. Civilian spacers often use this feature to decorate their suits with garish colors or designs.

Its built-in systems include a filter mask (p. 177), hearing protection (p. 171), a hyperspectral visor (p. 61), a small radio (p. 44), infrared cloaking (p. 99), radar stealth (p. 100), and a tactical ESM (p. 62). It is sealed and provides vacuum support. The suit itself is also a standard computer (p. 22) with the printed option. Like the space biosuit, the cybersuit absorbs sunlight and recycles waste and exhaled carbon dioxide, giving it an extended air and water supply. The suit’s backpack also includes a D cell, good for a day of operation without sunlight, and a week’s supply of concentrated rations.

Any cybersuit may also incorporate smartsuit options (pp. 189-190).

This is the standard cybersuit. In some TL11 societies, cybersuits might be the most common form of light military armor; they might also be worn by space explorers, belters, and traders. The suit’s augmentation grants the wearer Lifting and Striking ST+5 (+8 at TL12), Basic Move +1, and Super Jump 1. The suit provides climate control (-459°F to 250°F), pressure support (30 atm.), and radiation protection (PF 5).

A tougher, thicker cybersuit with greater strength augmentation and tougher armor made of flexible sapphiroiddiamondoid material. It takes three seconds to put on and one second to remove. The entire suit acts as artificial muscle, granting its user Lifting and Striking ST+10, Basic Move +1, and Super Jump 2.

The suit adds tactical ESM (p. 62), infrared cloaking (p. 99), and radar stealth (p. 100) to the features of the civilian model. Its flexible printed computer is also upgraded from standard to microframe (p. 22).

The suit is sealed and provides vacuum support, powered by a small radiothermal generator for up to 10 years. The suit provides climate control (-459°F to 1,000°F), pressure support (100 atm.), and radiation protection (PF 10).

These heavily-armored battlesuits incorporate portable nuclear fusion reactors, giving them unsurpassed endurance compared to earlier powered armor. A single suit can support its operator for months or even years, although he’d probably go crazy if he were stuck in there all the time.

A dreadnought battlesuit is about the size of a heavy battlesuit (SM +1; about eight feet tall), but has more mass. Its armor is composed of titanium carbide-diamondoid nanolaminate over inner shock- and radiation-absorbing layers of liquid armor, stabilized metallic hydrogen, and bioplas.

A dreadnought suit’s laminated armor gets doubled DR vs. shaped charge warheads (including HEMP). Like the heavy battlesuit, it also has integral superconductor-based electromagnetic armor: this increases the suit’s protection to triple DR against any shaped-charge warheads or plasma bolts. The electromagnetic armor operates off a separate D cell and is good for 20 uses.

The suit has a full regenerative life support system, which provides continued temperature, air, and water (but not food). It is designed for operations in a wide variety of hostile environments. With its helmet on, it is sealed, and has climate control (-459°F to 1,000°F), pressure support (100 atm.), radiation protection (PF 20), and vacuum support.

Its helmet includes a filter mask (p. 177), an inertial compass (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), a hyperspectral visor (p. 61), a medium laser comm (p. 44) and a medium radio (p. 44).

The suit’s body incorporates biomedical sensors (p. 187), trauma maintenance (p. 189), a provisions dispenser (p. 187) with two weeks of provisions, and a waste relief system (p. 187). There are olfactory and audio sensors so the user can hear and smell outside the suit. The suit’s surface has a tactical ESM (p. 62).

Its powerful amplified muscles give it Lifting and Striking ST+30, Basic Move +3, and Super Jump 3.

The suit has radar stealth (p. 100) and infrared cloaking (p. 99), but the latter capability is nullified while the nuclear reactor is operating. (This also affects any added chameleon systems, which will not provide any Stealth bonus vs. hyperspectral or infrared vision.) To avoid this problem, a backup power cell system can operate the suit for 12 hours. The reactor needs an hour to cool off after being shut down.

This appears to be a thick belt or collar, but on the wearer’s mental command, it flows over the body like a liquid, spreading into a thin but extremely strong coating that envelops his entire body. It is made of active titanium carbide living metal. A neural interface (p. 48) is required to control the suit, which is a flexible distributed microframe. Battlesuit skill (p. B192) is required to operate it properly, but the suit gives a +2 skill bonus.

The nanosuit layer mimics and amplifies the user’s movements, to provide Lifting ST +10, Striking ST+10, Enhanced Move (Ground) 1 and Super Jump 2. In addition to functioning as body armor, the suit can be given various smartsuit options (pp. 189-190).

The nanosuit is sealed, with climate control (-400°F to 500°F), pressure support (10 atm.), radiation protection (PF 10), and vacuum support. It can absorb oxygen from water and air, acting as a filter mask (p. 177) and a TL12 artificial gill (p. 177). It does not have an integral air supply – the user needs an air tank or some other source of oxygen to operate in space or on airless worlds. The nanosuit’s surface is a tactical ESM (p. 62), and it uses a printed power cell.

A warsuit is armored with living metal laminate armor reinforced by an outer layer of hyperdense collapsium. It absorbs shock and radiation with inner layers of liquid armor, stabilized metallic hydrogen, and bioplas. Its DR has Hardened 3 (p. B47) against shape-charge warheads and plasma bolts, and Hardened 1 against other attacks.

Its portable antimatter reactor can power it for five years. The suit has a full regenerative life support system, which provides temperature control, air, and water (but not food). It is designed for operations in a wide variety of hostile environments. With its helmet on, it is sealed and has climate control (absolute zero to 10,000°F), pressure support (1,000 atm.), radiation protection (PF 100), and vacuum support.

The helmet includes a filter mask (p. 177), an inertial compass (p. 74), hearing protection (p. 171), a hyperspectral visor (p. 61), a medium laser comm (p. 44), and a medium radio (p. 44). The suit’s body incorporates biomedical sensors (p. 187), trauma maintenance (p. 189), a provisions dispenser (p. 187) with two weeks of provisions, and a waste relief system (p. 187). There are olfactory and audio sensors so the user can hear and smell outside the suit. Its surface has a tactical ESM (p. 62).

The suit’s powerful amplified muscles give it Lifting and Striking ST+40, Basic Move +3, and Super Jump 4. It has radar stealth (p. 100) and infrared cloaking (p. 99), but the latter capability is nullified while the antimatter reactor is operating. (This also affects any added chameleon systems, which will not provide any Stealth bonus vs. hyperspectral or infrared vision.) To avoid this problem, a backup power cell system can operate the suit for 12 hours. The reactor needs an hour to cool off after being shut down.

Battlesuits with split DR use the higher DR against attacks to the torso (and skull, for helmets or suits that cover all locations); the lower DR protects other locations.

* Flexible.