ARMOUR

This section contains a list of all the armour used in Rifts and their details. Almost all forms of armour are produced by specific organisations and these armours will have some details explained in those organisation's descriptions.

A.R. (ARMOUR RATING)
A.R. is only applicable to S.D.C. armour. It represents how much protection the armour gives to its user against similar material weapons. A.R. is ignored by M.D. weapons. Any attack roll of 5-20 normally counts as a hit unless parried or dodged. However, normal S.D.C. weapons hitting amour with A.R. may find their damage taken by the armour alone, and not the wearer of the armour. The attacker must roll higher than the defender's A.R. to penetrate the armour and inflict physical damage (natural S.D.C. or Hit Points) to the defender. Rolls udner the A.R.strike the protective armour damaging only the armour, not the defender. A.R. always wins ties.

S.D.C. (STRUCTURAL DAMAGE CAPACITY)
S.D.C. is a supplement to Hit Points, acting like a toughness of the character to shrug off non-lethal damage. This does not mean it does not hurt, just that the character should not die from such wounds. Only when Hit Points are being taken is the character really in danger of death. S.D.C.damage heals naturally and even more so with medical treatment. Some armour also has S.D.C. and takes damage whenever the character is hit. (M.D. weapons, of course, generally ignore S.D.C. armour, this kind of armour has no protection against such powerful damage.) S.D.C. weapons are affected by S.D.C.armour and must first penetrate through the armour's A.R.to actually harm the defender. If the S.D.C. weapon hits, but does not beat the armour's A.R. then the armour takes the damage from the weapon to its S.D.C.. S.D.C. damage on armour can only be repaired. Should the S.D.C. of this kind of armour reach 0 it no longer provides protection and is beyond repair, leaving the defender's body open to attack (the defender's S.D.C. and Hit Points).

M.D.C. (MEGA-DAMAGE CAPACITY)
M.D.C. is the structural damage capacity that reflects the staggering advancement in science and technology. A technology that has created new super-tough alloys, micronized and even nano-size circuits, parts, and batteries, and armours.

Generally, 100 S.D.C. (or Hit Points) equals about 1 M.D.C. point. And thus 1 M.D.C. point equals approximately 100 S.D.C.. Most conventional weapons (S.D.C. weapons) do absolutely no damage to a M.D. structure or armour, even when combined for a total of 100 or more. S.D.C. missiles and explosives that by default inflict over 100 S.D.C. points of damage do inflict the equivalent of M.D.. In these rare cases, approximately every 100 S.D.C. points of damage equals 1 mega-damage point. Always round down S.D.C. damage. [Example: a missile that inflicts 450 S.D.C. would equal 4 M.D.C..] Likewise when a S.D.C. armour is blasted by M.D. always round down the S.D.C. [Example: When an object that has 230 S.D.C.is hit with 2 M.D. points of damage the item is destroyed (all 230 S.D.C.). What little remains is a useless piece of junk]

M.D.C. NATURAL ARMOUR
Many supernaturalcreatures, such as dragons, vampires, many demons, and others have natural protective armour covering or M.D.C. skin, or their supernatural essence makes them a mega-damage structure. In these cases normal S.D.C. weapons can not harm the creature. However, most are vulnerable to M.D.weapons, magic, and psionic attacks. Some even have odd vulnerabilities such as fire or salt etc.

PHYSICAL DAMAGE WHILE INSIDE A M.D. STRUCTURE
There are a couple of instances where a character can suffer physical S.D.C. and/or Hit Point damage while inside a mega-damagestructure. Psionic and magic mind attacks and probes will penetrate most M.D.C. body armour and human-size power armour to affect the person inside (can not penetrate SAMAS, Glitter Boys, nor most large vehicle style robots).

A character in body armour or human size power armour can also suffer impact damagefrom falls at great height, or high-speed crashes, or from explosions. Most body armour and power armour are carefully designed and padded so that the armour absorbs the majority of impact damage, however, the body inside is still rattled and slammed around. In most cases, the phsyical damage one suffers is minimal and leads to nothing more than a few bruises.
Also the force of an attack, especially from missiles and rail guns may knock a character off their feet. Generally, this only happens when the individual is struck by 30 M.D. (depending on the situation) by these sorts of  weapons. Characters that are knocked off their feet lose one attack/action that melee.

SIMPLE ARMOUR
This type of armour could be considered conventional armour, although many armours under this category require skillful manufacturing and resources to make. Made from cloth, animal hides or metals they are the common armours of ancient times or that found in the primitive dimension of Palladium. Generally, in the world of Rifts these armours offer very little protection against the super-powered weapons or creatures that may prove to be a threat. These armours come in Light and Heavy types, representing both weight and bulk, and barding (for horses or similar mounts).

LIGHT S.D.C. ARMOUR:
HEAVY S.D.C. ARMOUR:
BARDING S.D.C.:
ENVIRONMENTAL BODY ARMOUR
LIGHT M.D.C. ARMOUR
 POWER ARMOUR
To utilize power armour, the skill Robots And Power Armour, and Robot Combat: Basic or Robot Combat: Elite must be taken. The individual bonuses and abilities gained by the various categories of robot and power armour are listed under those categories and are in addition to any from the pilot's hand to hand bonuses while inside the robot or power armour.

Robot And Power Armour Categories:-
Power Armour:-
Robot Vehicles:-

CYBORG M.D.C. ARMOUR
These are some of the armours worn by Full or Partial Conversion 'Borgs:-