I was a tiny bit disappointed in the presentation of these in the Forsaken Bounty scenario, since they supposedly factored in to one of the encounters, but there didn't seem to be enough about them.

My PCs just kept their void suits on the whole time. Granted I should have made them pull out a patch or something when they took damage, but I forgot in the heat of battle.

Are void-suits bulky? Can you wear them over armor? Are they expensive? Do they provide armor? What difference does having a void suit give you over a void breather?

The classic Imperial void suit images for me are the original Jes Goodwin sketches of crewmen aboard Imperial Naval vessels back in White dwarf...um...I think it was either 132 or 136. That was in the original sketches for Battlefleet gothic, which took a mere 9-10 years to turn into the full game.

The suit was a bit like an old diving costume, with a heavy brass helmet with a scuba-like glass panel in it. It was all very gothic (understandably) with spikes coming off the top of the helmet. There are some John Blanche illustrations of the same style of void suit in Disciplies of the Dark Gods.

They certainly didn't look like modern space suits, and seemed to lack a clear oxygen supply. Maybe they're cheap emergency models for below-decks crewmen to protect them in the event of a depressurisation.

I imagine there are more complex models: there's another good image of a void suit used by a mechanicus explorator in the current tyranid codex, and another type of void suit illustrated in a white dwarf article from about 6-7 years ago detailing a strange FAbius Bile genetic project on an abandoned moon. Those void suit models looked a lot like the space suits usd in the original Alien movie, but with Imperial iconography. .

The Necron Codex shows a group of explorers in suits with an enclosed head with a clear front half helmet. They dont look armoured. Im thinking a perception penalty and not able to wear most armour underneath would limit them to the use intended. That and a damaged Void Suit isnt a Void Suit.

That's not to say that Void suits can't have self-repairing functions that immediately seal and otherwise keep the integrity of the suit after being shot, so could still function as a Void Suit during combat. Up to the GM, really.

If you have a copy of the Inquisitor's Handbook for Dark Heresy there are several examples to choose from.

1. The first would be the Environmental Bodyglove ; pages 150-151. Description and function seems similar to a Stillsuit in Dune . However, it does offer limited protection against injury and also features a full rebreather apparatus; not as useful as a full on void suit, but better than nothing if exposed to near-vaccuum and toxins. No movement penalties.
2. Boarding Armor is detailed page 164; errataed it features a "built-in void suit," and offers 5 pts Carapace Armor to Head and body, 3 pts Flak to the limbs. No movement penalties.
3. The Heavy Duty Void Suit is described on page 165; 3 pts armor (non-typed; not primitive) to all locations except the head, which is 4pts. It is bulky, however, and imposes a penalty of -10 to Agility tests made by the wearer.

All of the above are subject to the rules for armor quality as described in the Dark Heresy core book; page 144. Hope that is helpful. And I agree wholeheartedly with Dvang; our current technology for EVA includes limited self-sealing capabilities, why not the average stuff in 40K.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Would be interesting to test that "limited" self sealing ability against modern weapons. Much less bolter ammo, plasma pistols and 'stealer claws. Im guessing thats the difference between the armoured and unarmoured void suits but thats pure speculation on my part.

Being as the GM will decide It makes for a great story tool either way. The TT 40K game made all hits rending and caused max wounds on multi-hit point models when fighting in such an enviroment. If the story involves death at the hands of the hostile void it sure jumps the fear factor up a notch. We at least have several published to versions to choose from, including the Hardened Body Glove from the I.H., to help us with our decisions.