Doing my pre-planning for Shades on Twilight and I'm wanting to run something past other GMs.

At the start they get kitted out via the Navy. However I'm wanting to have stats for spacesuits/armour they will get.

Here are the options I see (options the players will be presented with):-

• Players can get a standard void suit which provides no armour or penalties but they can wear their own armour underneath it (carapace though may be a problem). If they get shot though it gets holed and requires repair.
• Players can have the heavy duty void suit if they want p165 IH (which is heavier with penalties). However they can't wear any other armour but when shot if the shot does not penetrate it does not damage the suit, if it does penetrate they can deal with small holes in the suit easily
• Finally a couple of guardsmen in the group may be offer some light Powered armour on loan for the mission

How did other GMs handle it and how did they handle void suits and PC armour?

I just gave them the armoured void suits. The Sister used her light power armour with seals up.

SJE

I plan to give them access to the Heavy Void Suit you mentioned or the Boarding Armour (IH p. 164 + errata) if specifically asked for. None of them stack with 'regular' armour beneath though.

Baldrick said:

Uhm... That sounds like a pretty complicated solution. Why not just give them a voidsuit that's basically a sealed, skintight bodyglove with a helmet and an oxygentank, and let them wear armour outside of this? (sort of like a diving suit but more sealed)

I know, it might sound like a high-tech solution, but if you ask me it sounds even more high-tech and advanced to actually have a voidsuit that let's you wear a full set of armour UNDERNEATH it instead of over it.

Just my 2 centi-thrones

I would use one of the following:

-Boarding Armour (as in IH)

-noideawhatpattern Heavy Void Suit (IH)

-common Void Suit (for Adepts and so)

-enclosed full Stormtrooper carapace (some of it´s version should be void-capable)

-Light Power Armour

-Power Armour

I was kind of thinking the plain void suit is a one size fits all affair.

I had an image in my head similar to a level a hazmat suit, big and worn outside of normal clothes. They are the void suits that civies can use for space walks.

Hence the players can still wear their own kit but they have a problem with punctures as it's not really combat rated...

I'm going to have to suggest Boarding Armor as well. As you're getting at least some of your equipment on loan from the Imperial Navy that looks to be some of the best stuff they could provide you.

Now, in RT aren't thinner voidsuits mentioned? I would say that a standard void-suit is not something you can wear anything but the lightest armor underneath. Maybe you could fit some over but it wouldn't work all that well. Having a very thin suit could indeed work but I kind of feel that such a suit needs some disadvantages. Maybe whenever you take critical damage there's a 50% chance of a partial leak that could be fixed with the right supplies (the entry on the selenite heavy voidsuit mentions some leak repair gear).

Since in Shades of Twilight you are given access to some of the best stuff out there, if you want really thin voidsuits, like something like synskin with a rebreather, go for it. I just think that it needs something to make the larger, combat ready voidsuits like boarding armor better.

Though, if anyone has power armor then they have no problems whatsoever, as long as their power cell doesn't run out (though I would suggest that Acolytes get access to military grade power supplies here... if they ask for it.)

In your situation I would also lean towards boarding armour as that seems most likely what the Navy would provide.

I am also going to be running "Shades" soon, but after a few nasty fights on spaceships in earlier adventures, my players are all about the voidsuits. The acolytes have even taken time to drill getting into voidsuits as fast as possible in case of a depressurization emergency. The noble in my group also shelled out the cash to get a set of void-sealed best-quality carapace just for when he had to deal with combat in space. (I doubled the base price of carapace before applying the quality cost modifier.)

Personally I handed them the IH book open to the void section, and said these things are commonly found in Naval stores. The PCs ended up in boarding armor and body glove/void suits. There was a lot of interest in officers pistol that did tearing, officers cutlas with shock, and the shotcannon.

What I ended up doing for Shades was pretty uniform. The adventure has the acolytes gathered up with great urgency and no notice, so much so that in the scripted responses from the Stormtroopers they WILL allow an acolyte to get dressed, but allow for little else. I went out of my way to figure out what each character was doing before the urgent summons came through, so each had a pre-determined amount (small) of their personal kit. It was already well established from previous games that each acolyte underwent extensive debriefing, scanning and monitoring at the end of each mission so the Inquisition obviously has EXTENSIVE files on their physical characteristics (the better to monitor for signs of corruption). The vacc suit & magnetized boots were specified as one each, but this being the 40K universe I assumed the lack of armour in the description to be deliberate. I had their Inquisitor forward sizing info on to the Navy and they were presented with brand new (still warm from the auto-looms!) armoured bodygloves to wear under the vacc-suits.

As for the stuff they ended up favouring for weapons and utility kit: Several wanted laspistols, the Techpriest requisitioned a powerfist, the cyborg Guardsman took a chainaxe and shotgun/autogun combo (details in IH), the Cadian Guardsman took a bolter. Several demolition packs and a cutting laser, anti-radiation meds (the Techpriest's player studied the player handout map closely and earned bonus XP for this one.), several vacc-suit patch/repair kits. Because of who they are the hiver Assassin had his usual dual pistols (he considers himself naked without them, but might not notice the lack of pants for a few minutes...) and the Cadian had her custom boltpistol and heirloom powersword. Our Psyker had her staff (yes, a plain ordinary staff that she goes nowhere without) and herself!

They gave a pretty darn good showing. Our cyborg Guardsman was still on his feet at 8 critical damage and the Assassin needed new toes on one of his feet due to a Dark Eldar's monoblades. Several of the others had various cuts, scrapes and bruises. By contrast three of Soldevan's team were dead, only the Adept having survived due to holding in his own intestines.....

Appologies for the unfocused nature of this post. I wrote this at work and have litterally been interrupted at least 90 times! Few know this due to Inquisitorial seal, but there ARE things more frightening in this universe than Slaneeshi demons that think you are "cute".... those things are known as NURSES!

Is it me or is Boarding Armour much more useful & better than the heavy duty void suit?

Downside

• Boarding armour costs an extra 600
• is Scare instead of Average
• Cannot fit an impellor
• No zero-G boy scout utility belt

Upside

• More AP
• No -10 AGL penalty
• lighter by 3kg
• Bonus against blast damage (flak parts)?

I'd kind of have to say the void suit is designed for prolonged use in vacuum/zero-G/space but the boarding armour is designed for only short bursts in "raw" space...

PS I mean post errata Boarding Armour