Ok, there is a KI effect I'm not exactly sure about, and was hoping someone could clarify -

When creating custom Techniques, one of the Special Effects that can be used is Armor Destruction. The description reads:

"This effect lowers the targeted victim's Armor Type. The number by which the victims AT is reduced appears under the "Reduction" column."

1. What I'm wondering is, is this basically a 'debuff' that is only relevant to the duration of the effect, or is it a permanent change to the armor? Also, is this exclusive to physical armor, or does it also affect AT granted by supernatural means?

2. If there is no official place where this is defined, how would you interpret this? Up to this point my reasoning on it as GM would be that its an effect that can only be exploited by the user of the KI Technique, but once it ends, the affected object returns to normal, and supernatural armors would have the ability to make a resistance check against this effect.

Thanks for your time

hellgeist said:

Armor Destruction applies to any Armor Type that the opponent had, but only against techniques and attacks made by the person who is using the Armor Destruction technique effect. So if your Technician is using it to lower the bandit leader's AT, it does nothing to his AT against the rest of the party, just as you using a damage or initiative increasing Ki effect has no direct benefit to your allies.

The effect is only active during the use of the technique. It makes no permanent changes to the actual AT of your opponent, or changes to the AT in relation to other people. What it replicates is the attack becoming more precise, or transferring more of the blow through the armor, or the blade becoming ethereal and ignoring the armor completely.

To give another example, look at weapons with a +5 or more quality (page 67). Weapons reduce an enemy's AT by -1 for each 5 in the weapon's quality. This is only for the purpose of that attack, not a permanent change to the armor itself. That's why there are different rules for sundering the armor of your opponents, and armor would be pointless if a single +5 weapon would render it useless in an attack or two. So what the effect does is allow you to increase the quality of your weapon for the purpose of reducing the AT applied against the attacks it makes.

The closest thing to an official place would be the offical Anima boards, but those seem to be down at the moment.

http://animaforum.edgeent.com/

Blackburn said:

Thanks Blackburn. This pretty much how I wanted to interpret it, but the seeds of doubt set in when I read that darkness and fire were related elements, and it was in a section right after Esoteric Effects.

hellgeist said:

No, I understand. The reason for the elements are in case you've chained your techniques to a specific element. It basically tells you what those types of techniques are linked to.