There are several armour history results that grant a bonus to Characteristics and/or Tests. In some places, the bonus is vague.

For example:

Mk6 "Corvus" Armour grants a +10 Agilty.

Mk4 "Maximus" Armour grants a +15 Fellowship bonus in any dealings with other Space Marines.

Pauldrons of Fury grant a +10 Strength bonus.

The Iron Graves inflicts a -10 Agility penalty.

Is this applied directly to the characteristic - thus modifying the Characteristic Bonus, not being included in the maximum +/-60 to a test, and being halved when using a Basic skill untrained.

OR

Is this applied as a modifier to all relevant tests - thus not modifying the Characteristic Bonus, being included in the maximum +/-60 to a test, and not being halved for using a Basic skill untrained.

I'd say applied to characteristic just to make it simplistic on players and GMs.

I prefer to apply it to characteristic after all other modifiers have been calculated (same way power armour applies bonus strength) however i am considering not halving those bonuses for the use of basic skills in the lack of trained skill

As is, I've been ruling some of these to go one way and some the other. For example, I've rewritten the following:

Thine Arm Be the Scourge of the Impure: The wearer gains +5 Weapon Skill. The wearer suffers a -5 penalty to Ballistic Skill Tests when wearing the armour's helmet.

Gauntlets of Xirion: This armour provides AP 7 to both Arms locations. The wearer gains a +10 bonus to Weapon Skill Tests. The wearer gains a +5 bonus to Fellowship Tests when dealing with anyone loyal to the Imperium of Man.

The Iron Greaves: This armour provides +1 AP to both Legs locations against attacks originating from the wearer's front. The wearer gains a +10 bonus to Pinning Tests. The wearer suffers -10 Agility.

I'm making sure to differentiate between a bonus/penalty to a Test and a modifier to a characteristic. The words 'bonus" and "penalty" along with "Test" will always appear if that's how it's to be applied.

After talking to one of my players, I am considering just ruling them all to be Test bonuses, but they will still adjust the relevant Characteristic Bonus (after accounting for any Unnatural Characteristic). This follows the pattern of the Strength enhancement found in all power armours, and keeping one consistent way of doing things appeals to me.

This means, for example, that the wearer of Mk6 "Corvus" Armour gains a +10 bonus to Agility Tests. This is a modifier, is subject to the maximum modifier limit (+/- 60), and is added after halving the Characteristic when using an untrained Basic Skill. It also increases the wearer's effective Agility Bonus by 1 for all purposes (such as Initiative and Movement). If the wearer somehow has Unnatural Agility (x2), the increase to Agility Bonus is not doubled.

HappyDaze said:

I don't think that I want the extra Agility Bonus to be multiplied by Talents like Lightning Reflexes. If I opt not to, then this means that if the Marine has Agility 40 (4) and has Mk6 Armour, he has Agility 40 (4) +10 (+1) and his Initiative would thus be 9. If I just decided that multipliers that are not Unnatural Characteristic still multiply normally, then Initiative would be 10.

I'm also not entirely sure on whether or not I want the added movement from a Mk6 to be doubled by a jump pack. It's not really too much of an extra boost, but...

Suggestions? Right now I'm thinking that I'll just let multipliers other than Unnatural Toughness adjust the modified Characteristic Bonus.

Use the basis of the Str mod for power armour and the 'multiply then add' mechanic that seems encouraged by unrelating dev, et al. ie: Do the x2 for lightning reflexes first, then add the armour bonus.

I'd also make these 'normal' bonuses that cap at +60 in order to stop beardy players over-stacking in extreme cases.