Armor Means
Armor Means are all about covering your weak flesh with leather or steel. The combatant who focuses on Armor knows they can't dodge every attack. Rather than worry about moving away from blows, they focus on deflecting them with shields, helmets, gauntlets, greaves, and breastplates. Armor protects even the untrained, but without learning how to move, the untrained are not efficient with their use of weapons. All armor and shields require the Armor Training Means to use effectively. If you wear armor or use a shield without training, your Measures shrink to Rule of 7 for any action requiring precise physical movement. This includes:
- Combat Means: All melee and ranged attack or defense rolls.
- Movement Means: All athletic maneuvers, dodging, climbing, or balancing.
- Arcane, Divine, or Primal Means: All magic requires somatic gestures and precise physical movement.
Level 1 — Armor Training You are proficient with all armored equipment (shields, armor, helmets). While wearing armor, you may use your full combat Measures.
Level 1 — Set Your Feet (requires Armor Training) Spend 1 Action to assume a stable posture. Until the start of your next turn, you are Rooted and cannot be knocked Off-Balance.
Level 1 — Shield Block (requires Armor Training and an equipped shield): In response to an attack against you, if you are able to take an Opportunity Attack, you may spend 1 Action to avoid the full force of the target's attack, turning a Hit into a Complication or a Complication into a Miss. If you choose to Shield Block, you begin your next turn with only 1 Action, unless a Means says otherwise. You cannot turn a Miss into a Fumble, nor can you Block a Rule of 7.
Level 3 — Armor Specialist (requires Set Your Feet) When you Set Your Feet, you are Rooted, gain 1 Armor, and cannot be knocked Off-Balance until the start of your next turn.
Level 3 — Shield Bash (requires Shield Block): When you use Shield Block, you may immediately Roll a Brawn Measure as a free action. A Hit or Complication does 1 damage and knocks your opponent Off-Balance.
Level 6 - Shield Mastery (requires Shield Bash): On a successful Shield Bash (Hit or Complication), you deal 1 damage, knock your target prone, and may take another free action for an immediate Melee attack on the prone target.
Level 6 — Wall of Iron (requires Armor Specialist): When you Set Your Feet, instead you are Rooted, gain 2 Armor, and cannot be knocked Off-Balance, knocked Prone, or Pinned until the start of your next turn.