Topic. Battlesuits are a useful game device, in that they allow otherwise "harmless" Morphs (read: anything that is meaty enough survive strong magnetic fields and inconspicuous enough to be let onto an average Hypercorp station without constant escort and surveillance) to quickly become a capable combatant, without having to deal with the consequences and complications of resleeving. But how do they really work? What do the Rules As Written say about Battlesuits and Exoskeletons? Can they be modified with Personal Augmentation or other gear, and if so, how do they stack with Morph abilities and augmentations? How do they work in combat? Also, what sort of experience do you guys have with running Exoskeletons and Vehicles in general in your games, and what house rules do you use for them, if any? [collapse collapsed title="Relevant rules texts on Vehicles"]The rules on p.195 seem to indicate that all Vehicles are also Robots, which should technically qualify them for Cyberware, Nanoware and Robotic Enhancements. The rules for Vehicles and Exoskeletons on p.343-344 state that: -all listed vehicles can house a Cyberbrain (turning them into Synthmorphs and allowing Egos to sleeve directly into them), -all listed vehicles include a Puppet Sock and remote control capability, -all listed vehicles include a vehicular AI, allowing them to run on autopilot, -exoskeletons can either mimic the wearer's movements or be controlled electronically, and -exoskeletons can be remote-controlled, using the Pilot: Walker skill.[/collapse] This seems to indicate that a standard Battlesuit can move and fight without a pilot, using just its prepackaged AI and/or remote control interface, can be upgraded with any enhancement available to standard synthmorphs and robots (notably including e.g. Robotic Mobility Systems), or could even be turned into a proper Synthmorph in its own right. That could lead to some interesting party dynamics, with one player playing a recognizable transhuman and another playing his tricked-out, semi-autonomous Battlesuit. :) But if Augmentations do work on Vehicles and Exoskeletons, then the rules seemingly say nothing about how those Augmentations stack with ones in the pilot Morph. If my Morph and my Battlesuit each have a Reflex Booster Cyberware, do I get +1 Speed +10 REF, +2 Speed +20 REF, or something else entirely? Things also get spotty when the players bring them into combat: [collapse collapsed title="p.196, Attacking Vehicle Passengers"] Passengers within a vehicle are generally not harmed by attacks made against the vehicle itself. Area effect weapons are an exception to this rule, but in this case, the passengers also benefit from the vehicle Armor value. and During combat, passengers within a vehicle may be targeted separately from the vehicle itself. Attacks made against passengers this way do not harm the vehicle itself (unless an area effect weapon is used). Targeted passengers benefit both from cover (usually Major, -30) and from the vehicle's structure, adding the vehicle's Armor Value to their own. [/collapse] So, railgun fire which penetrates into the internal structure of the suit can never harm the wearer, but shrapnel from a frag grenade does damage to both the suit and the wearer? And it's possible to target the wearer at -30, without putting a scratch in the full, vacuum-sealed suit he's wearing? Huh? Finally, the description for the Battle Suit on p.344 include the line "These suits have an Armor Value of 18/18 (not cumulative with any other armor)"[...]. Is this simply saying that the suit (despite being a robot, and apparently unlike other Exoskeletons) cannot improve its Vehicle armor simply by putting on more armor, or is it saying that the 18/18 does not stack with anything worn by the wearer for purposes of protecting the wearer against targeted attacks?