I’m not going to lie, this one might be a bit shorter than normal for me. This is by design though, since I just got done driving about 2500 miles yesterday (from California to Florida, so most of North America, West to East). When I was finishing up my article a little over two weeks ago, I was planning on actually doing this article while on the road so I wanted it to be something a little more bite sized. Fortune favored me when Dustin asked if somebody closer to Bestiary 3’s release could switch with him for the update to his amazing Summon-Dex. I took him up because I’d much rather do this work on my personal desktop than my work laptop!
Thoughts Before Presenting
While my initial thought when I started doing this would be to keep the armors at the same item level as equivalent armor, I realized that it would likely throw the economy balance off when combining another item into the mix. I’m likely not looking for a 1-to-1 cost parity, but I also don’t want it to be the obvious financial choice. I’ve also been thinking about how I want to present the “Integrated” special quality. I think I’ll probably give a generic description and then each armor upgrade will have a short sub-entry on how it is adjusted. Lets get this thing started!
The Quality comes First
Integrated: An armor with the integrated quality has been built with a particular armor upgrade in mind. If an upgrade is magical or hybrid, the armor itself becomes a hybrid item that does not count as a worn item. While forfeiting some flexibility, these armors gain additional efficiency in the integrated armor upgrades below:
Jump Jets: Increase fly speed to 45 feet, with a maximum height of 15 feet, or able to fly 30 feet straight up.
Jetpack: Increase fly speed to 45 feet
Forcepack: Increase fly speed to 90 feet.
Force Field: Treat as next tier of force field (Brown would function as Purple, etc…). The only Force Field(Prismatic) integrated armor known to exist is the artifact known as the Scintillating Suit.
The Armors
WBI Flying Fortress
These armors made by World Builders Intergalactic are advertised to give guests the best view at their worlds & parks. Nevermind the fact that their biggest customers are not to their parks, but to militaries throughout the systems.
| Name | Level | Price | EAC Bonus | KAC Bonus | Max Dex Bonus | ACP | Speed Adjustment | Upgrade Slots | Special Qualities | Bulk |
| WBI Flying Fortress, Trendy | 4 | 2,110 | 5 | 8 | 1 | -4 | -10 ft. | 1 | Integrated(Jump Jets) | 3 |
| WBI Flying Fortress, Influencer | 8 | 8,500 | 10 | 13 | 2 | -4 | -10 ft. | 2 | Integrated(Jetpack) | 3 |
| WBI Flying Fortress, Executive | 11 | 27,000 | 10 | 13 | 2 | -4 | -10 ft. | 2 | Integrated(forcepack) | 3 |
Explorer’s Protection
Originally designed by the Cosmic Combine to keep their agents safe while exploring the unknown, these suits have spread far and wide amongst freelancers and pirates because of the added protections.
| Name | Level | Price | EAC Bonus | KAC Bonus | Max Dex Bonus | ACP | Speed Adjustment | Upgrade Slots | Special Qualities | Bulk |
| Explorer’s Protection, Initiate | 4 | 2,225 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -1 | – | 1 | Integrated(Force Field(Brown)) | 1 |
| Explorer’s Protection, Apprentice | 7 | 7250 | 6 | 8 | 4 | -1 | – | 1 | Integrated(Force Field(Purple)) | 1 |
| Explorer’s Protection, Journeyman | 11 | 24300 | 12 | 14 | 5 | -1 | – | 2 | Integrated(Force Field(Black)) | 1 |
| Explorer’s Protection, Master | 16 | 163000 | 17 | 19 | 7 | -1 | – | 4 | Integrated(Force Field(Green)) | 1 |
| Explorer’s Protection, Grandmaster | 19 | 625000 | 20 | 22 | 7 | -1 | – | 5 | Integrated(Force Field(Orange)) | 1 |
Final Thoughts
This is arguably the furthest from the rules that Paizo has developed that I’ve gone to. I have two big feelings right now. One is a bit of trepidation at stepping outside the fairly obvious lines that Paizo has drawn for homebrew GMs and burgeoning designers. The other is excitement in pushing those bounds Paizo has put down and seeing if I can bend them in a slightly different direction than they were originally intended to, without having the entire thing come crashing down on me!
I did paint myself into a little bit of a corner with how I decided to handle the Force Fields, since I essentially took an existing armor of a certain level (at or above the armor upgrade’s level) and bumped the level up by 1. You can’t really do that with a level 20 item upgrade and a level 20 armor. I did start laying the seeds for an artifact in the setting though!
While checking in on my numbers for the Explorer’s Protection Suit, I discovered that the Polyplate that is presented in Starfinder #15, Sun Divers, actually provides DR/Bludgeoning to the wearer. I noticed it because it was one of the few armors not sanctioned for Organized Play, similar to the Flight Skin from Starfinder #29: The Cradle Infestation. Then there is the Azlanti Royal Battle Regalia from Starfinder #9: The Rune Drive Gambit. It frustrates me that qualities are almost buried in these objects’ text instead of clearly visible on a table that can be quickly referenced. I’ll admit that these items almost make me want to go back and re-figure my pricing for these items, but overall I don’t think it would be a substantial difference. It is also interesting that these expanded armors are typically found in Adventure Path volumes instead of the hardcover books. Let me know your thoughts about my items and the ones I just discovered in here or in our Discord!
