Armoury

#skill
TL, requires specialisation, IQ/Average
Defaults: IQ-5 or Engineer (same)-4.

This is the ability to build, modify, and repair a specific class of weapons or armor. (It does not include skill at design; for that, see Engineer, p. 190.)

A successful roll lets you find a problem, if it isn’t obvious; a second roll lets you repair it. Time required is up to the GM.

You must specialize in one of the following fields:

Battlesuits: All kinds of powered armor, along with any built-in weaponry.
Body Armor: Any kind of unpowered personal armor (but not shields). Also defaults to Smith (Bronze)-3 at TL1, to Smith (Iron)-3 at TL2-4, and to Machinist-3 at TL5+.
Force Shields: Any kind of force screen or deflector – be it personal or vehicular. This is the same skill as Electronics Repair (Force Shields).
Heavy Weapons: All weapons used with the Artillery and Gunner skills.
Melee Weapons: Any weapon used with a Melee Weapon or Thrown Weapon skill, as well as all kinds of shields. Also defaults to [Smith|Smith]-3 at TL1, to Smith (Iron)-3 at TL2-4, and to Machinist-3 at TL5+.
Missile Weapons: Man-portable, pre-gunpowder projectile weapons of all kinds – bows, crossbows, slings, etc.
Small Arms: All weapons used with the Beam Weapons and Guns skills. Also defaults to Machinist-5 at TL5+.
Vehicular Armor: All kinds of armored vehicle hulls.

Most specialties default to one another at -4 – but above TL4, there is no default between Armoury specialties dealing with armor and Armoury specialties dealing with weapons. The technologies covered by each specialty vary with TL. For instance, Armoury (Small Arms) covers black-powder small arms at TL4, repeating small arms that fire cartridges at TL6, “smart” infantry weapons at TL8, and portable beam weapons at TL10.

The GM should strictly enforce penalties for unfamiliarity. Armoury/TL10 (Small Arms) might cover both beam weapons and portable railguns, but going from one to the other gives you -2 to skill until you familiarize yourself with all the differences.