Lakmus Ensemble
While listed as a single Gadget for space-saving purposes, this ensemble combines two Gadget subsets:
ARMORED COSTUME
Litmus wears an armored below-knee-length trenchcoat and a reinforced fedora. In appearance, these are bog-standard garments of a "pulp magazine cover" style; they might have been bought new by Gerry, or they might have been sourced at a secondhand shop. Someone has hand-sewn reinforcement stitching around all the buttonholes in the gabardine coat. The pockets, loops, and flaps have also been carefully re-sewn over their original seams for a sturdier silhouette.
Possibly Gerry studied the work of synthetic fiber chemists such as Stephanie Kwolek during his early experiments to turn his adventuring outerwear into armor. Whatever his custom protective fiber pads are, they form panels inside the trenchcoat that can withstand a significant amount of impact. They also protect against heat, safely distributing the energy widely across the storm shield then down the back of the coat; they are cut-resistant, which may not help the outer cloth but certainly will take a lot of tearing before any damage gets through to the wearer.
Despite these hidden reinforcements, the trenchcoat and the hat trap no more body heat within than any off-the-rack gabardine overcoat would provide. The weave of the cotton is dense enough on coat and accompanying mask to slow, possibly even rebuff, mild gas attacks -- at least, enough to buy Litmus an extra thirty seconds to get out of danger.
Clearly no such armor panels could fit within the fedora's crown and brim in any useful way; to be effective, they would have to have enough bulk to distort the shape of the hat, or at least to give the wearer muscle exhaustion in neck and head for supporting the extra weight.
Just as clearly, something has been done to the fabric of the hat itself. It protects Litmus' head from physical damage much the same way as the trenchcoat protects his body. The hat also works with the mask to protect Litmus from abrupt flares of light.
MASK and GLOVES
Worn so that the fedora and the trenchcoat overlap them, Litmus' mask and gloves change color with the temperature of Litmus' face, red when angry, blue when calm. They do not have an unpleasant odor, which perhaps indicates that these garments are not impregnated with dried lichen (as are the strips of actual litmus paper that Litmus keeps safely wrapped within an inner pocket of the coat). Thus the wearer cannot be detected or tracked by a hypothetical unusual scent.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
ARMORED COSTUME
BODY 8, R# 5
+ LITMUS MASK and GLOVES
Sealed Systems 3 APs (will last for 32 seconds)
Limitation: Power Ineffective Against Radiation Attacks
Shade 2 APs
Special Effect: Mask and gloves change colors based upon wearer's emotional and mental state.
It's a really good trenchcoat and fedora, appropriately hard-worn pulpy looking, that perfectly offset the mask and gloves. Mask and gloves change color with the temperature of Litmus' face, red when angry, blue when calm. The functionality of the armored components of the costume does not depend upon wearing the mask and gloves; the mood-reflecting color functionality of the mask and/or the gloves is not dependent upon each other, nor upon wearing the armor.
cost notes on gadget build
- BODY cost 80 HP
- Reliability Number 5 = "no change to Factor Costs"
- Sealed Systems 3 APs power base cost 5, Factor cost 5 - 2 "Not Radiation" Limitation, total power cost 5 + 6= 11 HP
- Shade 2 APs power base cost 5, Factor Cost 4, total power cost 5 + 4 = 9 HP
- Special Effect has no costs in HP or Wealth
- Subtotal: 80 + 11+ 9 = 100 HP
- Cannot be taken away in combat: divide by 2, round up to nearest whole HP
Device total cost listed at 50 Hero Points. Wealth Cost of Gadget 10 APs.
Item type
Armor
Current Holder
Creator
Related Technologies
Related Condition
Rarity
Rare
The protective features, including tailoring to best fit a specific wearer, would be "Uncommon". They do not ordinarily change color based upon the wearer's mental state.
The protective features, including tailoring to best fit a specific wearer, would be "Uncommon". They do not ordinarily change color based upon the wearer's mental state.
Dimensions
1 AP long
(slightly larger than Litmus from top of head to just below knee)
(slightly larger than Litmus from top of head to just below knee)
Base Price
50 Hero Points
10 AP Wealth Check
10 AP Wealth Check
Note from the Editor
Litmus's color-changing Mask and Gloves are "signature costume parts".
This means that they can be dramatically damaged if the bad guys focus on doing so, becoming unavailable to Litmus until gets a chance to fix them.
Unlike the armored parts of the Litmus set, he will never have to pay to repair or replace them. They're part of the signature of "being Litmus", like Lynda Carter's bracers. They do not need a separate Body and a RN. They lack powers, skills or attributes. They just work.
Hence their inclusion as a no-cost "Special Effect" on this Armored Costume GADGET.
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