Maxwells Armor for Starfinder First Edition (Patreon)

Starfinder First Edition specifically assumes that special materials like adamantine are already used in armor construction to the greatest degree possible in each suit, so there's no need for special adamantine rules such as exist in the feudal fantasy version of the game. But some people adore having options, including fantasy terms having game mechanical effects in science-fantasy games. And, I admit, I am one of those people.

So, I'm doing special armor materials for Starfinder First Edition. Links to all my Starfinder special materials for armor articles (which is just three, at time of writing) can be found, along with links to many other Starfinder entries, at the Paying-Patreon Exclusive Starfinder First Edition Index.

Special Armor Materials

Armor made of special materials can only be made of ONE special material. You can't have your armor benefit from being made of both adamantine and mithral, though legends claim there was once a special material that acted as both, called dragonsteel...

Special Armor Material: Maxwells

Maxwells is the most common name for a specially crafted form of steel that innately caused heat applied to it to flow slightly more in one direction that any other. It is also sometimes referred to with a descriptor followed by an alloy name (fire-forged iron, heat-flow armorium, directed impactite), based on whatever group or culture developed the material in the society the name is being used in. The secret of its crafting is most often attributed as a discovery of dwarves, or a gift from demons, depending on the region.

Maxwells violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics without being magical, but does so in such a minor way that most scientists ignore this fact. Maxwells actually contains tiny hyperspace tubes that only send particles into hyperspace briefly, only impacts a tiny fraction of the highest-speed particles, and always brings them back oriented to be moving in the same direction regardless of their original movement. This means rather than moving outward evenly from a heat source, heat in maxwells has a slight preference for moving in one specific direction.

However, the hyperspace tubes only work when there is limited number of them in the same near space. You can't use maxwells to armor a starship, or even a creature of larger than Huge size. It can be used to create small energy-free cooling plates, but they work slowly and only in circumstances where there is a medium (such as atmosphere) for the heat to transfer to when reaching the edge of the maxwells.

Price is increased by +20%

Maxwells armor always protects against heat hazards of up to 140° F, even when the armor's environmental protections are not active. When its environmental protections are active, it treats temperatures above 140° F as if the temperature was half as much hotter over that threshold (so a 200° F environment would be treated as 170° F (200 - 140 = 60; 60/2=30; 140+30=170).

Maxwells armor grants fire resistance equal to half its base EAC bonus. This does not stack with any other form of fire resistance. Maxwells armor cannot grant cold resistance, regardless of what armor upgrades or spells are placed upon it.

Maxwells armor always glows at least slightly. It illuminates the area witrhin five feet of the wearer as dim illumination, and applies a penalty to sight-based Stealth checks equal to half its EAC bonus.

(Most maxwells armor is designed to glow red but that's a marketing decision, any color is possible. Image by archangelworks.)