D&D Makes Power Armor Canon (And Cannon) in ‘Quests from the Infinite Staircase’
Quests from the Infinite Staircase is packed full of new toys, including these technological terrors that require no magic. Batteries not included.
The upcoming Quests from the Infinite Staircase adventure anthology captures some of the best adventures from the long history of D&D. Including one of my personal favorites, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. If you know, you know.
And if you don’t, it’s the adventure where you find a crashed spaceship. But it’s like an actual crashed spaceship. Full of robots. Not a spelljammer. Not populated by Autognomes but a fully, full-on spaceship. with computers and lifts and everything. One of the main things you can find is a suit of Powered Armor, which confers many benefits to anyone, as long as you’ve got the batteries for it.
We were sent a copy of Quests from the Infinite Staircase, and considering how much Power Armor means to BoLS readers, here’s a look at how it works in D&D.
Power Armor is Official in D&D Now – It’s Pretty Cool
To start with, Powered Armor, like the other technological items included in the adventure, is powered by Energy Cells. All the items that need them have a limited number of charges, and changing an energy cell out retores a numer of charges, depending on the item.
In the Powered Armor’s case, it’s 24 charges. On top of that, the armor functions as an advanced suit of plate armor that can fully seal its user in with a face mask, gauntlets, and “crystal lenses” that let its wearer see outside.
The armor can be activated as an action. Doing so costs one of its 24 charges but also confers a number of powerful benefits as the armor’s servomotors kick into gear. While active, Powered Armor grants its wearer Augmented Physicality, giving advantage on Strength checks and doubling one’s carrying/lifting capacity, which, as we all know, leads to shenanigans. Especially when combined with other magic items that double up on that capacity as well.
While activated, the Power Armor also provides environmental protection, as the armor seals up airtight, allowing the wearer to breathe normally in any environment, withstanding extreme heat and cold, becoming immune to harmful gases and inhaled poisons, and of course, it protects from radiation. Probably don’t need to pay too much attention to that. No reason
On top of those passive abilities, a suit of Power Armor confers more active benefits on its wearer. For a single charge, the wearer can spend a reaction to deploy a force field that reduces incoming damage by 3d10. They can also spend a single charge to activate the antigravity units in the armor, gaining a flying speed equal to their walking speed for one minute, no concentration required.
Of course, Power Armor is just one of several technological items included in Quests from the Infinite Staircase.
What other treasures await within?
