Shields: Held in a weapon slot. Locks the other weapon slot to 1-handed weapons (and obviously you only have 1 weapon equipped). No armor penalty. Can block various types of damage (or varying amounts) depending on material (but always mechanical); tichrome would block heat and energy, psi crab would block electricity and some heat, etc. Still has a str requirement (and if you go under you are encumbered like with armors). Works like a reverse energy shield where it blocks more damage and/or has a higher chance to block the slower the attack is. Could work like boxing gloves where melee skill determines the block chance. Should have some kind of bash option (either on their own, or from a feat). Possibly enhancement slots for spikes or strobe/blinding lights or things like that.
Iron grip should be replaced by the option to use a spear with a shield if your str is high enough (damage penalty or not), though I think it should be harder to block with a spear that is used one-handed.
Riot gear, instead of having a shield slot, has a slot equivalent to the armor plate slot of tacvests. Tacvests have two unique options (ceramic plates and nanocomposite plates) and I have an idea for two unique options for riot gear, each gives extra DR and DT:
>Chainmail: placing a metal plate into the slot will add chainmail of that type; gives higher DT, lower DR, and extra bonus DT vs melee, heavier metals give more protection for higher penalties (and perhaps you also get some heat/energy DT and/or DR depending on the metal type)
>Dense foam/sports pads: plastic-covered dense foam like modern sports armor; gives higher DR, lower DT, and extra bonus DR vs melee, should probably have a lower armor penalty than chainmail
Could have options for the other foams, or have the component be separate from regular foams altogether.
I would also lower the base armor penalty of riot gear so the lightest versions can be nimble, at the very least.
I think kevlar, when added to armor, should give a flat +2 DT in addition to what it already does. It's just no good outside of antirifle tacvests as is.
So, chainmail riot armor would have good DT vs melee and bullets, and respectable DT in general. Adding kevlar would be a good option. Perhaps comparable DT vs melee to maxed metal armor, but quite a bit less DR. A super-steel sheet/tungsten chainmail/kevlar riot gear would have the highest DT possible (especially vs edged weapons), but also be the heaviest. A laminated panel/super-steel chainmail riot gear would have decent DT but also be pretty light (possibly nimble, especially if armor-sloping works on chainmail). Works better with a shield. Could come with a str requirement, but lowish, like swords or two-handed guns.
A reinforced panel/dense foam riot gear would have great DR vs melee, possibly equaling the heaviest metal armors, but has low DT. Bad vs knives/fists and other attacks that typically come with debuffs (I mean, it would block most of the damage but not the rider effect), but great vs sledgehammers and other heavy hitters like hunchback mutants, burrower warriors, hermit crabs, etc. Relatively bad vs bullets. Not as good when combined with a shield. Pretty light overall, though probably not nimble-able. Perhaps the better option to combine with the non-kevlar cloths.
Non armor-plated riot gear would still be a good early game option vs melee; certainly better than uninfused non-snake leathers. I don't imagine anybody would still use them in lategame, except in very specific circumstances as a nimble character, maybe.
