Special Penetration Modifiers

In addition to armor divisors
(see Armor Divisors and Penetration
Modifiers, p. 378) and follow-up
attacks (see Follow-Up Damage,
p. 381), there are several other “pene-
tration modifiers”:
Blood Agent: The attack must
reach an open wound or mucous
membrane (eyes, open mouth, nose,
etc.) to be effective. If it does not, it
has no effect at all. See Blood Agent
(p. 110) for detailed rules.
Contact Agent: This is most com-
mon for contact poison, nerve gas,
and exotic “hand of death” effects.
The attack must touch bare skin or
porous clothing to have any effect.
Any DR stops it, unless the DR is lim-
ited with Tough Skin. Exception: If the
attack is an Area Effect (p. 102) or
Cone (p. 103), it affects everyone in
the area who lacks the Sealed advan-
tage (either innate or granted by a
sealed suit).
Respiratory Agent: The attack
affects only those who inhale it. DR
has no effect – but the attack cannot
harm those who are holding their
breath, breathing supplied air (e.g., in
a vacuum suit), or using a gas mask or
respirator. It is also totally ineffective
against anyone who has either the
Doesn’t Breathe or Filter Lungs
advantage.
Sense-Based: The attack is chan-
neled through one or more of the vic-
tim’s senses (e.g., vision or hearing),
as specified for the attack. It can only
affect someone using the targeted
sense. See Sense-Based (p. 109) for
details.