Armor can do two things for you to protect against injury: it can help deflect incoming attacks, and it can absorb some of the damage from successful hits.  If a character in combat is wearing armor, they may get a bonus to their saving throw to avoid damage, and they will also reduce the amount of damage they take from the attack even if they fail their save.  If several types of armor are worn at once, like a police body armor vest under chainmail or leather, use only the armor type that gives the most protection when rolling saves and damage reduction.  Armor protection does not stack together, though other items, spells, and special abilities do stack with armor.  The exceptions to this rule are the Magical Shield and the Psychic Shield, which are separate save rolls made before the attack strikes armor.
          For example, Sonya is wearing a chainmail shirt and is struck by an orc’s broadsword.  Her BOD rank of Good (3D) plus her chainmail shirt (+1D) gives her a save of 4D.  If she saves, she takes no damage from the broadsword.  If she fails her save, she takes whatever damage is rolled against her, minus 1D for the chainmail's damage reduction.  In this case we'll say that Sonya fails her save roll.  A broadsword does 3D damage, in this case a total of 9 points.  Sonya rolls a 3, meaning that Sonya only takes 6 hit points of damage (9 - 3 = 6).
          Since combat in the standard Catgirl Avengers game is non-lethal, armor rules are not absolutely necessary, and can be omitted in order to streamline play.  If you are playing a Realistic Violence game on the other hand, armor is vital, and these rules should not be left out.  One might question the efficacy of a chainmail bikini as adequate armor protection...  But of course, since this is a game filled with lovely catgirls, we won’t...  If a character is wearing some kind of armor, they get the full benefits of that armor type unless a character specifically targets a portion of their anatomy that isn’t protected (doing so is a -1D penalty roll against their attack roll, and -2D if their target is head sized or smaller).  It’s silly and utterly lacking in realism, but we don’t care.
 
 

          If a character desires to carry and use a shield, they have a choice to use it actively or passively in combat.  What this means is that they can actively seek to parry incoming hand to hand and melee blows with their shield - in which case they get to add to their saving throw roll when resisting an attack, or they can hold it close to their body and let their shield absorb the blow - in which case they get no save bonus, but may add their shield's damage reduction to any successful attack against them.  Whatever damage the shield reduces from the attack is taken by the shield itself.  When the shield has no hit points left, it is destroyed.  Players may not add both their saving throw bonus and apply damage reduction from their shields.  They must choose either one or the other.  Players using shields need to specify which way they want to use their shields before they roll for initiative in a combat turn.  Players may only use the passive mode against ranged attacks.

          For example:  Ingrid is facing off against a pair of LEPUS operatives armed with machetes.  Ingrid has her spear and her wooden round shield.  Since she knows that the LEPUS thugs have to get in close, and that her shield and armor combined can easily absorb their blows, she chooses to use her shield passively, keeping it set between her and her foes while she tries to stab them with her spear.  When the thugs attack, she gets no save bonus from her shield to beat their attack rolls, but she does get 1D damage reduction in addition to the 2D damage reduction she gets from her bronze plate armor.  Against machetes doing only 2D this should be enough to keep her from harm.  Any damage reduction from the shield will be subtracted from the shield's hit points, which in this case is 40.  If the shield is reduced to zero or fewer hit points, it is destroyed.
          In another example, Ingrid is facing an angry dark knight armed with a greatsword.  The knight is powerful and skilled, and can inflict 5D+5 damage with each hit.  Ingrid knows that her best hope is to not get hit.  In this case she chooses to use her shield actively, and gets a 1D bonus to her saving throw, which should help her earn herself a complete miss!