A Hodgepodge of Goodies

Armor:
Name: Gangster's Jacket

Appearance: See pictures of Ishikawa Ken. Red and white in color scheme with a star symbol upon the back.

Rank: C

Special Abilities: The jacket hides scale armor plates inside it. This adds extra protection from all forms of attack without letting an assailant know that Ken is wearing armor. The jacket is most often worn open, thus leaving his chest partially exposed. Mostly it is meant to protect the back and sides of the wearer, allowing them to give more attention to their battle and less to what is trying to sneak up on them.

Origin: Seeing the need to both represent his gang and not get stabbed in the back, Ken borrowed the idea of protective clothing from the ninja flak vests and made it his own by using scale plates adapted from traditional samurai armor for the protecting, thus offering more flexibility and a lighter weight without sacrificing protection. Indeed, scale armor actually provides more protection thanks, to the overlap and shape of the scales, then simple metal plates do in a flak vest.

Utility:
Name: Weapons Harness

Appearance: A simple system of leather straps used as mounting points for various weapons on the chest and back. In the correct configuration, can be easily hidden with a simple jacket or vest.

Rank: D

Special Abilities: Special quick release installed lets the ninja shed the harness with the push of two buttons.

Origin: Picked up used by Ken not long after he created his jacket as an alternative to carrying his ninja tools out in the open.

Books:
Name: The Book of Five Rings

Appearance: A simple bound book. Hand copied.

Rank: E

Special Abilities: None

Origin: A text written by Miyamoto Musashi explaining the Ni Ten Ichi Ryu school. A must have for any aspiring samurai. This was a gift to Ken from his father marking the point at which he first began training as a samurai.

Name: The Art of War

Appearance: A simple bound book. Hand copied.

Rank: E

Special Abilities: None

Origin: A text written by Sun Tzu explaining military tactics. A must have for any military leader. This was a gift to Ken from his Ninja Academy Instructor.

How heavy and does it slow you down wearing the jacket and harness?

The hanress isn't any more heavy then other ways of strapping on gear, so none. And as for the jacket, you would have to be fairly weak for it to slow you down (Which my character isn't). Scale armor isn't heavy in the realm of armors. It draws it's strength from design, not from using more metal. I think a whole set of scale mail only weighs some thirty pounds... and this is only part of the chest area. So, like I said, it's an encumbrance, but only smaller/weaker people would be slowed by it.

Ok, approved.