I'm having a bit of a disagreement with my gm about the Thermal Regulator (the item, not the armor upgrade.) We're understanding the rules differently and I'm hoping for some clarification here.
Thermal Regulator (item): A thermal regulator unit works like a thermal regulator armor upgrade. However, the unit is a harness you wear with temperature regulating fluid and a belt-supported pump and power unit. The harness and belt unit can be worn under armor, but they have an independent power source. A thermal regulator unit can use any sort of battery, and the unit has a usage of 1 per hour or a fraction thereof.
Thermal Regulator (armor upgrade): While activated, a thermal regulator reduces the severity of dangerous temperatures by two steps for its wearer. For example, severe cold becomes comfortable, while extreme cold is reduced to cold. A thermal regulator can be set to protect its wearer from cold or heat, but not both simultaneously. The regulator consumes the attached armor’s environmental protections, but at one-quarter the rate of having protections fully activated.
From what I read, the Thermal Regulator (item) gives you the benefits of having environmental protections without having armor, just powered by a battery. It can be worn under armor and still function, using the battery instead of using the armor's environmental protections.
My GM argues that it still would use the environmental protection of your armor, but allows you to use the Thermal Regulator (armor upgrade) as an item rather than consuming an upgrade slot.
Some clarification would be great!
A thermal regulator unit works like a thermal regulator armor upgrade. However, the unit is a harness you wear with temperature regulating fluid and a belt-supported pump and power unit. The harness and belt unit can be worn under armor, but they have an independent power source. A thermal regulator unit can use any sort of battery, and the unit has a usage of 1 per hour or a fraction thereof.
While activated, a thermal regulator reduces the severity of dangerous temperatures by two steps for its wearer. For example, severe cold becomes comfortable, while extreme cold is reduced to cold. A thermal regulator can be set to protect its wearer from cold or heat, but not both simultaneously. The regulator consumes the attached armor’s environmental protections, but at one-quarter the rate of having protections fully activated.
The thermal regulator item clearly uses a separate battery (usage 1/hour) and does not use the armor's enviromental protections.
However, as a hybrid item, if it's worn and not an armor upgrade it does take up one of your two magic item slots. Which is the downside I believe your GM is wondering about.
He's a relatively new GM and I'm a veteran player. So while I don't want to entirely shut him down, I'm confident in my understanding and I'm trying to explain to him why the entire text in the armor upgrade doesn't apply (because that seems to be what he's hung up on.)
Just hoping someone can explain it differently than me where it will resonate better.