Armor in Emirikol

[subplotkudzu]

As I've stated in the past, there isn't any call for Heavy Armor in Emirikol, but what do the good gentlefolk wear to protect their largest organ?


rather than full 'suits' of armor, the style is for long leather gloves, high leather boots that flare up to protect the knee, doublets and a kilt or skirt to protect the groin. For convenience sake, these are generally referred to as a 'doublet', even though that's only part of the outfit.

**Light Armor Max Dex Check - Spell Fail
Boots and Gloves: +1 +8 0 5%
Padded doublet +2 +6 0 10%
Leather doublet +3 +5 -1 15%
Chain Shirt +4 +4 -2 20%

If you look, you'll see i did away with studded leather and upgraded each of the types by 1 to compensate. Studded leather doublets just seem aesthetically unappealing You get into medium armors and they're more like traditional armor from the PHB.

**Medium
Hide armor +3 +4 -3 20%
Chain Mail +5 +2 -5 30%
Breastplate +5 +3 -4 25%

No reason I can see for hide armor other than the occasional bandit whose doing the best he can with his limited resources. Wearing any medium armors when you're not in the army or guard will get you pulled aside by the guard right quick.

**Shield
Buckler +1 -1 5%
Cloak +1 0 5% (if wrapped)
Shield, small +1 -1 5%
Shield, large +2 -2 15%

Only guardsmen will carry shields most days. Seeing a guardsman with a brace of pistols, a breastplate and a large steel shield will make most fencers back down.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Two words: steel codpieces.

More seriously: are boots & gloves cumulative with doublets? How does that affect bonus caps and spell failure?

How long have these rules been in effect? I ask because that would affect how well people would have come up with workarounds. If this is an age-old tradition, then there might be a slightly-less-than-age-old tradition of steel plates in your doublet, leather capes with weighted edges, etc.

Here's a dodge I thought of to get around the blade-length rules: False hilts which extend a good way up the blade. When you actually want to fight, you take off the hilt extender and start carving.

Cambias

[brianrogers.livejournal.com]

My intention is that the boots and gloves are not cumulative with the listed doublets, but part of the overall package. If the players would rather break things out, we could have the standard Leather and Padded armor stats take the place of Leather and Padded Doublets listed above, and have Gloves and Boots take the place of a Buckler. The result would be the same, if a little more complicated when you add other shields into it.

of course, I could just remove shields from the culture because they're not very swashbuckler-y. Though my image of the city guards are men in breastplates with metal shields, a brace of pistols and shortsword (or club if not noble). The high AC and stopping power that would bring should make most lightly armored fighters think twice about taking on 2-5 of them.

As for the age of the armor types, I could see my way clear to adding 'Studded Doublets' that have the stats of studded leather armor via sewed in plates over vital areas, but those would be fairly new. If the players want this, I'm amenable.

As for the false hilts, better hope the guards don't find you with one of those! Otherwise we get into the "You have a permit for the shotgun, sure, enough, but is there a reason why you sawed it off and hid it under your coat?" conversation.

heh

[ashacat.livejournal.com]

"Seeing a guardsman with a brace of pistols, a breastplate and a large steel shield will make most fencers back down."

Ya think?!

See, this is why I like magical ranged weapons like blasts of fire.