While looking over possible armor types for an Iron Age setting, I realized that this many of the common armor types for the time period are actually separate pieces that are worn together in different arrangements, depending on your region and training. That may not lend itself well to the usual approach for defining armor, but I think it would be a great opportunity to explore piecemeal armor, a concept introduced in AD&D Second Edition. In essence, each component of armor (torso, arms and legs) adds an AC Bonus to the character's unarmored AC value. Since MyD20 Lite uses Ascending Armor Class, it is actually easier to determine the character's final AC value with piecemeal armor by adding up the bonuses for each component. For those that would use the information with Descending Armor Class, simply determine the final AC by subtracting the total from 10. I've captured the basic available pieces in the table below. Please check it out and tell me what you think.
Table: Available Armor - Iron Age
Armor AC Bonus Type Weight Notes Barding, leather +2 Light 20 Covers the torso of a large mount Bracers, iron +1 Light 10 Covers the arms Breastplate, iron +4 Light 20 Covers the torso Greaves, iron +2 Light 10 Covers the legs Greaves, leather +1 Light 5 Covers the legs Leather jerkin +2 Light 10 Covers the arms and torso Padded/quilted jerkin +1 Light 5 Covers the arms and torso Shield, large +2 Light 5 Cannot hold anything else in shield hand Shield, small +1 Light 5 Can hold a small object in shield hand Studded leather jerkin +3 Light 15 Covers the arms and torso
Note: When the combined weight of a character's armor exceeds 30 pounds, the armor is then considered to be Heavy. In addition, when using piecemeal armor, only the highest AC Bonus for a given body location counts towards the character's Armor Class.
With Regards,
Flynn
PDF
Posts
3 comments:
I like this method of piecemeal armours, although most of the guys I have gamed with usually just grab a 'suit' a be done with it.
I should, I suppose remind you of this discussion:
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=39105&start=112
...in which you seemed to agreed at the need for a 'Medium' armour category in order to penalise stealth and similar skills that are made more difficult by the wearing of armour.
Piecemeal armour works best with a hit location system as in RuneQuest 1e.
Bushido allows an increase in armour if, say, you wear armoured sleeves with your padded armour. Certain armour types are certain armour classes and go up from that point if you add thigh guards, shoulder guards and a facemask to the helmet, for example.
James:
Thanks for the reminder. :) In that case, I should add notes and make adjustments here. Greater than 15 pounds is Medium, and greater than 30 is Heavy.
Hope that helps,
Flynn
Post a Comment