Topic: Warcraft

[VladD]

This is a shameless self-plug:

The guild companion http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/2012/oct/warcraft.html has published my armor article (yet another armor article...) with 180 different AT's with all stats necessary, also for D&D.

As a late addition: for the difficulty class (crafting) and the stalk and hide modifications: multiply the number shown with (-5) negative five... to get the modification to the skill roll in percentile system. For D&D 3.5: add 13 to get DC and for D&D 4E add 15.

Comments of any kind: bloodyvladd@gmail.com

Enjoy and

[jdale]

It would benefit from a key to what all the columns represent. Some are familiar, some are not.

[VladD]

A legenda then:

Armor pieces: description of the armor
RM armor: classification in RM1-RMFRP. For helmets: is the construction of the helmet
D&D: Classification in D&D. For helmets: light: skull cap, medium: covered neck, heavy covered face.
Theater: Genral area where the armor was used.
Cost Harn: How much it costs in Harn master. Prices in pennies (d)
Cost RM: Price in RM.
Cost D&D: I've never been motivated to use this; it is for comparison purposes only.
Weight (Lbs): weight of the complete armor, including padding, etc.
AT: Armor Type in RM. 5,9,13,17 represent torso armors and each extra number gives additional coverage of the armor.
Man. Min: Maneuver penalty, minimum. Armor will always hamper the user by this amount.
Man. Max.: Maneuver penalties, maximum. Can be trained using the correct maneuver in armor skill.
Mis. pen.: Missile penaltyPenalty on launching any missile. I have rduced this number dramatically, since no armor user would allow his offensive capabilities to be hampered in any way.
Qui. pen.: Quickness penalty. Not as much the heavier armor, but more likely the older and badly designed armors that will yield these.
DB melee, missile: extra DB against melee. Some armors are just so thick as to warrant extra DB. Usually that is compensated elsewhere. It is also used for shields.
Tot. AC: D&D AC and Max Dex added, so armors can be compared easily.
AC: Armor class. This is added to 10 to get the basic to hit DC.
Dex.: Max dexterity bonus that can be used in the armor.
Maneuver: Maneuver penalty on certain skills when using the armor.
Arc. Failure: Arcane failure. This is the chance an D&D arcane spell has of failing when the armor is worn by the caster.
Bludgeon AC: added modifier when the armor is struck by a bludgeon type attack.
Pierce AC: added modifier when the armor is struck by a pierce type weapon.
Slash AC: added modifier when the armor is attacked with a slash type attack.
Availability: Rarity of the item. COmmon items available everywhere. UnCommon items available in cities, towns and large villages. RAre in towns and cities, or rural areas depending on item type. Very Rare only in cities with special artisans.
Age: General age when the item was invented/ adopted.
Artisan. Likely artisan to produce the finished product.
Production time: time for the specified artisan to produce the item from ready stock material, as available in the middle ages. (no rolled sheets, I-beams, or stamp blanks)
Difficulty class: Multiply by -5 for RM, add 13 for D&D 3.X and 15 for D&D 4E.
Don. Sec.: Donning armor, measured in seconds. Can be halved for system penalties.
Remove. Sec.: Removing, or doffing armor, measured in seconds. Can be halved by cutting straps.
Hiding/ Stalking penalty: penalty to hiding. Multiply by -5 for RM, apply on wearer. Subtract number from stealth checks for D&D.

More questions?

[jdale]

That helps.

It's very information dense. Seems like a good reference to have around, hard to imagine using in its compiled form directly.

Might be timely to add RMU armor types though!

[VladD]

I've got a supplement in the works already.

[VladD]

The purpose of the Xlsx sheet is to give the opportunity to present the info as you like. Put together all the Qin armors? No problem. All armors available during the dark ages: sort button in MSOffice...

And as a little bonus: it prints out on 2.5 A4's, which is rather ok in my book. I've made tables that are bigger... Such as a next installment of Warcraft: weapons... 4 A4's on a two page spread...

So if you want less: edit it to less, if you want more, edit the table how you like. I included the D&D stats because I know plenty GM's here use D&D as well, and that system really needs a serious arms and armour overhaul!

Ow and one little extra comment: I have bold faced the armors that are the baseline armors of each armor type...for those who wondered...

I have been playtesting this armor system for quite some time, and its (too) good if you know what to look for, so better keep a lid on the more exotic armors. As a GM, try to keep an eye on Very Rare armors, and Late Middle Age+ armors. It does provide a very gradual ascend from low armors to heavier armors, so players actually don't NEED a full plate after "plate mail" any more.
The table also facilitates play in different ages and areas of history.

The helmets are a project left unfinished, because there is not that much information, but I thought it was nice to have a choice of helmets, instead of the common: Skull cap, aventailed, visored and full helmet types. There was a lot of diversity and now GMs can have inspiration from this source.

[PhillipAEllis]

Thank you for this! I look forward to your RMU update. I'm planning a series of articles for 2013, detailing a basic psionic system for RMFRP with planned critters and sample characters.

[HighNDry]

Appreciate this. I've already learned quite a few things. Went through the table this weekend, it's nice having such a detailed source.

One question though, "Iron, however, tended to become brittle when made into large plates such as a breast plate, so was an illogical choice for the 2500 years which began with the iron age."
Do you have any examples of when that changed over time? How it changed at different times in different cultures? I'm a history buff, but specifics on non european armor is new to me.

[VladD]

The only examples I can give for this are small section armors; such as scale and lamellar armor, that were actually worse than the more expensive bronze plate armor, but still were used, such as in China and later Japan.
The bigger plates began to be developed when the smiths gained knowledge of making steel, especially the spring type steel. First it was used in blades, that could cut maille, then armor smiths caught on and used steel to make armor, making bigger pieces as they went.
Development of full plate armor was stunted in other theaters besides Europe probably because of climate considerations. That also meant that weapons weren't necessarily developed further, although China remained a fertile ground for some off beat weaponry.
It is hard to give specific examples since my research was done over a long period of time and not all the data is still available and I never intended to go public when I started.
All I can say is: enjoy and perhaps you can do some of the research and share it when it is complete?