Topic: Donning armor in Rolemaster how long it takes

[Bilo]

Hello again folks

I could not find this on the forums but any idea if there is a source book or rule that covers that?

cheers

[Athelstaine]

Arms Companion p.36 , there is also a Donning/Doffing skill introduced as well in the skill section of the book. I ignore the added skill and use the the Maneuver in Armor skill as the baseline.

[Bilo]

Thank you kindly !!

[jdale]

That's very detailed but some of the numbers are strange. I can't imagine a coat, even a long reinforced coat, is going to take 10 rounds (while a non-reinforced coat is 5), and there are donning times for non-armors like AT 1 (it takes a base of six rounds and a minimum of two rounds to put on "no armor"... what happens if you don't have time for that?), 3 and 4.

After looking at the numbers, I would probably just say look at the maximum maneuver penalty. One round per -10, minimum one round. That's in the same general range, doesn't need a separate table, also handles piecemeal armor in RMU easily (if you only have time to put on parts).

[Bilo]

i thought RMU not out yet, i don't have those books, i will house rule that table so the numbers at least make sense  thx

[Hurin]

You can download the RMU beta rules on these forums; you just have to sign up for the RMU beta forums.

I've been planning to add donning/doffing times to my armor by the piece houserules, but still trying to get an accurate sense of how long it takes to put on different armors. This video was instructive on just how long and complicated it is to put on plate armor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k24y_ZmxRHg

On the other hand, I can toss on my chain shirt (AT 13 in RM2, or AT 8 (torso) in RMU) in a single round; I just slide it on like a T-shirt.

[jdale]

I put a simple rule in RMU (yesterday) when I was finishing up the remaining examples. One round per -5 maneuver penalty, you can rush in half that time but suffer a -20 maneuver penalty until you fix it. The flat penalty is probably unrealistic, but it's easy, and if your armor only took a round to put on, it only takes another round to resolve.

Some things are easier or harder than that. The chain shirt for example. It would be more realistic to assign times per item, just a question of whether that realism is justified in terms of how long it takes to look up during play. You could also house rule it during play, a player is not going to complain if you shorten the listed time for them.

[Bilo]

thanks guys  RMU sound interesting i will take a look  at it

cheers

[markc]

IIRC, the no armor rules were for putting basic cloths or items such as silk shirt that blocks X bleeding after 1 round or normal cloths that provide DB bonuses.
Or simply putting on shirts, pants, shoes does not take no time.
MDC