Piecewise Armor for Old-School Essentials
Stella over at Nothing’s RPG Zone threw down this tidbit, which I need to give more thought but on first glance I love absolutely to death.
Partial Armor for Old School Essentials
Fiddly? Perhaps perhaps. But it allows one to, say, find or purchase a cool helmet, or remove those old leather gauntlets in exchange for new magical chainmail ones. Maybe your AC goes up, maybe it doesn’t, but this gives a really neat way to differentiate and define armor.
Old-School play is defined by simplicity. So it all comes down to one value in the end. But what one can do with this is look at things like “half-plate” or even layered armor if one wishes. Say:
- Chainmail hauburgeon, covers upper arms, torso, upper legs
- call it chest, half of two pauldrons, half of two legs. Total armor points: 80+50+60 = 190
- breastplate OVER chainmail
- chest-only in plate: 110
- leather greaves and boots
- Half of greaves: 90
- Plate helmet: 80
- Throw on leather gauntlets: 50 for both arms
That’s 520 points, which divides nicely into AC 4 using descending AC, or AC 15 using ascending.
Or you can say “My paper person is wearing chainmail for 460 armor points (AC 5, as it should be), but throws on a breastplate (110) and greathelm (worn over a mail coif for +80) and get 460+190 = 650 armor points. That’s AC 3, like plate, without actually being plate.
As I said: I like it. I mean, given my design and game preferences, I would. But it’s a nifty thing.
(Also, those chain bikini or plate codpiece armors? Now fully quantifiable. So there you go.)
