During my explorations of the internet, I have often looked at other pages that had gaming material on them. One of these belongs to a fellow who calls himself Cenwulf. Now Cenwulf has a very interesting approach to several gaming topics, such as armor, healing, and horses. His website is long since gone, but I did get in touch with him after it disappeared and got permission to host his files. Just click on the following link to get his Armor Rules document from my Downloads area.
I liked his armor rules so much that I incorporated them into my own house rules at the time. I have made a few small adjustments to his original rules, but not much and only enough to make them fit my campaign style at the time.
So here they are without any further delay —-
Optional Armor Rules
The Optional Armor Rules are simple to apply, and are designed to give the player a more detailed and realistic armor picture by allowing the mixing of armor types and amount of coverage. It gives more importance to the helmet in the overall Armor Value, or AV, of the character. And, with the optional Missile Attack Penalties rules, a player may be able to obtain higher armor types with little or no penalty to missile attacks, simply by keeping his arms unencumbered.
Base Armor Type
The first step in using the rules is to determine the Base armor. The Base armor will govern the overall Armor Type of the character. The four base armors are: SOFT, RIGID (or reinforced), MAIL and PLATE. To calculate the base, add the Armor Value of each piece of like materials together. If the total of any base exceeds the minimum total value for the lowest AT of that type, then that will be the character’s base for determining final AT. If more than one type of armor meets this requirement, then the Base Armor with the highest maximum maneuver penalty is used.
Example: Topo, Rio and Golfarb are equipping themselves. Topo chooses a leather hauberk (AV 30), leather calf boots (AV 3) and a mail mantle (AV 7). The base armor is soft (the leather added up to 33, well over the base lower limit of 0, the mail only to 7, nowhere near the lower limit of 65 for mail base). If Topo added a mail hauberk (AV 80) over his leather one, then he would use mail as his base, as the AV for the mail he is wearing exceeds the lower limit for mail base and mail has the higher maximum maneuver penalty. If Topo were then to add plate armor totaling an AV of 75 to his getup, he would still be considered at mail base, because mail has a higher max. man. penalty than plate. In order to move to base plate, Topo will have to shed some of his highly encumbering mail.
-
Base AT?s:
Soft: Minimum AV 0 (includes Cloth, Quilted & Leather)
Rigid: Minimum AV 40(includes Kurbul, Leather Scale & Ring)
Mail: Minimum AV 65(includes Chain & Metal Scale)
Plate: Minimum AV 60 (includes Metal Plate)
Determining Overall Armor Type
After the Base Armor has been ascertained then it is time to find out what the character’s Armor Type, or AT, is. Simply add together the AV of all armor worn, and consult the appropriate base armor table.
Example: Topo from the above example, put on a total AV of 195, including leather, mail and plate. He has base armor of mail, so checking the mail table, he finds that he is AT 15. Rio and Golfarb laugh at Topo’s bulky outfit and his -150 maneuver penalty.
Armor Coverage
The charts at the bottom of this page are used to determine your armor type, and they also list the areas of the body covered by a particular piece of armor. The following chart is used to show the meaning of the abbreviations used in those charts.
Armor Damage
Simply put, for every 10 points of damage (round down) inflicted to the character his armor value decreases by 1. This damage can be applied to the overall AV, or, a GM may wish to keep track of hit locations and apply the damage to individual pieces of armor. Armor damage will accumulate until the armor is repaired by a skilled craftsman, and then, the quality of his work will determine if the full AV of the armor is regained or only a portion. If the AV falls below the current AT threshold due to damage, then the current AV is used to determine AT. In this way, damage can effectively lower AT and decrease the protective value of the armor. If the AT is already at the lowest base AT for Rigid, Mail, or Plate, then each point under the minimum threshold results in a -5 against the characters DB. If the armor falls to 5 points below minimum, then it is considered utterly and irreparably destroyed. Recalculate the AV without the destroyed armor when this happens.
Example: Topo, having fought many battles and sustaining many injuries is at AT 14 with an AV of 116. He gets into a fight with an angry orc who smashes him with a mace several times before Topo can gut him. After the battle, Topo assesses the damage: he took 24 total hits to the body. He subtracts 2 points from his AV (24/10, rounded down) and looks at his new AV of 114 and checks the mail table. Alas, now because his armor is damaged, Topo’s AT has fallen from 14 to 13. If Topo had been AT 13 with an AV of 65 before the battle, he would now be AT 13 with a -10 DB, because his AV fell to 63. Topo may now be better off throwing away the nearly worthless mail.
Missile Attack Penalties
It is possible to pile on lots of armor and not affect one’s ability to use missile weapons. Simply add up the values of all the armor covering the arms from the Arm Covering Values Table and check the total against the ranges on the Missile Attack Penalties Table to find the correct penalty. Note that bows (and slings) will take more severe penalties than crossbows because of the greater range of motion required to use such weapons.
Use the tables below to determine the maneuver and missile penalties for the armor. Just click on the gemstone to jump down to them.
Bonuses from Magical Armor
By using this system, the character can “build” himself a set of armor from a variety of source pieces. Now most magical suits of armor come in full sets, but this system can cause problems if this issue is not addressed.
Most times when a suit of magical armor is found, the bonus from it applies to either the whole suit or to a majority of the pieces. For game purposes, I will determine which pieces may or may not have a magical bonus and then go from there.
If a character should happen upon a piece of armor that does have a magical bonus, and adds it to any armor that he is currently wearing that also has a magical bonus, then the bonuses of all magical armor being worn will be averaged together to give the new total bonus for the armor being worn.
Armor Types
The following charts are all used for the determining of your armor. Once you have decided which pieces of armor you are going to wear, then just add together all the AV for each item and check this total against the very last chart in this section to see what your final armor type is. All maneuver penalties are decided by the final AT of your custom suit of armor.
| CLOTH |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Cap |
0 |
0.4 |
8 |
Sk |
| Hood |
0 |
0.8 |
16 |
Sk Nk |
| Vest |
0 |
2.8 |
56 |
Sh Tx Ab |
| Tunic |
0 |
4.4 |
88 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Surcoat |
0 |
5.3 |
106 |
Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Robe |
1 |
7.9 |
158 |
Tunic + Fo El Th Kn Ca |
| Leggings |
0 |
4.4 |
88 |
Gr Hp Th Kn Ca Ft |
| Cloak |
3 |
8.7 |
182 |
Robe + Nk Sk |
| QUILT |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Cap |
1 |
1.2 |
16 |
Sk |
| Cowl |
2 |
2.4 |
32 |
Sk Nk |
| Tunic |
10 |
13.2 |
176 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Gambeson |
15 |
19.8 |
264 |
Fo El Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Chausses |
10 |
7.2 |
96 |
Hp Th Kn |
| Leggings |
15 |
13.2 |
176 |
Gr Hp Th Kn Ca Ft |
| LEATHER |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Cap |
2 |
0.8 |
16 |
Sk |
| Cowl |
5 |
2.4 |
48 |
Sk Nk Sh |
| Mantle |
2 |
0.8 |
16 |
Sh |
| Vest |
15 |
5.6 |
112 |
Sh Tx Ab |
| Tunic |
20 |
8.8 |
176 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Surcoat |
25 |
10.6 |
212 |
Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Hauberk |
30 |
13.2 |
264 |
Fo El Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Chausses |
15 |
4.8 |
96 |
Hp Th Kn |
| Leggings |
20 |
8.8 |
176 |
Gr Hp Th Kn Ca Ft |
| Shoes |
1 |
1.2 |
24 |
Ft |
| Calf Boots |
3 |
3.2 |
64 |
Ca Ft |
| Knee Boots |
5 |
3.8 |
76 |
Kn Ca Ft |
| Gauntlets |
3 |
0.8 |
16 |
Ha |
| KURBUL |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Half-Helm |
5 |
1.0 |
20 |
Sk |
| Breastplate |
20 |
3.0 |
60 |
Ch |
| Backplate |
20 |
3.0 |
60 |
Bk |
| Ailettes/2 |
5 |
1.0 |
20 |
Sh |
| Rerebraces/2 |
7 |
1.5 |
30 |
Ua |
| Coudes/2 |
2 |
0.5 |
10 |
El |
| Vambraces/2 |
7 |
1.3 |
25 |
Fo |
| Codpiece |
2 |
0.25 |
5 |
Gr |
| Culet |
5 |
2.25 |
45 |
Hp |
| Cuisses |
10 |
3.75 |
75 |
Th |
| Kneecops/2 |
2 |
0.8 |
15 |
Kn |
| Greaves/2 |
7 |
2.5 |
50 |
Ca |
| Gauntlets |
5 |
1 |
20 |
Ha |
| RING |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Halfhelm |
7 |
1.6 |
28 |
Sk |
| Mantle |
5 |
1.6 |
28 |
Sh |
| Vest |
35 |
11.2 |
196 |
Sh Tx Ab |
| Byrnie |
40 |
17.6 |
308 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Hauberk |
50 |
26.4 |
462 |
Fo El Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Leggings |
30 |
17.6 |
308 |
Gr Hp Th Kn Ca Ft |
| Gauntlets |
5 |
1.6 |
28 |
Ha |
|
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE | |
| Cowl |
15 |
6.0 |
180 |
Sk Nk Sh |
| Mantle |
7 |
1.6 |
60 |
Sh |
| Byrnie |
65 |
22.0 |
660 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Hauberk |
80 |
33.0 |
990 |
Fo El Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| Leggings |
40 |
22.0 |
660 |
Gr Hp Th Kn Ca Ft |
| Mittens |
7 |
2.0 |
60 |
Ha |
| SCALE |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Mantle |
8 |
2.8 |
40 |
Sh |
| Vest |
65 |
19.6 |
280 |
Sh Tx Ab |
| Byrnie |
75 |
30.8 |
440 |
Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp |
| Hauberk |
85 |
46.2 |
660 |
Fo El Ua Sh Tx Ab Gr Hp Th |
| PLATE |
AV |
WT |
PR |
COVERAGE |
| Half-Helm |
10 |
3.2 |
100 |
Sk |
| 3/4 Helm |
15 |
5.6 |
175 |
Sk Fa |
| Great Helm |
20 |
8.8 |
275 |
Sk Fa Nk |
| Gorget |
10 |
3.2 |
100 |
Nk |
| Breastplate |
35 |
9.6 |
300 |
Ch |
| Backplate |
35 |
9.6 |
300 |
Bk |
| Ailettes/2 |
10 |
3.2 |
100 |
Sh |
| Rerebraces/2 |
15 |
4.8 |
150 |
Ua |
| Coudes/2 |
5 |
1.6 |
50 |
El |
| Vambraces/2 |
10 |
4.0 |
125 |
Fo |
| Codpiece |
4 |
0.8 |
25 |
Gr |
| Culet |
10 |
7.2 |
225 |
Hp |
| Cuisses |
15 |
12 |
375 |
Th |
| Tassets |
8 |
12 |
375 |
Th |
| Kneecops/2 |
5 |
2.4 |
75 |
Kn |
| Greaves/2 |
15 |
8.0 |
250 |
Ca |
| Shoes |
4 |
4.8 |
150 |
Ft |
| Gauntlets |
10 |
3.2 |
100 |
Ha |
| ARMOR TYPE TABLE | ||
| SOFT | Armor Type | Armor Value |
| Minimum AV 0
Includes: Cloth, Quilted and Leather. |
5 |
0 – 29 |
|
6 |
30 – 73 |
|
|
7 |
74 – 91 |
|
|
8 |
92 & up |
|
| RIGID | Armor Type | Armor Value |
| Minimum AV 40
Includes: Kurbul, Leather Scale and Ring. |
9 |
40 – 64 |
|
10 |
65 – 93 |
|
|
11 |
94 – 121 |
|
|
12 |
122 & up |
|
| Armor Type | Armor Value | |
| Minimum AV 65
Includes: Chain and Metal Scale. |
13 |
65 – 114 |
|
14 |
115 – 155 |
|
|
15 |
156 – 217 |
|
|
16 |
218 & up |
|
| PLATE | Armor Type | Armor Value |
| Minimum AV 60 |
17 |
60 – 113 |
|
18 |
114 – 193 |
|
|
19 |
194 – 238 |
|
|
20 |
239 & up |
|
Determining Armor Penalties
| ARM COVERING VALUES TABLE | ||||||
|
Shoulders |
Upper Arms |
Elbows |
Forearms |
Hands |
||
| Cloth |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Quilt |
0 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
12 |
|
| Leather |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Kurbul |
12 |
5 |
10 |
3 |
15 |
|
| Ring |
0 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
- |
|
|
0 |
7 |
12 |
7 |
20 |
||
| Scale |
5 |
9 |
14 |
9 |
- |
|
| Plate |
12 |
5 |
10 |
3 |
15 |
|
| MISSILE ATTACK PENALTIES TABLE | ||
|
Total Arm Covering Value |
Penalty vs Bow |
Penalty vs Crossbow |
|
0 -10 |
0 |
0 |
|
11 – 20 |
-5 |
0 |
|
21 – 25 |
-10 |
-5 |
|
26 – 30 |
-15 |
-5 |
|
31 – 35 |
-20 |
-10 |
|
36 – 45 |
-30 |
-15 |
|
46 & up |
-40 |
-20 |
|
ARMOR PENALTIES TABLE T-3.3 |
|||
|
Armor Type |
Min. Maneuver Mod.* |
Maximum Maneuver Mod.** |
Armor Quickness Penalty*** |
|
1 2 3 4 |
0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 |
|
5 6 7 8 |
0 0 -10 -15 |
0 -20 -40 -50 |
0 0 10 15 |
|
9 10 11 12 |
-5 -10 -15 -15 |
-50 -70 -90 -110 |
0 5 15 15 |
|
13 14 15 16 |
-10 -15 -25 -40 |
-90 -110 -150 -165 |
5 10 25 35 |
|
17 18 19 20 |
-10 -15 -20 -25 |
-70 -90 -120 -130 |
5 10 20 20 |
| * – Minimum maneuver modification applied to a combatant fully trained in maneuvering while wearing the given armor type (see Section 8.6).
** – Maximum maneuver modification applied to a combatant totally untrained in maneuvering while wearing the given armor type (see Section 8.6). *** – An Armor Quickness penalty can reduce or cancel a combatant?s Quickness stat bonus for his DB (see Section 5.4.4). Unlike those penalties above, this penalty can only reduce the armor wearer?s Quickness stat bonus. It will not reduce a combatant?s overall DB below the level that it would be at with a zero Quickness stat bonus (see Section 23.2.1). |
|||
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