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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6017544" data-attributes="member: 92305"><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Thoughts on Armor</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Let's talk a bit about armor. The protection that some types of armor provide a character in this game will make him a formidable warrior and very hard to damage because of what he wears. Armor soaks up damage, keeping the character from losing precicous hit points, and it keeps the 20 damage point threshold for Massive Damage from happening. Armor is at the top of most player's equipment lists.</p><p></p><p>But, I encourage GMs to be stingy with armor (or with the means to obtain armor). I encourage this, first off, because it is true to the genre. Look at the Conan stories. Conan does wear armor, when he can, but in many stories, he's got very little equipment. Now, you can say that this is an aspect of the character, not the game's universe, but also look at the people that Conan fights. Many are unarmored as well, or, if they do wear armor, it's usually of the "Light" type. More armored foes are typically found wearing "Medium" armors. Conan, when he can afford it, will grab a mail shirt. And, note that he usually only wears the stuff when he knows he's going into a battle (and even then, not always).</p><p></p><p>Why is this?</p><p></p><p>It's realistic. Armor is heavy, restricting, hot, and uncomfortable. Plus, it's expensive. When do we see Conan in "Heavy" armor? We see that when cost is no object, as it was when he was armored to lead the battle in <strong>Black Colossus</strong> or later, in the massive combat scenes in the stories when Conan is king of Aquilonia. </p><p></p><p>Not too many foes in the Conan stories are described as wearing full plate armor, or even breastplates, for that matter. When such a foe does appear, the circumstances of the story (a massive battle) provides a reason for the foe to being wearing such.</p><p></p><p>A breastplate in this game is 2,000 sp. A set of plate armor is 6,500 sp. Both of those sums should be A LOT of money in your game. This isn't a game, like D&D, where characters go into a dungeon and come out with more loot than they can carry. Conan is forever coming close enough to unimaginable riches only to have the object of his larcenous desire slip through his fingers...because the gems turned into snakes...because he had to cut the heavy sack of coin from his waist to keep from drowning....because the fist-sized diamond was needed to trap the evil sorcerer. Remember the rule <strong>High Living</strong> rule from the 2E Equipment Chapter. Do what you can to keep PC's low on funds--so that they've got to save for that breastplate or maybe use their own skills to make it themselves.</p><p></p><p>This same line of thought should be applied to NPCs, too. Your typical NPC should not be wearing armor. If the NPC has a reason to be in armor, then put him in some Light stuff (Medium armor if there is reason for him to be heavily armored). Reserve Heavy Armor for the bad guy at the climax to a campaign. Use it as a reward.</p><p></p><p>And, once PCs obtain good quality equipment (this goes for weapons too), don't be afraid to damage the stuff. If a foe cannot penetrate, he might try to sunder the armor rather than using a finesse attack. Don't forget page 179 of the 2E rulebook where armor damage and repair is discussed.</p><p></p><p>Be careful what you allow beginning PCs to own as they enter a campaign. Coming straight from standard 3.5 D&D, it may not even occur to you not to allow a 1st level Soldier to have a breastplate, thinking that a wealthing 1st level D&D or Pathfinder character could obtain plate mail. I think of this the same way I think of giving a 1st level D&D character a Staff of the Magi or a +5 Holy Avenger--I most likely wouldn't allow it. A breastplate should be a reward that characters strive to obtain. These are rare items for which players should have a grand appreciation.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So, we've discussed that the heavier armors should be fairly rare in a Conan game: A GM keeps them rare by limiting the PC's ability to buy them. Keep treasure low. Don't think D&D. If the PCs kill a group of bandits and find 1d6 sp in their pockets, this should NOT BE NORMAL. In fact, this should alert the PCs that these very same bandits probably just completed a pretty good theft of a merchant's strong box on a caravan. Most of your Zuagirs and Kozaki, Picts, Vanirmen, and Barrachan Pirates should be dirt poor. Maybe one of the group has 1d6 sp, but this guy is probably the leader or the one stealing from the group. Let the PCs find a gemstone here and there. Put interesting, non-money, things into foe's pockets--like teeth that the NPC collected from his enemies, or maybe an otter pelt...a piece of a deer's antler. Page 143 of the 2E Core rulebook says many countries issue coins. So be creative. If you must allow the PC to find some coin (and they should find some from time to time--just keep it fairly rare), why not desribe the rectangular copper coins with a square hold in their center that has been pierced with a string of raw hide to form a necklace around a foe's neck. That's how he keeps his money. You can say that the character found 14 square copper Nemedian drakes, and all you've really given the character is less than 2 sp worth of loot. </p><p></p><p>When away from civilized lands, don't be afraid to let your PCs barter. Conan did this all the time. "Here, I've got seven jade stones. I'll give you one for food and lodging for the week." If you look at <strong>Barbaric Treasures</strong> book, you'll see a giant list of pelts, furs, and a multitude of mundane items to use for trade. Who knows, this could lead to some extremely fun roleplaying.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Tito's Trading Post</strong> mentions that the prices for items listed in the books are base prices</span>for the items where they are fairly common and supply is strong. The GM should vary these prices greatly if he deems an item short on supply or rare/exotic to the area. Factors of x5, x10, x15 or more are mentioned. Thus, finding a crossbow while trading among the Picts might be near impossible. Finding a crossbow in the markets of Zamboula might be possible, if the GM thinks a caravan carrying some has arrived, but the thing might cost 200 sp. Finding a crossbow in Belverus would be easy and cost the standard 12 sp.</p><p></p><p>As GM, always play with the prices and availability as the PCs move from place to place. It will make your game world that much more real.</p><p></p><p>Also, nickle and dime your PCs for things. Make them buy new clothing, especially if their last adventure saw them trudge through hazardous terrain in the wicked mountains, through rain and mud and rockslides. You don't have to make a big deal out of this, unless you're just in the mood to stir up a roleplaying encounter. If you feel like something like that would bog the game down, just, from time to time, have the group remove a random amount of coin for "incidentals". This will cover everything that you don't roleplay and major equipment. Or, use the High Living rule and just cut the PC's funds in half from time to time, telling the PCs how that money is used for food and lodging and clothes and new loin cloths and such. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Keep all of this in mind when the PCs encounter NPCs, too. Unless the NPC has a reason to wear armor (like guard duty), then the NPC probably won't be in armor. Guards, during their free time, won't typicaly stumble around in their armor. They'll take it off and get comfortable.</p><p></p><p>Remember the rule about <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>sleeping in armor</strong>:</span> pg. 155 of the 2E Core Rulebook. Fail a save and be fatigued.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Some armors can make a character fatigued, too, just by wearing the stuff for long periods of time.</strong></span> I think this is common sense. But, if you've got to see a rule about this, check out the optional rule on pg. 41 of Tito's Trading Post.</p><p></p><p>And, if there are going to be a lot of situations where characters who have armor aren't wearing it, the rules on pg. 157-158 of the 2E core rule book will be needed to govern how fast character can get into and out of armor when time is of the essence.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Taking all the above into account, it becomes clear that the PCs, most of the time, are going to be running into various styles of Light armor. You've got the Leather Jerkin, Mail Shirt, and Quilted Jerkin described in the 2E Core rulebook. But, look farther. You've also got other choices.</p><p></p><p>The Barbaric Warrior and Barbaric Treasures books bring you rules for mixing and matching various armor pieces withe the <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Piecemeal Armor Rules</strong></span>. Using those rules, you can have your bare chested Cimmerian come screaming through the woods, broadsword in one hand, hide shield clutched in the other, wearing horned helmet and bone shin guards--and still have this character considered to be completed unemcumbered as if he were wearing no armor but with a DR 2 (Every little bit helps--usually translates to -1 damage, <em>every time the character is hit</em>. It adds up.) rating for the two pieces of armor he is wearing (the shin guards and the helmet).</p><p></p><p>Look at those rules, not only for the various ways armor can be piecemealed on a character but also for the different types of armor provided.</p><p></p><p>Various articles in S&P and book bring other armor types into play. Look at the <strong>Players Guide to the Hyborian Age</strong>, <strong>Tito's Trading Post</strong>, and other various sourcebooks. <strong>The Warrior's Companion</strong> has some interesting new types.</p><p></p><p>If you've got a type of real-world armor in mind that you want to bring into the game, I suggest you look at <strong>From Stone to Steel</strong>. That book will have standard d20 stats for most types of armor known from history. You'll have to eyeball some Conan RPG-specific ratings to use the stuff in our game, but that shouldn't be too hard.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Thus, maybe you've decided that the guards employed by the Zamorian merchant wear leather jerkins. A few, the elites of the mercenary squadron, have chain mail shirts, and the Captain of the Guard wears a brigadine coat. But, once your PC Cimmerian Barbarian/Thief climbs his way into the lofty towers of the merchant's mansion and spies the barracks, these guards shouldn't be wearing any armor at all, unless they're just coming off or going on to duty. A random guard chanced in the hallway won't be wearing armor either, not unless that guard is also on duty patrolling that hallway.</p><p></p><p>This should make things more realistic; more in-line with the Conan stories and the game's universe; and more palatable for the PC Cimmerian who is wearing naught but sandles and a loin cloth.</p><p></p><p>In my game, my PCs found an amazing breastplate of the utmost quality, created in an age long since past. I made the thing an awesome discovery. The players loved it (you'd have thought I game them a +5 Holy Avenger!). But, I still hampered it. The leather straps and whatnot that helped hold the armor in place had rotted. So, the players could not use it (I only allowed them to find one breastplate!) until they got it to a qualified armor smith. At their village, there were no armorsmiths, as Cimmerian smiths are few and far between. Thus, they had to make do with what they had (I allowed a Craft Armorsmith check with a +5 to difficulty) to fix the armor, or they faced a trek south into the civilized lands of Aquilonia to find a smith to fix it for them.</p><p></p><p>My point: By keeping the item rare, I've got some very pleased, thankful players on my hands (well, one player, anyway--the one who got the breastplate). I almost got a quest out of the presentation of the armor (My players decided against the quest and ended up fixing the armor with the less talented among them in the village.) And, I've got a neat mystery injected into my story (Where did this armor come from? Who made it?)</p><p></p><p>Also remember that you can keep your PCs interested with rewards that allow them to improve their weapons and armor using the various rules in the game (see Tito's Trading Post, The Barbaric Warrior, and The Warrior's Companion, plus the relevant section in the 2E Core rulebook). This will make the players of your amorsmiths and weaponsmiths among your PCs glad that they threw precious skill points into those skills--allowing them to get tangible benefits like improving the penetration of a weapon or adding spikes to armor or a shield.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One last thought: I've seen some interesting entries on clothing. The duellist cape, from The Warrior's Companion, provides a +2 to the bluff check when attempting a feint. There are head coverings in that same book that look so fierce that the character gets a +1 bonus to Intimidate checks while wearing the hood. The Borderer's Cloak, from Barbaric Treasures, grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Hide checks. </p><p></p><p>In this tradition, my thought is to allow some heavy, thick, clothing to serve as some armor. For example, a Cimmerian wears a mantle. This is a big, thick cloak. Why not allow this cloak to serve as DR 1 armor <em>that cannot be combined to improve DR ratings</em> of other armor? For example, a Cimmerian wearing a mantle is consider to have DR 1 armor. The, this same Cimmerian dons a helm. Normally, this would mean DR 2 (1 for the helm and 1 for the armor of the cloak), but because of the special rule that the DR rating of the cloak cannot improve other armor, the Cimmerian still has DR 1, with or without the helm.</p><p></p><p>This will give the character a piece of equipment with a little "umph". Not all cloaks are heavy enough to be considered DR 1 in this manner. And, you're not unbalancing the game by introducing "cloak armor" since the DR ratings don't stack.</p><p></p><p>In this manner, you can highlight the goods of different regions and what not, while at the same time giving your players some "goodies" to use in the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6017544, member: 92305"] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Thoughts on Armor[/B][/COLOR] Let's talk a bit about armor. The protection that some types of armor provide a character in this game will make him a formidable warrior and very hard to damage because of what he wears. Armor soaks up damage, keeping the character from losing precicous hit points, and it keeps the 20 damage point threshold for Massive Damage from happening. Armor is at the top of most player's equipment lists. But, I encourage GMs to be stingy with armor (or with the means to obtain armor). I encourage this, first off, because it is true to the genre. Look at the Conan stories. Conan does wear armor, when he can, but in many stories, he's got very little equipment. Now, you can say that this is an aspect of the character, not the game's universe, but also look at the people that Conan fights. Many are unarmored as well, or, if they do wear armor, it's usually of the "Light" type. More armored foes are typically found wearing "Medium" armors. Conan, when he can afford it, will grab a mail shirt. And, note that he usually only wears the stuff when he knows he's going into a battle (and even then, not always). Why is this? It's realistic. Armor is heavy, restricting, hot, and uncomfortable. Plus, it's expensive. When do we see Conan in "Heavy" armor? We see that when cost is no object, as it was when he was armored to lead the battle in [B]Black Colossus[/B] or later, in the massive combat scenes in the stories when Conan is king of Aquilonia. Not too many foes in the Conan stories are described as wearing full plate armor, or even breastplates, for that matter. When such a foe does appear, the circumstances of the story (a massive battle) provides a reason for the foe to being wearing such. A breastplate in this game is 2,000 sp. A set of plate armor is 6,500 sp. Both of those sums should be A LOT of money in your game. This isn't a game, like D&D, where characters go into a dungeon and come out with more loot than they can carry. Conan is forever coming close enough to unimaginable riches only to have the object of his larcenous desire slip through his fingers...because the gems turned into snakes...because he had to cut the heavy sack of coin from his waist to keep from drowning....because the fist-sized diamond was needed to trap the evil sorcerer. Remember the rule [B]High Living[/B] rule from the 2E Equipment Chapter. Do what you can to keep PC's low on funds--so that they've got to save for that breastplate or maybe use their own skills to make it themselves. This same line of thought should be applied to NPCs, too. Your typical NPC should not be wearing armor. If the NPC has a reason to be in armor, then put him in some Light stuff (Medium armor if there is reason for him to be heavily armored). Reserve Heavy Armor for the bad guy at the climax to a campaign. Use it as a reward. And, once PCs obtain good quality equipment (this goes for weapons too), don't be afraid to damage the stuff. If a foe cannot penetrate, he might try to sunder the armor rather than using a finesse attack. Don't forget page 179 of the 2E rulebook where armor damage and repair is discussed. Be careful what you allow beginning PCs to own as they enter a campaign. Coming straight from standard 3.5 D&D, it may not even occur to you not to allow a 1st level Soldier to have a breastplate, thinking that a wealthing 1st level D&D or Pathfinder character could obtain plate mail. I think of this the same way I think of giving a 1st level D&D character a Staff of the Magi or a +5 Holy Avenger--I most likely wouldn't allow it. A breastplate should be a reward that characters strive to obtain. These are rare items for which players should have a grand appreciation. So, we've discussed that the heavier armors should be fairly rare in a Conan game: A GM keeps them rare by limiting the PC's ability to buy them. Keep treasure low. Don't think D&D. If the PCs kill a group of bandits and find 1d6 sp in their pockets, this should NOT BE NORMAL. In fact, this should alert the PCs that these very same bandits probably just completed a pretty good theft of a merchant's strong box on a caravan. Most of your Zuagirs and Kozaki, Picts, Vanirmen, and Barrachan Pirates should be dirt poor. Maybe one of the group has 1d6 sp, but this guy is probably the leader or the one stealing from the group. Let the PCs find a gemstone here and there. Put interesting, non-money, things into foe's pockets--like teeth that the NPC collected from his enemies, or maybe an otter pelt...a piece of a deer's antler. Page 143 of the 2E Core rulebook says many countries issue coins. So be creative. If you must allow the PC to find some coin (and they should find some from time to time--just keep it fairly rare), why not desribe the rectangular copper coins with a square hold in their center that has been pierced with a string of raw hide to form a necklace around a foe's neck. That's how he keeps his money. You can say that the character found 14 square copper Nemedian drakes, and all you've really given the character is less than 2 sp worth of loot. When away from civilized lands, don't be afraid to let your PCs barter. Conan did this all the time. "Here, I've got seven jade stones. I'll give you one for food and lodging for the week." If you look at [B]Barbaric Treasures[/B] book, you'll see a giant list of pelts, furs, and a multitude of mundane items to use for trade. Who knows, this could lead to some extremely fun roleplaying. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Tito's Trading Post[/B] mentions that the prices for items listed in the books are base prices[/COLOR]for the items where they are fairly common and supply is strong. The GM should vary these prices greatly if he deems an item short on supply or rare/exotic to the area. Factors of x5, x10, x15 or more are mentioned. Thus, finding a crossbow while trading among the Picts might be near impossible. Finding a crossbow in the markets of Zamboula might be possible, if the GM thinks a caravan carrying some has arrived, but the thing might cost 200 sp. Finding a crossbow in Belverus would be easy and cost the standard 12 sp. As GM, always play with the prices and availability as the PCs move from place to place. It will make your game world that much more real. Also, nickle and dime your PCs for things. Make them buy new clothing, especially if their last adventure saw them trudge through hazardous terrain in the wicked mountains, through rain and mud and rockslides. You don't have to make a big deal out of this, unless you're just in the mood to stir up a roleplaying encounter. If you feel like something like that would bog the game down, just, from time to time, have the group remove a random amount of coin for "incidentals". This will cover everything that you don't roleplay and major equipment. Or, use the High Living rule and just cut the PC's funds in half from time to time, telling the PCs how that money is used for food and lodging and clothes and new loin cloths and such. Keep all of this in mind when the PCs encounter NPCs, too. Unless the NPC has a reason to wear armor (like guard duty), then the NPC probably won't be in armor. Guards, during their free time, won't typicaly stumble around in their armor. They'll take it off and get comfortable. Remember the rule about [COLOR=#0000ff][B]sleeping in armor[/B]:[/COLOR] pg. 155 of the 2E Core Rulebook. Fail a save and be fatigued. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Some armors can make a character fatigued, too, just by wearing the stuff for long periods of time.[/B][/COLOR] I think this is common sense. But, if you've got to see a rule about this, check out the optional rule on pg. 41 of Tito's Trading Post. And, if there are going to be a lot of situations where characters who have armor aren't wearing it, the rules on pg. 157-158 of the 2E core rule book will be needed to govern how fast character can get into and out of armor when time is of the essence. Taking all the above into account, it becomes clear that the PCs, most of the time, are going to be running into various styles of Light armor. You've got the Leather Jerkin, Mail Shirt, and Quilted Jerkin described in the 2E Core rulebook. But, look farther. You've also got other choices. The Barbaric Warrior and Barbaric Treasures books bring you rules for mixing and matching various armor pieces withe the [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Piecemeal Armor Rules[/B][/COLOR]. Using those rules, you can have your bare chested Cimmerian come screaming through the woods, broadsword in one hand, hide shield clutched in the other, wearing horned helmet and bone shin guards--and still have this character considered to be completed unemcumbered as if he were wearing no armor but with a DR 2 (Every little bit helps--usually translates to -1 damage, [I]every time the character is hit[/I]. It adds up.) rating for the two pieces of armor he is wearing (the shin guards and the helmet). Look at those rules, not only for the various ways armor can be piecemealed on a character but also for the different types of armor provided. Various articles in S&P and book bring other armor types into play. Look at the [B]Players Guide to the Hyborian Age[/B], [B]Tito's Trading Post[/B], and other various sourcebooks. [B]The Warrior's Companion[/B] has some interesting new types. If you've got a type of real-world armor in mind that you want to bring into the game, I suggest you look at [B]From Stone to Steel[/B]. That book will have standard d20 stats for most types of armor known from history. You'll have to eyeball some Conan RPG-specific ratings to use the stuff in our game, but that shouldn't be too hard. Thus, maybe you've decided that the guards employed by the Zamorian merchant wear leather jerkins. A few, the elites of the mercenary squadron, have chain mail shirts, and the Captain of the Guard wears a brigadine coat. But, once your PC Cimmerian Barbarian/Thief climbs his way into the lofty towers of the merchant's mansion and spies the barracks, these guards shouldn't be wearing any armor at all, unless they're just coming off or going on to duty. A random guard chanced in the hallway won't be wearing armor either, not unless that guard is also on duty patrolling that hallway. This should make things more realistic; more in-line with the Conan stories and the game's universe; and more palatable for the PC Cimmerian who is wearing naught but sandles and a loin cloth. In my game, my PCs found an amazing breastplate of the utmost quality, created in an age long since past. I made the thing an awesome discovery. The players loved it (you'd have thought I game them a +5 Holy Avenger!). But, I still hampered it. The leather straps and whatnot that helped hold the armor in place had rotted. So, the players could not use it (I only allowed them to find one breastplate!) until they got it to a qualified armor smith. At their village, there were no armorsmiths, as Cimmerian smiths are few and far between. Thus, they had to make do with what they had (I allowed a Craft Armorsmith check with a +5 to difficulty) to fix the armor, or they faced a trek south into the civilized lands of Aquilonia to find a smith to fix it for them. My point: By keeping the item rare, I've got some very pleased, thankful players on my hands (well, one player, anyway--the one who got the breastplate). I almost got a quest out of the presentation of the armor (My players decided against the quest and ended up fixing the armor with the less talented among them in the village.) And, I've got a neat mystery injected into my story (Where did this armor come from? Who made it?) Also remember that you can keep your PCs interested with rewards that allow them to improve their weapons and armor using the various rules in the game (see Tito's Trading Post, The Barbaric Warrior, and The Warrior's Companion, plus the relevant section in the 2E Core rulebook). This will make the players of your amorsmiths and weaponsmiths among your PCs glad that they threw precious skill points into those skills--allowing them to get tangible benefits like improving the penetration of a weapon or adding spikes to armor or a shield. One last thought: I've seen some interesting entries on clothing. The duellist cape, from The Warrior's Companion, provides a +2 to the bluff check when attempting a feint. There are head coverings in that same book that look so fierce that the character gets a +1 bonus to Intimidate checks while wearing the hood. The Borderer's Cloak, from Barbaric Treasures, grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Hide checks. In this tradition, my thought is to allow some heavy, thick, clothing to serve as some armor. For example, a Cimmerian wears a mantle. This is a big, thick cloak. Why not allow this cloak to serve as DR 1 armor [I]that cannot be combined to improve DR ratings[/I] of other armor? For example, a Cimmerian wearing a mantle is consider to have DR 1 armor. The, this same Cimmerian dons a helm. Normally, this would mean DR 2 (1 for the helm and 1 for the armor of the cloak), but because of the special rule that the DR rating of the cloak cannot improve other armor, the Cimmerian still has DR 1, with or without the helm. This will give the character a piece of equipment with a little "umph". Not all cloaks are heavy enough to be considered DR 1 in this manner. And, you're not unbalancing the game by introducing "cloak armor" since the DR ratings don't stack. In this manner, you can highlight the goods of different regions and what not, while at the same time giving your players some "goodies" to use in the game. [/QUOTE]
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