Game where cloaks are relevant?

[Age of Fable]

Maybe the idea quoted below would work better in a game where the characters were people from our world transported to a fantasy world.

As a kid, one thing the cloak did was define me in whatever imaginary game we were playing. Without the cloak, I was just some nerdy kid in suburban America. But with the cloak, I was a mighty warrior, or a roguish assassin, or a wizened spell slinger. In some sense, the cloak actually was the character.

So, here's a bizarre mechanic idea: what if the cloak some how "absorbs" some of PCs essence...

 

[S'mon]

I often give +2 circumstance bonus to relevant checks for appropriate masterwork clothing (eg masterwork soft boots +2 to Move Silently). Inappropriate clothing can be penalised likewise, eg out in the storm without a cloak, or the hot sun without a wide-brimmed hat. PCs wearing the default/standard clothing use the unadjusted roll, so if cloaks are routine they don't modify checks unless you want to, to emphasise them.

 

[Primal]

How about Dogs in the Vineyard? Characters are assumed to wear longcoat type garb that denote they are Dogs and show their authority. The garment is used mechanically in game but if you styled it more like a cloak then that would work.

Actually, in Princes' Kingdom (which is based on DitV) the characters have cloaks that affect the mechanics.

 

[Janx]

I think the demise of cloaks on PCs was 3e's lack of more magic cloaks, including Cloaks of Protection.

In 2e, the Cloak of protection was another vector for improving AC, and they were on the random treasure table. In 3e, that was the first thing I noticed that was missing when my new 3e PC went to buy one (I could get everything else, but that).

Our GM actually house-ruled them back in.


I like cloaks, too.

 

[Umbran]

None of that was ever represented in D&D, or any other game I've come across, but is there anything out there that at a mechanical level makes you think, "good thing I have my cloak!"?

Aside from a game that takes place in a particularly cold environment, you mean?

In the 3e and 4e eras, folks have generally assumed that characters have the appropriate clothing - adventurers are not normally stupid, and dress appropriately. So, a cloak only becomes conspicuous in its absence. So, rather than give some mechanical benefit for having it, the issue is dealt with as giving you a mechanical penalty if you don't have it for some reason.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Maybe the idea quoted below would work better in a game where the characters were people from our world transported to a fantasy world.

I agree, it's not a typical D&D style of play. Indeed, what you describe is pretty much what I had in mind, certainly the "ordinary guys get in over their heads and becomes heroes" aspect. Again, not really high-fantasy.



(BTW, Age Of Fable, I greatly enjoy your website!)

 

[jaerdaph]

I believe the game you're looking for is called "Real Life."

I love wearing my cloak... Sadly, even though I live in Salem, MA, I can't quite get up the nerve to wear it in public except during October.

Damn you, societal norms!

I agree with Elite Game Master Doug Douglason. No one should be chased by the entire JV football team just because they chose to wear their cloak to school that day.

 

[Turtlejay]

There are a couple of minor non-magical items that PC's can by in 4e that aid checks. There are footpads that add +1 to stealth, and disguise and climbing kids. Not too tough to rule in a heavy cloak that adds +1 item bonus to Endurance checks for certain purposes, or what have you.

3.5 had similar things. This is not *new* really. 3.5 also had a short list of clothing to choose from, and you were assumed to be wearing at least one of them, appropriate for adventuring. A few had cloaks included.

Personally, I'm not sure I have ever worn a cloak. Shame.

Jay

 

[Nai_Calus]

This thread makes me miss my cloak. :< It got left on the bed four years ago when I was moving and late for leaving to the airport and forgot it in my haste. I think my mother threw it away like she did with almost all of the stuff I couldn't take with me. (Except for the stuff I didn't care about that she bought because she liked, of course. Ugh.)

 

[davethegame]

I remember there being a whole cloak-fighting style of fighting in GURPS (with skills to match, of course).