Armor Spikes: Unpractical?

[Numion]

Hi,

Quite often in threads the equipment in D&D derided because it's not historically accurate. Is it correct to criticize equipment on this basis? I mean, most D&D worlds are not historically accurate.

For example, in medieval Europe most big animals were already extinct, and armor was only used against other humans. It was designed for this purpose. In any given D&D world there’s a countless variety of monsters that’ll smack you with claws, grab you an squish you like a bug, suck your blood, eat you, etc..

My question is this: given the chance, wouldn’t someone want to, you know, spike his armor to protect oneself against grappling and biting? Spikes are not optimal against humans with blades, but I think they would rule (in real life if such things existed; the mechanics for armor spikes are lame) against any of the N tentacled horrors. If I knew I’d be fighting giant pythons, the only reliable way to protect oneself from crushing would be armor spikes.

Bear is pretty close to some of the dangers D&D adventurers face. IRL a bear will grab you and snap your neck. With sharp armor spikes it won’t get hold of you, or bite you.

The more I think about this, the more sensible the ‘dungeonpunk manga anime’ spikes seem to me. That’s how I would roll in a D&D setting. Your thoughts, what's so wrong with armor spikes in a D&D setting? Yes men are welcome to chime in too!

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

I've seen pictures of armor worn by woodcutters from the Sunderbahn(sp?) where tigers kill and eat an unknown but rather high number of people yearly, or used to not more than twenty years ago. They were breastplates with spikes about 3 inches long on the back all the way up to the shoulders and a spiked guard over the neck. That seems a fairly good example.

So long as the spikes stay a reasonable length and don't get too close to joints they should be workable and if large dangerous beasts are a common thread I'd figure them as fairly common too.

 

[Numion]

I've seen pictures of armor worn by woodcutters from the Sunderbahn(sp?) where tigers kill and eat an unknown but rather high number of people yearly, or used to not more than twenty years ago. They were breastplates with spikes about 3 inches long on the back all the way up to the shoulders and a spiked guard over the neck. That seems a fairly good example.

I feel vindicated.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

There's an english myth about that exact thing:

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/legends/lampton_worm.html

Never thought of your point before, but it makes sense that spiked armour ought to do something to tentacular horrors. Or things that eat you.

 

[green slime]

There's an english myth about that exact thing:

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/legends/lampton_worm.html

Never thought of your point before, but it makes sense that spiked armour ought to do something to tentacular horrors. Or things that eat you.

Yes, I've heard of that myth before.

Makes you wonder about that old lady though: What did she know about spikes, and why did she make the knight give such an obviously foul oath? I hope that burnt her on a stick of celery or something (she might be a vegetarian).

 

[Huw]

Look at vast number of spiky things in nature. If there are things around which are big enough to eat you, spikes make perfect sense no matter how silly they look.

 

[maddman75]

Given the number of creatures in D&D with Improved Grab, it strikes me as rather unpractical to not have armor spikes.

 

[werk]

If only there were real world examples of this defensive adaptation...

Oh well...I guess it's just stupid dungeon-punk art

 

[Rykion]

I don't think most people have problems with armor having spikes. A lot of gaming art depicts the spikes so big that they are a danger to the wearer, or puts them in locations that would drastically hamper movement. That tends to be what people have problems with.

 

[mmu1]

I personally am grateful that armor spikes, as written in D&D, are not effective, because if they weren't, we'd have all characters running around with the idiotic things, just the same way characters will often go shopping in full plate armor with a greatsword strapped to their backs.

Yeah, they might logically speaking be great against tentacled grapplers, but 99% of the time, they'd be a huge, useless hassle. They'd get in the way of any other equipment you were wearing, restrict mobility at least to some extent, catch on foliage, gouge furniture - and let's not even talk about wearing armor like that to a crowded marketplace...

Of course, since D&D is really merciless when it comes to character who don't wear armor, and players as a rule care a lot more about their character surviving and kicking butt than about the character's comfort, practicality tends to go out the window - but that doesn't mean that talking about the lack of it is not a valid criticism. For some people, verisimilitude adds a great deal to the experience, and little details matter.