Arms and Armour - is it any good?

[Bill Muench]

Eh....

Okay, first off, I have some stuff in the book. However, I wasn't overly impressed with it I have to say. While it is full color, the art wasn't that great (not that I could do any better ) and some of the illustrations just didn't really fit.

A lot of the weapons were pretty redundant or didn't quite balance out right (pet peeve of mine - don't make 19-20/x3 critical weapons) and some were just weird or seemed out of place (the buzz-saw thrower or something like that? eh?).

I haven't finished going through the magic items section, but some of it sounds interesting, at least. I liked the various 'class' armors and weapons, but didn't like the 'aerosteel' material. It just seemed out of place.

I was a bit irked to see that they changed the mechanics on one of my weapons (the executioner's sword). The original version did not allow you to avoid the -4 penalty to attack by having a high strength. It was simply a large exotic melee weapon, 1d12, 20/x4 that had a -4 penalty to attack on top of the exotic weapon proficiency. Why? Because it is a damn unwieldy weapon. But since it isn't meant to be used in combat, it doesn't matter. A coup de grace with a melee weapon is an automatic hit, so a -8 to hit (-4 from being nonproficient, -4 from the weapon itself) doesn't matter. But the guy whose head you lop off has to make a DC 36 Fort save to live on average damage (26). I envisioned it more as a tool that could be used as a weapon if you wanted, while I get the impression the editors saw it simply as a weapon.... Sorry about that, ended up being a bit longer than I meant it to.

Overall, the book is okay. Not indispensable and it has some interesting ideas, but I'll be honest (even if it means I don't get hired anymore ) - I wouldn't personally spend $25 on it. But then again, I don't buy a lot of books these days.

 

[Galfridus]

I haven't read the book.

However, a couple of my players were paging through it and disrupting the game with "Can I have this?" and "I want to make this!" comments, all about things that looked, well, just too bizarre for the kind of game I run. Thus, pending a favorable review to the contrary, it's on the No list.

 

[oddjob]

Yeah, I made up the buzzsaw Unreal Tournament is one of my favourite games.

I actually liked most of the book, course i did get it for free so i'm not sure if i think its good value for $25.

Kai.

 

[kenjib]

It doesn't sound like what I thought it was going to be. I was really hoping for a book that researched the history of weapons and armor and discussed their evolution as well as providing game stats. This would make it a great tool for fleshing out the world and having appropriate weapons in the right places. It would also help the DM who wants to place his campaign in a setting based on a certain historical period rather than D&D's mish-mash of history. This book sounds more like just a bunch of random freelance submitted doo-dads piled up in big lists with little context. Is my assumption wrong here?

I would really like to see an arms and armor guidebook that is organized by historical period which explains the relationships that the weapons have to one another, why they were developed, and the tactics employed with them.

Arms and Armor of the Paleolithic and Neolithic
Arms and Armor of Egypt and Mesopotamia
Arms and Armor of Ancient Greece
Arms and Armor of the Roman Empire
Arms and Armor of Gupta India
Arms and Armor of Medieval Africa (What are the best sources here? Mali?)
Arms and Armor of Shogunate Japan
Arms and Armor of Imperial China
Arms and Armor of Dark Ages Europe
Arms and Armor of Rennaisance Europe

Included could be rules for weapons made from different materials: stone, copper, bronze, iron, etc. Steel, mithral and adamantine are already covered in the DMG/PHB though, but repeating the rules here for easy reference wouldn't hurt.

Info on the siege weapons, chariots, war elephants, etc. of different eras and locales could be included as well. It would include stats, feats, new uses for the profession and knowledge skills, etc.

You could have a second book in the series detailing legendary magical items - all artifacts, no effects:
Arms and Armor of Legend - Excalibur, the sword from the cave of Grendel's mother, the armor of the Green Knight, Perseus' shield, Thor's hammer, etc.

I don't really need to see more rules for new weapon effects, myself. We've got one for just about every possible stat permutation and sometimes they seem to be driven more by game mechanics than concept.

Yet another book could continue the progression into the modern era - Colonial Era, Industrial Era, World War I, World War II, Modern Era. Maybe you could include vehicle rules.

Would other people be interested in a series like this as well or am I the only o

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

Kenjib,

It is not what you were hoping at all.

Your assumption is fairly accurate.

On a tangent, have you seen the new (I think it is new) GURPS WWII book? It looked sweet. I don't think that GURPS to 3E would be THAT hard a conversion. Some of the GURPS historical guides may be your best option.

AU

 

[Olive]

Arms and Armor of Imperial China
Arms and Armor of Dark Ages Europe
Arms and Armor of Rennaisance Europe

now THAT would be real cool. i'd buy those in a flash...

 

[Aaron L]

Oh yes, that would be very very cool. Why can't someone make something like that? I want new armor types, rules for peicemeal armor, that kind of stuff.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Arms and Armor of the Paleolithic and Neolithic
Arms and Armor of Egypt and Mesopotamia
Arms and Armor of Ancient Greece
Arms and Armor of the Roman Empire
Arms and Armor of Gupta India
Arms and Armor of Medieval Africa (What are the best sources here? Mali?)
Arms and Armor of Shogunate Japan
Arms and Armor of Imperial China
Arms and Armor of Dark Ages Europe
Arms and Armor of Rennaisance Europe

There use to be some books on these, not game books but nice historical trade paper backs that you could sometimes find in hobby stores. All had wonderful art in them and discuss everything in detail.

 

[kenjib]

Yeah, I think I know the series you are talking about. They also had battle diagrams and such, right? Interesting little books and simplified in a useful way.

 

[Jim Butler]

I flipped through a copy in the store today.

For me, at $25, I did not consider it for very long. When I first picked it up, I assumed it would be about $15 based on other books of comparable size.

In fairness, I am pretty picky. I am sure that some people who want more and more published magic items will think this book is great. And I will not argue with them.

From time to time, I hear that people think Bastion Press books should be in the $15 range based on 96 pages. This somewhat surprises me, considering that Wizards' 96-page books are $19.95 and they're in black and white.

Ultimately, we have to take into account the costs required to print the book to determine the retail price. Our sales levels are well below Wizards (they probably sell 10 to 20 times the number of units that we do, and their printing price reflects that larger print run).

Anyway, I don't want to jump into the review discussion, but I did want to toss in my two cents...