Chainmail Bikini: AC or Cha bonus?

[Iron_Chef]

Wow! Thanks everybody for all the great ideas and (mostly) serious input! This thread is starting to really kick butt as a forum for discussing the possible game mechanics of introducing fashion "armor". Lots of good ideas so far, especially on page 2, keep 'em coming! In fact, there's so many, I'm having trouble narrowing it down to what I should do!

Just remembered that Mongoose's Ultimate Equipment Guide offers various items of non-magical clothing that provide circumstance modifiers to Charisma, but no chainmail bikinis, LOL. I suppose I could always modify one of those.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Quintessential Wizard offers a "collar of armor" which works like bracers of armor. Good for priestesses of Loviatar, LOL.

 

[Destil]

Generaly, somehing like appearance (i.e. chainmail bikini) shouldn't affect your Cha, but rather the initial opinion / attutude of people. A woman-obsessed dedicant bard would have a significantly better initial attude about you(and be easier to persuade), while some staunchy ancient kings chancler might think of them as a tramp or such.

 

[S'mon]

In seriousness, my wife played a character with a miniature (designed by Elmore, of course) in a chainmail halter top. We just called it a chain shirt and didn't worry about it.

I had a female player complain last week about having to use one of my Elmore minis for her PC....
I've looked around for properly plate-armoured female figures - I need them for the 'Thrinian Knights' fighting order IMC, who have lots of female members - but can't find any anywhere, which is quite annoying really. Scantily clad male & female figures are all very well, but there needs to be an alternative!

BTW, I like the idea of a magic chainmail bikini (or codpiece?) letting you add your CHA bonus/penalty to your AC. A chainmail bikini shouldn't give the same AC bonus as a chain shirt unless it ways the same though, ie it really _is_ a chain shirt. Cursed chainmail bikini seems a reasonable idea, but should be rare - most of the pictures of chainmail bikini wearers show them as perfectly happy.

 

[S'mon]

NWN does this, incidentally, and it avoids the whole shirt+robe+armor stacking issues that 3E allows.

No it doesn't - all those items occupy the same slot. NWN follows regular 3e here.

 

[S'mon]

No it doesn't - all those items occupy the same slot. NWN follows regular 3e here.

Edit: pg 176 DMG says I'm wrong. Oh well, guess it's a House Rule then.

 

[Darkness]

... if GURPS can have the "bulletproof nudity" rules, why should we be denied a (potentially) fun game element just out of "realism"?

GURPS also has the following (which is a good solution, IMO):

GURPS Magic Items 2, p. 21:
Chainmail Bikini
A favorite item among body-proud barbarianettes, this armor is not a true bikini, but is enchanted to be invisible apart from its halter top and snug-fitting bottom skirt. It provides full chainmail protection to the wearer's torso, arms, and legs. It weighs the same as any normal suit of chain, but id doesn't look, sound, or even feel like it.
This outfit is often enchanted ...
... Rumors persist of a true bikini, enchanted to provide full protection in spite of its imcomplete coverage, but such rumors have yet to be proven.
Due to its minimal visible coverage, a wearer gets +1 Reaction from members of the opposite sex.

Of note is that the description indicates that the item works equally well for either gender.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Dark Heaven has all sorts of miniatures of fully dressed and properly armored females. I think they perceived this flaw in the availability of miniatures, and have decided to fill the niche.

 

[S'mon]

Dark Heaven has all sorts of miniatures of fully dressed and properly armored females. I think they perceived this flaw in the availability of miniatures, and have decided to fill the niche.

I thought I checked DH - hm, I'll check again.

Edit: Well, I found a fully armoured female figure by Dark Heaven - 1.02036 Nicole of the Blade (Code Numbers 02001 to 02099) £2.20

£2.20 is far too much for a single, unpainted human figure though. em4miniatures do sets of 5 beautiful & very nicely painted figures, each with its own special d20 included (making 5 nicely painted figures & 5 high quality d20s), for £10.99 total - anything over £1.50 for a raw piece is really pushing it, IMO.

Of course I remember when minis were 45p each, *sigh*

edit: just bought a bunch of on-sale Chainmail minis on sale at svgames in USA - $70 including $23 shipping to UK.

 

[Technik4]

Chainmail Bikini [Wondrous Item]
This item appears to be a bikini made out of metal (although leather versions exist). It surrounds the wearer with an invisble but tangible field of force, granting her an armor bonus of +1 to +8, just as though she were wearing armor. Due to the skimpy nature of this item, it grants a +2 competence bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Perform when the opposite gender is present. This item takes the vest/vestment/shirt slot.

Caster Level: 7th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, mage armor, creator's class level must be twice that of the bonus placed in the bracers; Market Price 1,250 gp (+1), 4,250 gp (+2), 9,250 gp (+3), 16,250 gp (+4), 25,250 gp (+5), 36,250 gp (+6), 39,250 gp (+7), 64,250 gp (+8). Weight 6 lb.

[The only differences between this item and bracers of armor +x is the +2 bonus to 3 skills, which only work in certain situations, hence priced at 250 as opposed to 360, and the weight which is 5 lb heavier.]

On another note, I have a 1st printing phb, is there a problem with the +7 bonus on bracers of armor? It seems like it only goes up 3k from +6 to +7.

Technik