D&D Arms and Equipment Guide sample pages up

[jester47]

"Okay, but BESIDES the vehicle rules, mundane equipment, tables for rolling up caravans AND the crazy weird stuff, what have Wizards of the Coast ever done for us?"


Hong "I have a fwend called BiggusGeekus" Ooi [/QUOTE

Well, they saved D&D and gave us 3rd edition and the SRD...

Aaron.

 

[Desdichado]

Well, they saved D&D and gave us 3rd edition and the SRD...[/B]

I'm guessing you didn't get the joke?

 

[Darmyth]

I believe the stone armor is primarily cerimonial. Yea, it could be worn into combat but it's not made to be pounded on and can get you into a lot of problems.


So you're a dwarf w/ stone armor slowly charging into battle (spd 15ft for dwarf). You swing your mighty axe and barely clip the guy in the shoulder. He swings low, hits the back of your leg while ramming his palm into your chest. You fail your opposing trip roll and now are on your back.

You have 80lbs of stone armor and an axe that ways 10+lbs (i want to say 15-20 but don't know off hand). You can't just spring back up with that much weight onto you... unless you're a supernatural dwarf with a str of 30, which you probably aren't. That means climbing back to your feet.

As a GM I wouldn't let ya just roll back to you feet with that much weight on you. You're going to have to let go of your weapon if you want to get up in 1 round or take 2 rounds pushing yourself up. During that time, your opponent does a coup de gras on your prone ass or knocks you down again or drops something really heavy on ya or just runs away. In any case, you're in some heafty trouble.

So why are people so mad about stone armor??
Dendritic armor is almost as bad at 60lbs. Some armor is just not meant to be adventuring in. I'm glad they put this info in though so that it *does* provide a ceremonial look and adds a flavor to the game. If you dont' like something then just don't use it. Or alter what it is into something that you do like. It's that simple.



Enjoy life

 

[jester47]

I'm guessing you didn't get the joke?

No, I did get the joke, its from Life of Brian. Basicly John CLeese is stateing that the romans have given the hebrews nothing but modern civilisation but besides that they have gotten nothing else from the romans. If you pay attention, you see that everytime Cleese asks the question, someone comes up with more that the romans have given them. Thats what I was doing...

Obviously you have not memorised your requisite python...



Aaron.

 

[Knight Otu]

Does anyone else find it odd that a "highly toxic" material has a save DC of ... 12!

 

[jester47]

I believe the stone armor is primarily cerimonial. Yea, it could be worn into combat but it's not made to be pounded on and can get you into a lot of problems.


So you're a dwarf w/ stone armor slowly charging into battle (spd 15ft for dwarf). You swing your mighty axe and barely clip the guy in the shoulder. He swings low, hits the back of your leg while ramming his palm into your chest. You fail your opposing trip roll and now are on your back.

You have 80lbs of stone armor and an axe that ways 10+lbs (i want to say 15-20 but don't know off hand). You can't just spring back up with that much weight onto you... unless you're a supernatural dwarf with a str of 30, which you probably aren't. That means climbing back to your feet.

As a GM I wouldn't let ya just roll back to you feet with that much weight on you. You're going to have to let go of your weapon if you want to get up in 1 round or take 2 rounds pushing yourself up. During that time, your opponent does a coup de gras on your prone ass or knocks you down again or drops something really heavy on ya or just runs away. In any case, you're in some heafty trouble.

So why are people so mad about stone armor??
Dendritic armor is almost as bad at 60lbs. Some armor is just not meant to be adventuring in. I'm glad they put this info in though so that it *does* provide a ceremonial look and adds a flavor to the game. If you dont' like something then just don't use it. Or alter what it is into something that you do like. It's that simple.



Enjoy life

Eighty pounds distributed over the body? You can spring up in that PDQ, especially with adrenaline. Talk to some firefighters, they will set you straight. Turnout gear with SCBA tank weighs 60. And those guys can move like the dickens.

So I would think a Dwarf that has been doing all his training in 80lb stone armor would have no problem getting up in it. Especially if his highest stat is in strength.

You seem to be making two assumptions here. 1) people are not that strong (but they are and dwarves are statisticly stronger) and 2) that weapons are a lot heavier than they really are. A dwarven waraxe weighs 15lbs. Which is about the same weight as a firefighters prybar (these suckers are 2 feet long and have a multipurpose head for wrenching, bashing, opening, prying etc.) So I would think from near practical experience (rather practical knowledge) that your dwarf friend is getting up A OK.

Aaron.

 

[Datt]

It's magic...

But without magic, you'd better staying with wooden or metal handles. Stone handles may have hardness, they'll have a weaker break DC. It's brittle, especially when shaped in such forms as a handle.

With magic, however, you may have crystal swords and goldenblades, anything, "it's magic".

I always thought that marble was alot harder than most other stones. But no matter because as soon as the axe is finished it is going to be enchanted to a +5. Assuming of course I can find me someone to enchant it.

 

[Darmyth]

how many firefighters do you know that wear all their gear for a few hours each day, including lugging around a 15lb item in their hands? None that I know of.

They only wear pants till they get the call and if it's a large fire, i.e. gonna take a while to put out, they have multiple companies there to give people breaks.

Along with that, firefighters aren't having someone trying to decapitate them as they move around. I still believe that if you get knocked down with 80lbs on ya and you're trying to hold 15 in your hands that you're not going to be jumping up right away from prone or do anything real fancy.

 

[kenjib]

I still believe that if you get knocked down with 80lbs on ya and you're trying to hold 15 in your hands that you're not going to be jumping up right away from prone or do anything real fancy.

Whether or not you are correct realistically, the rules don't back this up. If the rules backed you up I would feel a bit better about stone armor. I would also feel better if the stone armor shattered every time it was penetrated by an attack or the wearer falls down. As it is, even if you are correct, there's nothing in the rules to represent this, which makes it a houserule, and not reflective on the quality of the material in the book.

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea to make it burdensome to wear stone armor. I'm just saying that the book, unfortunately, doesn't do so.

Compare:

Full Plate: 1,500gp +8 AC +1 Dex -6 check 20 ft./15 ft.* 50 lb.

Stone Armor: 1,750gp +9AC +0 Dex -7 check 20 ft./15 ft.* 80 lb.

Despite the textual description, the only rules making it more slow and bulky than full plate are one point of armor check penalty and 30 lb. of encumberance. If the extra 30 lb. pushes him into medium or heavy encumberance, there is no penalty at all because the restrictions for these heavy armors are greater than encumberance penalties anyway. Therefore, the extra 30 lb. is completely irrelevant unless your character hits his carrying limit. The reduced max dex bonus is offset by the extra point of AC bonus. Therefore, the only thing that effectively makes this more bulky than full plate armor is one measly point of armor check penalty.

Since you don't need a 12 Dex to get maximum benefit from this armor (thus you can put those stat points somewhere else), it will often be superior to full plate overall -- even when actively adventuring, despite the text description of the armor.

In addition, the only reason it doesn't completely shatter from the first impact is because, according to the text, it is "specially treated." That's a cop out in my book. I could "specially treat" a zucchini and carve a sword from it. This is just a subjective preference though, admittedly.

 

[Darmyth]

good post KenjiB.

I agree that it comes down to what your GM wants to do and what kind of style of game you're trying to play.

You may be in a game that the GM really looks at how much weight you're lugging around and is nick picky about it. Or you may be in a high style game where having stone armor will get you the "look" you wish over what Plate will give you.

I think my earlier post infers that I do not like the idea of the armor, which is untrue. I like the idea and think that it could be well done. It all depends on your GM and the gamestyle that you're going for.


If you're (general) bothered by the idea of unbreakable stone then, as the GM, declare that the armor will last 15 battles. At which point it is to heavily damaged and now to fragile to survive another hit.



hmmm, how would you patch stone armor (no spells)?? Glue a rock to it?