Dragon hide for SALE!

[CombatWombat51]

For one edition only, we're selling dragon hide at the low, low, price of twice what you would normally pay for armor*! What's so special about this armor you ask? Why, it has the incredible feature of looking neat! Oh, and druids can wear it (with a feat).
*Dragon hide acquired seperately. You have to kill the damned thing yourself.

[/sales pitch]

Now, what's going on here? Why in the world would anyone pay that much for normal armor and have to kill the dragon for it? What's the point of having dragon hide armor if it's just a fashion statement. Isn't this the age of freely describing your character? Your exquisitely handsome hero with a basket-hilt saber, main gauche, and baroque ring mail is a fighter with a shortsword and dagger, a chain shirt, and 10 Charisma, last I checked.

Now, I put this in House Rules for a reason. Does anyone have any ideas on how to add something special to dragon hide? Does it bother anyone else? Does the ability of druids to wear it, with a feat, make it worth while?

Keep in mind that I'm a member of B.A.D.D, and this question is purely for academic reasons It just seems like a waste of ink to even mention the stuff in the DMG.

 

[AeroDm]

Well, imo, there has never been a satisfactory solution for dragon hide. So when wizards figured out this whole OGL deal, they put that in as a hook to draw in all sorts of d20 companies. They knew it was a dumb rule, but they wanted to give others a chance. Good people I tell ya.

 

[ciaran00]

I am interested as well. Back in 2nd edition my DM used to assigned an AC to the armour that is 4 worse than the dragon we pulled it off of. I would like to see a similar, but balanced mechanic, for dragon hide and hide in general (like the kind pulled off of a Nightmare Beast, for example).

ciaran

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

AU's got Dragonhide Plate for 9,000 GP that gives a +9 armor bonus. I don't remember the other specifics, but dragons are major rare in AU. Dragonhide in 3.0 is ridiculous, it actually makes it EASIER to make armor. Bah humbug. I think Draconomicon and A&Eg both have rules for dragonhide as a material, but since I have neither I cannot elaborate.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Yes, this is just one of the MANY reasons I've never even considered using the official dragonhide rules. The stuff should be special; after all, it can keep a dragon's organs inside for over a millenium, so it should be a bit stronger than cowhide.

I don't think there's an easy patch. Dragonhide needs to be a large improvement over standard leather/hide armors, with a much higher cost. But, it should also depend on exactly how much you use, none of this "1 suit of armor no matter how big the dragon was" stuff, and it should do more than just add AC. There have been several good suggestions on these boards for how to rework the system.

 

[Nifft]

IMC, Dragon Hide is inherently magical -- it's got a natural, un-Disjoin-able Enhancement bonus, and similarly a natural bonus vs. the associated energy type.

On the other hand, Dragons are often quite offended by it, and they figure prominantly as big NPC power-brokers.

-- N

 

[Nifft]

Evil dragons made me double-post!

 

[Golem2176]

DMG 3.5 (pages 283-284)

Dragonhide: Armorsmiths can work with the hides of dragons to produce armor or shields of masterwork quality. One dragon produces enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature one size category smaller than the dragon. By selecting only choice scales and bits of hide, an armorsmith can produce banded mail for a creature two sizes smaller, one suit of masterwork half-plate for a creature three sizes smaller or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a creature four sizes smaller. In each case enough hide is available to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided the dragon is Large or largrer.

Because dragonhide isn't made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.

Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type.

Dragonhide has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.

What of this isn't understandable?

 

[CombatWombat51]

There have been several good suggestions on these boards for how to rework the system.

Links?

IMC, Dragon Hide is inherently magical -- it's got a natural, un-Disjoin-able Enhancement bonus, and similarly a natural bonus vs. the associated energy type.

Nifft, I tend to love your house rules, so I'd love to hear the details of this

What of this isn't understandable?

It's quite understandable, as in, I understand what they're saying, AFAICT. However, I think that it's unreasonable. You underlined the types of armor it can produce, but what special value does that armor have? Why does it cost twice as much as normal armor, let alone the price of slaying a big ol' dragon? I know that druids can wear it, with a feat, but I don't see what's so special about that. Mechanically, druids aren't hurting for AC in 3.5. And from a flavor prospective, I don't think "druid" when I think "dragon slayer". It seems unreasonable that the sole use of dragon hide armor is to benefit druids.

 

[ciaran00]

What of this isn't understandable?

It wasn't a comprehension issue. It was an unacceptability issue.

ciaran