Dragonhide Armor...

[Dwarmaj]

How much should it cost? The MM says how much hide it would take to create the armor and that Armorsmiths only charge the normal Masterwork fees, but how much should a suit of armor cost? Other than looking cool, theirs no benifit (other than for Druids) to wearing Dragonhide over normal metal armor.

How much should Dragonhide scalemail cost? How about Breatplate or Full Plate?


I heard that Dragonscale armor in Quintessential Fighter cost 4.5k and has +10AC, 10 Elemental DR, and is light armor. How can this be? I don't have the book, but it seems horribly under priced.

Dwarmaj

 

[hong]

How much should it cost? The MM says how much hide it would take to create the armor and that Armorsmiths only charge the normal Masterwork fees, but how much should a suit of armor cost? Other than looking cool, theirs no benifit (other than for Druids) to wearing Dragonhide over normal metal armor.

How much should Dragonhide scalemail cost? How about Breatplate or Full Plate?

By the book, dragon hide just gives you the equivalent of masterwork scalemail. No snazzy abilities, and thus no extra cost. Items in the DMG are priced strictly according to the benefits gained; if dragon hide doesn't give you anything extra, it also won't cost extra.

Also, no breastplate or full plate equivalents. If they existed, however, they should also cost the same as regular masterwork armour.

 

[skunian]

This is the only time I've ever had to make a house rule for D&D. The rules for Dragon Hinde inf the DMG are horrible. So here is the system I came up with.

The costs would be the same as from the DMG for masterwork and magic bonus for a suit of this armor.

Dragonhide Armor

Armor smiths can work with dragonhide to produce masterwork armor or shields.

One dragon can produce enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature up to one size smaller then the dragon. By selecting choice scales and bits of hide, an armor smith can produce one suit of masterwork banded mail for a creature up to 2 sizes smaller, one suit of masterwork half-plate
for a creature 3 sizes smaller, or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a creature 4 sizes smaller. In each case there is enough hide to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided that the dragon is of at least large size.

In addition suits of dragonhide armor are found to have special properties. Any dragon that is juvenile or older gets a "pool" of armor bonus' to apply to the armor per the rules for magic armor in the DMG page 180. The pool is calculated from the age
of the dragon, juvenile dragons get +1 and you add another +1 per age category beyond that. Thus an Great Wyrm would have a bonus "pool" of +9. (I.e. The Hide of a great wyrm could be crafted into a suit of +5 Armor with Fire Resistance (+3 bonus) and fortification, light (+1 bonus) using up all 9 of the points from the pool).

A limitation to the bonus' should be applied as well, thus you could not take resist cold if you are working on the hide of a Red Dragon, the dragon should have a SR in order for you to be able to take the SR ability for the armor, GM's use your best judgment on this.

In addition to this dragon hide armor is very light. Thus any armor made from dragonhide is considered 1 category lighter (heavy armor is considered medium, medium armor is considered light). Also full suits of dragon armor provide a +2 equipment bonus to any intimidation checks.

Dragonhide shields offer no additional protection; they are made of stretched hide over wooden frames. Such shields only weigh 3 pounds if small or 8 pounds if large.

The teeth and spines of the dragon could also be used to add spikes to the armor or shield and would only weigh 2 pounds for shields and 5 pounds for armor.

 

[Wolf72]

Re: Re: Dragonhide Armor...

By the book, dragon hide just gives you the equivalent of masterwork scalemail. No snazzy abilities, and thus no extra cost. Items in the DMG are priced strictly according to the benefits gained; if dragon hide doesn't give you anything extra, it also won't cost extra.

Also, no breastplate or full plate equivalents. If they existed, however, they should also cost the same as regular masterwork armour.

... actually by the book it's (MM):

Armor size one less than the Dragon=Hide Armor

Armor Size two less than the Dragon=Banded Mail

Armor Size three less than the Dragon=1/2plate

Armor Size four less than the Dragon=Full Plate or Breastplate

additionally any Dragon (slain) of Large size+ has a enough left over hide to make a Large or small shield. (shield and armor are MW of course).

My house rule was to come up with several extras or equipment enhancemants for Dragon/creature hide: like 1/2 weight, +1 max dex, resistance 2, DR1, +1 AC (stackable ... there is a limit on how many extra's one suit of armor can have), -15% ASF, and -2 ACP ...

all have a corresponding price increase and an additional DC that must be added in during the creation process. It may be cheaper than magical armor, but you need to a) slay the dragon, b) find someone who can create a suit of armor that has a DC 30 or higher (most I think is DC 41 and from a colossal dragon)

 

[hong]

Re: Re: Re: Dragonhide Armor...

... actually by the book it's (MM):

[snip]

Ah, yes, you're quite right. Forgot about that bit.

 

[Wolf72]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Dragonhide Armor...

Ah, yes, you're quite right. Forgot about that bit.

... just wanted to see that Re: 4x

ooh another house rule that I have: Armor Size the same as the dragon can make Padded Armor (padded? well when you throw in the types of bonuses you can work into it's a decent idea ...). That way a medium size dragon can produce something for a medium size character (although limited to 3 extras). ... and there is a limited option to make bucklers (no ACP, no ASF, 1/2 weight ... cost is 1,165 gp)

 

[bret]

Althought not required by the book, there is an optional rule in the DMG about special materials providing some or all the XP required to make a magical item.

You could rule that Dragon Hide is such a material, providing XP useable towards a limited set of armor enchantments. The ones I would most likely include would be Fortification, Invulnerability, and Elemental Protection against the energy type that the dragon was immune to.

Sorry, no DMG to look up the precise rules.

 

[kreynolds]

I made up my own rules regarding Dragonhide as well. So far, my players seem to be pretty thrilled about the idea. Let me assure you, it wasn't easy either.