Dragonscale armor

[Quickbeam]

At that price it is way overpowered.

Mithril fullplace is +8 Armor bonus, Max Dex bonus of +3, check penalty of -4, Speed of 30, 25% spell failure, weighs 25 pounds. Cost is 10,500 gp.

The only benefit the mithri full plate has over the dragonscale is that the spell failure if 5% less and counts as a medium armor (10' higher speed).

The dragonscale is effectively +2 Mithril Full Plate with Energy Resistance (total of +5 in enhancements), which would have a base price of 35,500 gp.

Since the dragonscale could still gain another +10 in enhancements beyond that, I would probably value it at around 45,000 gp (at least).

4,500 gp is ridiculously low (in my opinion). Maybe it's a typo and they left out a zero?

This was my concern at the outset. Our group rotates DMs, with three of the seven players running independent campaigns at various different times. IMC, such armor would unequivocally cost more than 4,500 gp (or not exist as written in QF), but the dragon was primarily slain by my PC in a campaign that I don't control. This DM is a bit more lenient and favors Monty Haul style play. His rationale is that such a fine suit of armor is one of the rewards for killing a dragon...while I'm concerned about balance and fairness to the other party members, none of whom would want armor of this sort.

 

[Crothian]

I think the cost is low and it should provide energy restance. I like the idea overall, though. I think dragon armors should be exceptional.

 

[Quickbeam]

Crothian:
Thanks for helping to set my mind at ease. I don't like the MM rules on dragonhide armor because they seem a bit underpowered for such an exceptional item. But I was concerned about the QF rules because the cost for such incredible benefits seemed waaayy low IMO. I guess I just wanted a bit of help with my conscience on this one .

kreynolds:
I'll look forward to reading your email, and sorry for the misunderstanding on which set of Elemental DR rules you were referring to .

 

[kreynolds]

Dragonhide rules available for download

Ahh...the heck with it. You can get my dragonhide rules here. It's in PDF.

 

[Corwin]

Mithril fullplace is +8 Armor bonus, Max Dex bonus of +3, check penalty of -4, Speed of 30, 25% spell failure, weighs 25 pounds. Cost is 10,500 gp.

The only benefit the mithri full plate has over the dragonscale is that the spell failure if 5% less and counts as a medium armor (10' higher speed).

How do you figure medium armor doesn't reduce speed? Is there some obscure Sage ruling that eratta'ed this?

Seriously, though, I also agree that it is too powerful for the cost.

It seems for every balanced set of homebrew rules on dragonhide armor I've seen, there are a dozen others that weren't. Most tend to be either too weak or too powerful. I think it's a matter of individual group gaming style. Some like their dragon armor potent, others prefer it to simply be style. This one seems on the high side.

Like most, we came up with our own as well. I won't bother to post them unless someone cares to see. But I'm sure some would think them too powerful and some too weak. Funny that.

 

[Quickbeam]

Like most, we came up with our own as well. I won't bother to post them unless someone cares to see. But I'm sure some would think them too powerful and some too weak. Funny that.

It's amazing how such duplicity can exist over little things like this...we are a diverse and opinionated lot, us RPG'ers .

 

[rhammer2]

Remember that part of the cost is one dead dragon, that does equate to more than an additional 10000 gp, IMO.

How do you figure medium armor doesn't reduce speed? Is there some obscure Sage ruling that eratta'ed this?

Seriously, though, I also agree that it is too powerful for the cost.

It seems for every balanced set of homebrew rules on dragonhide armor I've seen, there are a dozen others that weren't. Most tend to be either too weak or too powerful. I think it's a matter of individual group gaming style. Some like their dragon armor potent, others prefer it to simply be style. This one seems on the high side.

Like most, we came up with our own as well. I won't bother to post them unless someone cares to see. But I'm sure some would think them too powerful and some too weak. Funny that.

 

[rhammer2]

Mithril fullplate has a move of 20' for medium characters, same as any other set of medium armor.

...
Mithril fullplace is +8 Armor bonus, Max Dex bonus of +3, check penalty of -4, Speed of 30, 25% spell failure, weighs 25 pounds. Cost is 10,500 gp.
...

 

[Caliban]

Mithril fullplate has a move of 20' for medium characters, same as any other set of medium armor.

My mistake, for some reason I was thinking your speed didn't decrease until you got into heavy armor. Temporary amnesia.

 

[Quickbeam]

Re: Dragonhide rules available for download

Ahh...the heck with it. You can get my dragonhide rules here. It's in PDF.

I have one question regarding your rules -- do the bonuses for natural AC and armor type AC stack? If so, then some suits could provide bonuses as high as +14 correct?