D&D (2024) Equipment for Sale Guideline

[Charlaquin]

Leather armor was, at best, extremely rare and last I remember most historians were unsure if it was ever used for anything but practice armor. Of course I'm not a historian so take my word with a grain of salt!

My understanding is, as I said, that it definitely existed (again, the word for chest armor comes from “boiled leather”). There’s just no real archeological record of it due to leather not preserving well.

On the other hand studded leather was never really a thing. There was brigandine which was metal plates riveted between two layers of flexible material. Which could have possibly been leather.

Oh, yeah, studded leather is complete nonsense. Actual cuir bouilli was very different than what leather armor looks like in most fantasy, which is basically just leather clothing. And studs in leather clothing wouldn’t do basically anything to make it more protective. The idea of studded leather armor almost certainly comes from misinterpreting depictions of brigandine in medieval art. Which again, was closer in function to a plate cuirass than to padded armor.

Armor in D&D has always been a bit silly.

Very much so!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Armor in D&D has always been a bit silly.

Nonetheless, I still kinda miss banded mail.

 

[Ashrym]

Why? There is no assumption that says the party starts out in a village. Sure, it's a trope, but so is starting in a tavern of a city. Or receiving a letter from a benefactor. Or...

And, as stated, starting equipment is not purchased, it is starting equipment.

My point was already expressed, but yes -- the starting equipment might be the best available for a while. I've been playing a long time at this point. The small communities in remote edges of wilderness is often where the monsters are. It's a pretty common trope.

I think the small village is one of the most common adventuring locations. IME

The nearest "big town" was half an hour drive at best - they had a (sort of) mall!

That's lucky. I still live in the middle of nowhere. Town is 2 hrs away driving so it tends to be a day trip.

Depending on era and location being modeled even longbows should be common. For a period in Britain able bodied men were pretty much required to train in them.

This was a large scale initiative. England required men to practice archery on Sundays and holidays (1363), but this was during The One Hundred Years War and the battles were large scales of thousands instead of small villages. A kingdom producing weapons for war and requiring men to train in them is beyond the scope of a typical village.

Short bows were used for hunting and are more likely to be found in a village regardless of the DMG guideline.

 

[Oofta]

Nonetheless, I still kinda miss banded mail.

Well I miss half plate, which was actually a thing ... sort of ... so I can commiserate.

 

[Oofta]

My point was already expressed, but yes -- the starting equipment might be the best available for a while. I've been playing a long time at this point. The small communities in remote edges of wilderness is often where the monsters are. It's a pretty common trope.

I think the small village is one of the most common adventuring locations. IME



That's lucky. I still live in the middle of nowhere. Town is 2 hrs away driving so it tends to be a day trip.

Ranch country I assume.

This was a large scale initiative. England required men to practice archery on Sundays and holidays (1363), but this was during The One Hundred Years War and the battles were large scales of thousands instead of small villages. A kingdom producing weapons for war and requiring men to train in them is beyond the scope of a typical village.

Short bows were used for hunting and are more likely to be found in a village regardless of the DMG guideline.

Oh, I know. Just pointing out that there are exceptions to the general rule. You can also always have that retired bowyer in town. The bigger question is if you're purchasing all of your equipment where are you getting your money?

 

[Ashrym]

The bigger question is if you're purchasing all of your equipment where are you getting your money?

Random treasure hoards.

"As a rough benchmark, aim to roll on the Random Treasure Hoard table about once per game session."

The base level treasure hoard is ~500gp on average for 0-4 CR. That's not bad but 5-10 CR treasure hoards are ~4400gp on average so one of the things I like about bastions is it's an interesting option to use up wealth that accumulates.