W'rkncacnter
Hero
i--wait, WHAT? HUH??? gambeson is like...the most basic form of armor you can wear. it's what dnd thinks is padded except far better. what do you mean "exotic"?
- Exotic Armors
- Gambeson
i--wait, WHAT? HUH??? gambeson is like...the most basic form of armor you can wear. it's what dnd thinks is padded except far better. what do you mean "exotic"?
- Exotic Armors
- Gambeson
Because D&D doesn't have gambeson. Somehow no one in any setting thought to make thich cloth armor except some crazy exotic hermit.i--wait, WHAT? HUH??? gambeson is like...the most basic form of armor you can wear. it's what dnd thinks is padded except far better. what do you mean "exotic"?
dnd moment.Because D&D doesn't have gambeson. Somehow no one in any setting thought to make thich cloth armor except some crazy exotic hermit.
I was always fascinated that Egypt continued to use bronze even while its numbers developed iron smelting tech. Its interesting how cultural preference can throughout the linear ‘development index’Honestly, from a realism perspective, iron weapons would exist but, as low quality weapons. Not technological marvels, not miraculous. Just low quality stuff that's way better than it has any right to be
Bronze was the preferred stuff at the time because it was easy to get a hold of, easy to work, and reliable. Iron was known and regarded as bad because, the stuff they had wasn't good, required significant work to get it in any good condition, was incredibly easy to get too brittle or too soft depending on carbon (which the folks at the time wouldn't have known about as ironworking was in its infancy and all smithing would have been focused on reliable bronze), all of the systems required to get good quality iron didn't exist, and if you didn't treat it perfectly it'd just rust. Iron only came into play because the trade routes that allowed for bronze to be widely circulated all collapsed, so people had to make do with inferior iron, leading to developments in ironworking that eventually allowed for it to be comparable, and then better than bronze
This is similar to my own opinion that items, weapons, and armor need a technology level, which helps explain why some are just better/worse than others. Crappy weapons like clubs and bottom tier armors could be found in the most primitive cultures, but almost nobody would use them outside of that unless they had no choice. On the other end of the spectrum, firearms, rapiers, and top tier armors should only be found in the most technologically advanced cultures, explaining why they're better than most other options. This allows the DM to easily limit what's available for purchase to PCs.I think some "mundane" equipment should have rarities ratings (Common, Uncommon, Rare, etc) just like magic items do. Reintroduce masterwork weapons and armor especially if firearms exist, but have it be something else other than +1 to attack (but not damage). Some could be increased damage die (or decreased damage for another benefit), or range, or the reload property (which is different from the loading property and reserved in the DMG for modern firearms) for something like a 4-shot pepperbox pistol. Masterwork concept could apply for melee weapons as well.
Italian armoursmiths used to grade armour against early firearms. Like shooting a fullplate to prove that it could protect against bullets. These were probably from back when barrels were smoothbore.Most arguments against firearms either ignore the issues of using early firearms, conflating them with weapons made in the 20th century, or expect firearms to be more realistic than the abstract weapons and armor already. "Guns can punch through armor, thus guns would ruin D&D", ignoring the fact that certain medieval weapons already would be very effective against armor
There is high quality iron during the Bronze Age, albeit scarce. For example, in northern Turkey there are certains towns whose metallurgists know the technology to produce iron, but keep it a closely guarded secret. At the same time, iron from meteorites is often high quality iron. Most Bronze Age iron implements are from meteors.Honestly, from a realism perspective, iron weapons would exist but, as low quality weapons. Not technological marvels, not miraculous. Just low quality stuff that's way better than it has any right to be
Bronze was the preferred stuff at the time because it was easy to get a hold of, easy to work, and reliable. Iron was known and regarded as bad because, the stuff they had wasn't good, required significant work to get it in any good condition, was incredibly easy to get too brittle or too soft depending on carbon (which the folks at the time wouldn't have known about as ironworking was in its infancy and all smithing would have been focused on reliable bronze), all of the systems required to get good quality iron didn't exist, and if you didn't treat it perfectly it'd just rust. Iron only came into play because the trade routes that allowed for bronze to be widely circulated all collapsed, so people had to make do with inferior iron, leading to developments in ironworking that eventually allowed for it to be comparable, and then better than bronze