White Dragon Armor

[Tinker Gnome]

So my PC's killed a Young white dragon last session and they want to make armor our of the scales. My question is, does anybody know what the AC for the armor would be, and perhaps any other protections?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I believe there's information on Dragonhide armor in the DMG. With the other special materials. I do remember, however, that it really isn't all that great.

 

[Doomhawk]

Dragonhide armor is pretty much the same as normal armor, except that druids can wear it (since it's not metal). Exactly what kind of armor you can make out of a dragon's hide depends on the size of the dragon, and I believe it's in the MM in the first page or two of the "dragon" entry.

EDIT: Or I guess I could, y'know, not be lazy and actually look.

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 one suit of masterwork 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 that the dragon is Large or larger.
Because dragonhide armor isn’t made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.
Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork armor 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.

 

[xazil]

Also if you have the Dracnomicon you can make dragoncraft dragonhide armor that is a category lighter and grants energy resistance. Although with the fairly small size of the dragon you are limited to what you can turn it into.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Woops, hehe. I have a cold right now and I took some medicine for it. So I am kind of in a haze right now wooooooooooooo.

Now I have to deal with the problem of telling my players that it is not that great....

 

[Fieari]

I'd abstain from telling players that dragonhide armor isn't really all that good. Players, in my experience, universally expect and desire draconic armor to be good. I mean, it's cool, it's REALLY cool to have dragonscale armor, but in a game like D&D, utility all too often has to trump coolness. But the game is supposed to be fun, so as a responcible DM, it should be your duty to mesh "cool" and "utilitarian" together, and make an awesome and useful set of dragon armor. Forget the "official" rules in this case. The official rules suck and are not fun.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I'd abstain from telling players that dragonhide armor isn't really all that good. Players, in my experience, universally expect and desire draconic armor to be good. I mean, it's cool, it's REALLY cool to have dragonscale armor, but in a game like D&D, utility all too often has to trump coolness. But the game is supposed to be fun, so as a responcible DM, it should be your duty to mesh "cool" and "utilitarian" together, and make an awesome and useful set of dragon armor. Forget the "official" rules in this case. The official rules suck and are not fun.

heh, I am trying to. Now if only I could get rid of this damn cold by tomorow.

EDIT: Hmmmm, maybe the AC of full plate with Cold Resistance 10? They have pretty much the whole dragon chopped up into pieces with them, even its blood. So maybe the smith can temper the armor in its blood. How much would stuff like dragon teeth or various other parts go for on a market?

 

[Imperialus]

One other important thing to remember is that since it is MW armour it can be enchanted. If it were my campaign I would also grant it some sort of resistance. +10 would work well. Dragonscale halfplate might sound kinda lame at first but throw a +5 enchantment bonus with a few other misc enchantment bonus's it begins to look pretty nice. Look at it as a starting point for your players dream suit of armour not a finished product.

 

[Treebore]

I have dragon hide armor bestow 1/2 its natural AC bonus and give an energy resistance of 5. Don't worry fighters will still hit them, just not quit as easily. Considering how unbalanced I consider AC to be versus BAB I really don't have a problem with it.

 

[Wikid Klown]

From the Draconomicon,
"Dragoncraft armor or a dragoncraft sheild grants the wearer resistance 5 against a specific type of energy, as appropriate to the dragon....This resistance is treated as an extraordinary (and thus nonmagical) feature of the armor. It doesn't stack with any other energy resistance (of the same type) popsessed by the character."

A young white dragon's scales can be used to make the following armor: Small creature; hide

Ok, looks like you have enough scales for a small suite of hide armor with a 5 cold resistance, and no shield...but that's only by the book of dragons. Yay for house rules! That or they can do that and get some money (if they need it)

(page 116 in the draconomicon, top shows sizes, 177 under dragoncraft armor or shield for the resistance and rules)