Armor and Shields
Materials and Setting
The following armor types are assuming a level of technology at or above the Medieval Fantasy setting. A variety of armor-making techniques have been developed, incorporating iron and steel. Settings with different standards or materials may not have all of the options available. A Bronze-era campaign is unlikely to see any sort of chain armor. Bronze plate mail will utilize leather or other simple mails instead, or simply does without. As with weapons, assume that these statistics reflect the standard for your setting.
Creature Size
Armor for smaller than man-sized characters, such as Halflings, requires less material, and is one-quarter the weight of armor for a man-sized suit. Likewise, armor for larger than man-sized characters (ogres, half-ogres, and bugbears) will cost and weigh twice as much. Much larger creatures, such as giants, will have increasing cost and weight, up to ten times the base.
Armor Options
Quality armors will have a more personal style, a more custom and comfortable fit, or incorporate some detailed handiwork (tooling/etching/embossing) or rare materials. Field Plate and Full Plate are always considered Quality make, due to their custom fitting and detail. Shields bearing more than the most basic of devices (heraldic designs) are considered Quality shields in regards to pricing.
Armor and Thieves
Studded Leather armor counts as leather armor for the purposes of Thief skills. Ring mail, Brigandine and higher armors will count as metallic for Thief skills. The weights of these armors still count against the weight carried by a character.
Armor Descriptions
Padded Armor is created from layers of cloth placed on top of each other. It is often ceremonial rather than functional, but does offer minimal amounts of protection. The layers of cloth are great for winter months because they provide solid insulation, but will get very sweaty and dirty unless properly laundered often. Several types of metal armors include a layer of padded armor or ‘arming jacket’. Hide Armor is much like leather in its working and protection. Often hide armor can be found in remote areas or barbaric lands; it is the most common type used by orcs and many other humanoids. The process of creating hide armor involves curing the beast's hide and sewing it to clothing. It is often hot and itchy, but offers protection similar to regular leather armor. Leather Armor consists of pieces of hardened and/or layered leather. There are a variety of methods for creating this armor, most of which involve boiling, shaping, then stiffening the armor. The leather pieces are sewn to a cloth undergarment for maximum flexibility. Studded Leather Armor is similar to regular leather armor, but instead of hardening the leather, metal studs and/or small plates are riveted to it. The studs coupled with the leather material provide added protection from attacks at the slight cost of mobility. Ring Mail Armor consists of rings of steel directly sewn to an undergarment. The rings themselves offer great flexibility and decent protection. The underlying garment is usually soft and supple leather which can withstand mild punishment. Brigandine armor consists of a cloth or leather garment, lined with small oblong steel plates set inside or between layers, and riveted to the fabric. Designs may include sleeves or be worn with vambraces. The rivets or nails attaching the plates to the fabric are visible on the outside and often decorated. Brigandine is typically worn over a padded undergarment; if worn without this undergarment, brigandine provides an Armor Class of 14 at a weight of 20 pounds. This type of armor would also include armors with small plates attached to the outside of a quilted or padded garment. Chain Mail Armor consists of rings of metal that are interwoven, rather than being stitched to a leather garment. Chain mail is worn over a padded undergarment; if worn without the padded undergarment, chain mail armor provides an Armor Class of 14 at a weight of 30 pounds. Chain mail is very flexible and durable. It is one of the most popular and affordable armors available to player characters. Chain mail may be made either in the form of a suit (i.e. tunic and trousers) or in the form of a hauberk, which consists of a tunic with a skirt or kilt to protect the legs. Scale Mail Armor is made of metal scales directly woven to an undergarment that offers flexibility and moderate protection. A related armor type is Lamellar, where the individual scales or plates are connected together, rather than to a cloth or leather backing. Splint Mail Armor is a form of chain mail where small strips of thick metal are interwoven amongst the rings of the mail. These small embedded plates offer excellent coverage and better protection than regular chain mail at the price of additional weight and less flexibility. This also covers other types of ‘enhanced’ chainmail, such as a lamellar cuirass, or Mail and Plate armors without a full breastplate. Banded Mail Armor is a type of laminar armor, with overlapping strips or bands of metal. The Roman lorica segmentata is an example of the form. The armor will also include vambraces, greaves, and/or armored sleeves. This type of armor typically does not include an integrated backing or chain coat (or a very light one), and is significantly lighter than other armors in the same category. Some versions may easily collapse for storage. The number of connecting parts, and the fittings needed to properly fit and secure this armor, may make banded armors more difficult to maintain. Plate Mail Armor is another common form of metal armor. Large plates of hard metal are fashioned to cover the torso, arms and legs and attached at the joints to an underlying suit of chain mail; a padded undergarment (see Padded Armor, above) is worn underneath. If plate mail is worn without the undergarment, the Armor Class provided is 16 at a weight of 40 pounds. Field Plate Armor consists of solid pieces of plate armor, fastened together with a variety of complicated sliding parts, hinges, and straps. Small pieces of chain mail are used to cover hard-to-protect joints, such as behind the knees and under the arms. Field plate armor provides greater protection than regular plate mail with a relatively small increase in weight, but must be custom fitted to the wearer; this generally means that a character purchasing this sort of armor must wait at least a full week between placing the order and receiving the finished suit. Field plate armor is worn over a padded undergarment, and if worn without the undergarment, the Armor Class provided is 17 at a weight of 60 pounds. Full Plate Armor is generally identical to field plate armor, but is of superior design and manufacture; only an expert armorer can fashion it. The plates cover the wearer more fully, and chain mail is generally not used at all. Also, the plates themselves are designed to deflect weapon strikes away from any otherwise-vulnerable joint in the armor. Those who wear Full plate suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls due to limited mobility while wearing the armor. Full plate cannot be put on alone and takes at least 1 turn to get into with assistance.Shield Descriptions
A Buckler is a small shield worn on the forearm or held by a single handle to block incoming attacks. It is usually about a foot in diameter. The wearer of a buckler receives +1 to his or her Armor Class when in melee combat, but gains no protection against missile fire. The worn buckler may be used by those wielding two weapons, as described in the Combat Options supplement; if this is done, the character may either attack with the off-hand weapon or gain the benefit of the shield. A Medium Shield is usually about 3 feet in diameter and is often round, though shields may come in a variety of shapes. These shields may be all metal or wood with leather and metal cladding. A medium shield is worn by looping one's arm through a strap and then grabbing a handle of some sort on the backside of the shield. A medium shield will give the wearer +1 AC from both melee and missile attacks; this is the “standard” shield as described in the Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules. A Tower Shield is a very large shield that is almost the height of the wearer; such a shield is generally rectangular, but oval, elliptical, and curved shapes are not uncommon. Because of the bulky and cumbersome nature of such a large shield, it only offers protection similar to a medium shield while in melee (+1) yet gives superior protection against missile fire (+3) due to its size.Barding
Barding is the term for the armor used to protect a mount. The armor covers the head, neck, and body of the animal. The prices and weights below are for decent quality barding for a horse or warhorse. Barding Descriptions Light Barding consists of padding and/or leather, with reinforced leather or metal plates for added protection in key areas. Generally the effect is similar to studded leather. Mail Barding is coat of chain or scale armor with cured leather or metal guards for head, chest, and other strategic locations. In many ways, the effect is similar to splint or banded mail. Plate Barding utilizes various plate pieces or segmented metal coat with chain mail support in other areas. The overall look is somewhere between plate mail and field plate. Barding Options Quality Barding will generally be of finer make, more decorative, or more comfortable to the wearer (in this case, the mount). Barding made to perfectly complement the rider's armor would be a Quality design. Other Mounts and Animals Barding can be made for other creatures besides horses. Small mounts are those required by Dwarves and Halflings. This includes ponies, riding dogs, and war rams. This is also suitable for other dogs (guard dogs, for example) over 100 lbs. Dog armor is specifically for smaller animals including hunting cats and the smaller of guard or hunting dogs. Most animals of this size will not tolerate armor heavier than mail, regardless of weight. Large Mounts is for creatures significantly larger than a draft horse, such as an elephant. For the truly titanic, apply this modifier multiple times. Flying Mount costs are applied on top of the base size cost. This is in part because of the relative rarity of flying mounts, as well as the more complex designs needed to allow for movement (wings), aerodynamic considerations, better fittings, and possibly under-armor. Regardless of weight allowance, mounts cannot fly in armor heavier than light barding or magical mail barding. Exotic Mounts are those not typical to a culture or game setting. Generally this is for exotic creatures, but may apply to 'normal' mounts outside of their usual setting (armor for a camel or elephant; new barding for a war ram outside of Dwarven lands, etc.).
Piece mail Armor
In some instances, you might have to piece together various parts of plate armor to create a customized appearance or for some other purpose. This is known as "Piece mail Armor". For every two pieces of plate armor, other than the breastplate, a character may add +1 to his or her AC, up to a total bonus of +3. The character cannot gain more than +3 AC. Note: a “piece” of plate mail encompasses both the right and left hand side of the respective part. A single vambrace is not considered a “piece” until a second vambrace accompanies it. A breastplate may only be worn over padded armor and offers a +2 bonus to AC. For example: A Dwarven Fighter currently wears chain mail. He finds a suit of Dwarven plate mail while exploring an abandoned mine, but one of the gauntlets and the breastplate is missing. He straps on the greaves, tassets, pauldrons, vambraces, and faulds. Five full pieces have been strapped on, thus raising the Dwarf's overall Armor Class to 17. This also increases the overall weight of his armor by 32 lbs. to a total of 72 lbs., which is heavier than plate due to overlapping the plate mail pieces with the chain mail pieces.
