This was once (and in some areas still is) a common tactic in knife fighting, specifically in parts of Spain and South America. The knife is held in one hand and the coat, poncho, blanket, or whatever wrapped around the other hand/arm to intercept cuts and stabs.
In Pathfinder terms, how should this be handled? I'm thinking the tactic should be effective against light weapons and rapiers (Not other weapons, though, as a longsword or battleaxe is going to cut right through it, and a mace'll break the bone, coat or no.). I also think that the arm should not be able to be used for anything else. However, should it be an AC bonus or damage reduction? 1 point or two? Also, should removing a garmet and wrapping it around the hand and arm be a move action or a full round action (I'm pretty sure it should provoke AOO)?
Call it an improvised buckler?
Call it an improvised buckler?
With the caveat that it only works against light weapons and rapiers, it could work. I'm still torn on whether donning it should be a move or full round action, though. I'd think pulling a coat off is a different motion that reaching for a shield.
EDIT: Unlike normal bucklers, it should also prevent use of the hand for anything else.
Improv buckler seems fair.
The restrictions to use similarly seem reasonable.
A move action should be sufficient to get it on 'clumsily' and reduce the use of the hand, however if they spent a full round dressing the arm then I'd aloow them the use of the hand per traditional buckler rules.
Its not perfect, but for such a situational and rare event I wouldn't get too caught up in making perfect rules :)
I'd got the other way. Specifically I'd probably assign something like DR2/bludgeoning or piercing. You're not really harder to hit, and there's no way to assign AC bonuses based on attack type, so I'd reduce the damage. With DR, someone can still break your arm or stab into it but slashing gets caught up in the material.
I'd got the other way. Specifically I'd probably assign something like DR2/bludgeoning or piercing. You're not really harder to hit, and there's no way to assign AC bonuses based on attack type, so I'd reduce the damage. With DR, someone can still break your arm or stab into it but slashing gets caught up in the material.
Art of the Duel PDF made it a 20% concealment for using the whirling cloak with a weapon style.
Yet Padded Armour, which is essentially a whole suit of the same sort of material doesn't provide DR.
That would seem pretty inconsistent.
It's kinda hard to do this when the "armor class" trope doesn't really reflect reality per se.
Increasing AC doesn't seem to fit, as any increase to AC should be just a straight shield bonus to AC, and DR doesn't work for similar reasons (the DR/ B/P suggested earlier doesn't really work either, since daggers are p/s weapons, meaning the guy just has to say "I stab at him" instead of "I swing at him" and the whole thing is negated.
I was thinking that the times that a coat around the hand would actually be useful in a dagger fight is pretty much one on one, so why not use the duel rules to resolve this. Maybe they get one free dueling parry per round, instead of having to use an immediate action, but the dueling parry can only be used against light piercing and slashing weapons.
Just my idea.
Increasing AC works perfectly. Cutting through a coat to damage his arm works exactly like natural armour, that's all the coat is, a thick hide.
Natty armour, though, typically covers all or most of the body. The coat only covers his arm and the coat would be used exclusively to parry blows. The exact same function served by shields. So a shield bonus fits quite nicely.
Saying AC doesn't work because it doesn't make him harder to hit is pretty ludicrous. Most armour doesn't make the target harder to hit. That why Armour as DR is such a popular concept.
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Actually, I kind of like the idea that it would be a Deflection Bonus to AC (+1). Bear with me:
Against anything that isn't a knife-like weapon, the tactic in consideration would be useless. If it doesn't help stave off a longsword at least marginally, it ought not to be an Armor Bonus.
Similarly, I kind of find it hard to allow even a point of DR/bludgeoning: are you saying that wrapping your hand in a coat makes my crossbow hurt you less?
So what I'd do is make it a minor Deflection Bonus which is only active when you use the Fight Defensively and Full Defense Actions. Moreover, I'd use the Improvised Buckler rules as mentioned above for the purposes of what you can and can't do with the hand, and I'd call the cloak a Feinting Weapon (+2 Feint), because that is really the point of the item, anyway.
This is conceptually simialr to the spell Silk to Steel from ultimate magic. That spell provides a +2 shield bonus, so I would model it as something like a +1 shield bonus at best...
I'm pretty sure deflection bonuses are only ever from magical or otherwise supernatural/spell-like sources. Deflection bonus represents the magical ability to divert incoming blows before they touch you.
Increasing AC works perfectly. Cutting through a coat to damage his arm works exactly like natural armour, that's all the coat is, a thick hide.
Natty armour, though, typically covers all or most of the body. The coat only covers his arm and the coat would be used exclusively to parry blows. The exact same function served by shields. So a shield bonus fits quite nicely.
Saying AC doesn't work because it doesn't make him harder to hit is pretty ludicrous. Most armour doesn't make the target harder to hit. That why Armour as DR is such a popular concept.
The OP said he/she didn't want the bonus to apply against full sized swords or bashing weapons of any type, so no, increasing AC doesn't work perfectly in that case. AC increases protection regardless of weapon type attacking you. DR doesn't work because there are slashing and piercing weapons of all sizes.
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I'd just tag it as a flavor thing, not mechanical in nature. No reason to provide a mechanical benefit to it.
If, however, you're looking for a mechanical benefit anyways, then you'll need to implement a few more custom rules to make it work. And you might want to make it a feat instead of a free benefit. After all, if it's free, why wouldn't everyone be using it all the time already?
Defensive Cloak: As a move action, you may wrap your cloak around your offhand. When using Defensive Cloak, you may not use that hand for any other action. When struck in combat by a finesse-able slashing or piercing weapon, you may allocate up to two points of hit point damage per successful attack to your cloak. This must be damage that would otherwise be dealt to you. Once your cloak is destroyed, you may not allocate any more damage to it.
I would treat this in all ways as a shield bonus.
I would treat it as .5 AC
It doesn't do much for you, but it makes the tie go to you instead of the attacker
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Off hand I'd make it a flat +1 shield bonus to AC, but restrict it to applying against attacks from a single attacker (of your choice) you are aware of. There are already AC bonuses that apply only against one foe (smite evil comes to mind), it makes it not as good as an actual buckler, and I think it nicely represents the fact you must proactively use it to knock away attacks since it's not that thick a form of armor.
+1 shield bonus to ac vs light weapons. I can't see this doing anything for you if your opponent is swinging a two hander except breaking your arm in a dozen places.
But there is another side to the cloak. European duelists from the 16th century onwards were frequently mentioned in the act of taking off their cloaks and wrapping them around the free arm. Renaissance Italian fighting manuals, providing instruction mostly for rapier duels but occasionally also for battlefield action with the sword, often include passages about the use of the sword-and-cloak and/or cloak-and-dagger styles. This should not come as a surprise, since modern people tend to underestimate the stoutness of closely-woven wool or linen. A cloak draped over the unoccupied (usually left) arm would allow the combatant to catch and trap the enemy's weapon or do some similarly dirty tricks against that enemy's arm, legs, and face. It is easy to imagine a possible scenario where the sword-and-cloak fighter bats the cloak across the opponent's face, blinding him for a while, before catching an arm or a weapon, pulling it in, and stepping ahead to deliver a lethal close-range thrust. Another interesting techniques that crops up every now and then in the fighting manuals is throwing (!) the cloak into the opponent's face or onto his weapon arm and then running away or stepping in to attack as described above. This method of fighting was particularly useful for fighters having the shorter weapon, providing them with an unexpected means of turning the table against their opponents' longer reach. Another cultural group once known for their skill with the cloak and long knife is the Hispano-Mexican villagers along what is now the American border.
from here
So maybe an option to use it as an improvised ranged weapon , improvised disarming/binding weapon or to grant temporary concealment?
Feats in this vein:
Cloak Dance(3.5 SRD)
Cloak Dance(PFSRD, update of the above feat)
Cloak Fighting(PFSRD, another update of the 1st feat)
Cloak Fighting (d20 modern)
Combat Cloak Expert (PHB2, 3.5)