| Thalis Greatlight |
Hello, I am new here and have a question with piecemeal armor rules from Ultimate Combat.
In Ultimate Combat, I am given tables for piecemeal armor for various types of armor. However, not all armor is listed and I see no guidelines on creating piecemeal armor from other sources besides Ultimate Combat. Is there a formula or guideline on making piecemeal armor from other types of armor not given in Ultimate Combat? Thank you.
| Thalis Greatlight |
it's like build a bear workshop bro. Just mix and match whatever the hell you want.
That's what I mean. How do I go about it? For each piece, which should have the check penalty, which shouldn't, what would be the Max Dex bonus for each piece and armor bonus, etc.
Do I have to make that up? If so, that's no good. I don't like to do that. Not unless I am sure I know what I am doing. Too bad they don't have guidelines. Oh well.
| Brennan Ashby |
Black_Lantern wrote:it's like build a bear workshop bro. Just mix and match whatever the hell you want.That's what I mean. How do I go about it? For each piece, which should have the check penalty, which shouldn't, what would be the Max Dex bonus for each piece and armor bonus, etc.
Do I have to make that up? If so, that's no good. I don't like to do that. Not unless I am sure I know what I am doing. Too bad they don't have guidelines. Oh well.
What are you trying to make that isn't in the rules?
Here are the guidelines, broken down:
ARMOR PIECES AND PROFICIENCY
If you are proficient with an armor category, you are also proficient with the armor pieces of that category. For example, if you are proficient with light armor, you are proficient with all light armor pieces. Some torso armor pieces (such as chain, plate, and agile plate torso armor pieces) are a category lighter if worn alone (treat as a chain shirt, breastplate, and agile breastplate, respectively).When a character is wearing at least one armor piece of a type with which he is not proficient, he takes the armor check penalty of that piece on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving. If he is wearing more than one armor piece of a type with which he is not proficient, he takes the worst armor check penalty from among the pieces he is not proficient with on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving.
ARMOR PIECES AND ARMOR SUITS
The piecemeal armor system splits up armor into three general types of armor pieces. An armor piece is a small group of armor parts, rather than simply being any discrete part of the armor.A single armor piece comprises the armor parts one needs to protect its corresponding area—either the arms, the legs, or the torso (including the head); a single arm or leg armor piece provides armor for both arms or both legs, respectively.
A plate arm armor piece typically consists of pairs of pauldrons, gardbraces, rerebraces, vambraces, and gauntlets along with bits of chainmail and padded armor, while a chain lamellar arm armor piece consists of two chain sleeves, gauntlets, and perhaps pairs of pauldrons and couters. Both protect the arms, though they have a different number of specific parts and types of overall components.
If a character has only one armor piece, that piece is considered the totality of her armor, and she uses the statistics of that piece as her armor.
Example: Leather Arm armor; 2gp, +0 armor bonus, +6 max Dex, 0 ACP, 10% ASFC, No speed penalty, 2 lbs.
This armor is light armor.
If a character is wearing more than one armor piece, she adds the armor costs, armor bonuses, and weights of the armor pieces,
and takes the worst maximum Dexterity bonus, arcane spell failure chance, and speed limitations from among the various armor pieces
to determine the full statistics and qualities of the armor she is wearing.
Example: Leather Arm + Padded Legs + Studded Leather Chest armor;
We will call this... Thug Armor
Cost: 18 gp = (2gp Leather Arms + 1gp Padded Legs + 15gp Studded Leather Chest)
Armor Bonus: +1 = (0 Leather Arms + 0 Padded Legs + 1 Studded Leather Chest)
Weight: 20 lbs. = (2 lbs. Leather Arms + 3 lbs. Padded Legs + 15 lbs. S-Leather Chest)
Max Dex: +5 = (+5 S-Leather Chest < +6 Leather Arms < +8 Padded Legs)
ASFC: 15% = (15% S-Leather Chest < 10% Leather Arms < 0% Padded Legs)
Speed Penalty: None = (all no reduction)
NOTE: They forgot to specify the rules as to how Armor Check Penalty is calculated, so I am going to make a ruling and say it is similar to Max Dex and ASFC; you take the worst ACP from among the various armor pieces. I made this ruling based on these rules, stated above:
If he is wearing more than one armor piece of a type with which he is not proficient, he takes the worst armor check penalty from among the pieces he is not proficient with on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving.
And because if you piecemeal plate arms, plate legs, and plate chest together, the total ACP should NOT be -14 (-7 plate arms + -3 plate legs + -4 plate chest), when a normal full plate has a check of -6.
I am also going to make a ruling that if you wear an entire, non-mixed suit of piecemeal armor, then the ACP is reduced by 1. This should make piecemeal plate armor jive with normal plate armor (piecemeal plate would have a ACP of -7 otherwise, which is silly when all other stats for piecemeal plate mirror normal full-plate using piecemeal rules).
So therefore,
ACP: 0 = (all 0 penalty)
As long as she is wearing a single armor piece, she is considered to be wearing armor for any effects that rely on wearing armor (such as the fighter class's armor training and armor mastery).
If a character is wearing all three categories of armor pieces, she is wearing a suit of armor.
Suits of armor can have all armor pieces of the same type (all three plate pieces make a suit of full plate), or a mixture of armor pieces (a plate arm armor piece and torso armor piece combined with a chainmail leg armor piece creates a suit of half-plate).
Wearing an entire suit, whether its pieces are mixed or the same type, grants a +1 armor bonus on top of the protection the combination of pieces already grants the wearer.
INSERT: Wearing an entire suit of the same type reduces the suit's armor check penalty by 1.
Wearing a mixed suit of armor increases the arcane spell failure chance by 5% because of the awkwardness of the design.
Wearing less than a full suit of mixed armor does not increase the wearer's arcane spell failure chance.
So with that info, our Thug Armor stats total to:
THUG ARMOR
Light Armor
Cost: 18gp
Armor Bonus: +2 (+1 for armor, +1 because it comprises an entire suit)
Max Dex: +5
ACP: 0
ASFC: 15% (the suit is all light armor pieces, therefore it is NOT mixed)
Speed: 30ft/20ft
Weight: 20 lbs.
Now I realize this armor is completely uses compared to other light armors, but it serves my point well enough.
Hope this helped clear things up.