"Normal wood" armor

[Colette Brunel]

The entry for darkwood (an overpriced special material, like all the others) makes mention of "normal wood" armor. What wooden armors are available in 2e, for use by druids? Are there wooden breastplates with the same statistics as regular breastplates, for example?

[Zman0]

Currently, there isn't anything listed in the playtest that lets you have standard wood armor. I hope they clarify and add that for release.

I agree, the Darkwood entry does heavily imply that normal wood versions of armor is available... unless it is implying for shields. So, uless you get to Master Quality, you aren't making any Breastplate out of Darkwood.

[ErichAD]

The only real wood armor contruction method I can think of is lemellar. But there are lemellar breastplates out there, so I'd say that's on the table.

There isn't an intended material listed for any of the armor items, and the special material list is fantasy materials rather than alternative materials. It's also all European and I don't think Europe ever went into the more elaborate wooden and bone armors present in other countries.

[Cantriped]

I am under the assumption that one could, if they desired, buy or craft Oaken Plate Mail, it would cost the same, yet have an inferior Hardness compared to steel.

[Noxobar]

As soon as dradonscale is missing, I really hope that non-shield armor can be made from wood and darkwood. From the other hand, the only phrase governing the material applicability is "GM is the final arbiter...", so anything is possible. Or not.

[Culach]

Certain Coats of Plates used wood strips in place of leather or metal, but they were atypical...

[ErichAD]

Wood plates were regional, and probably less common overall, but they were used in a larger variety of environments and cultures than metal plates. That's mostly due to cultures being unable to reliably produce early metals without shipping lines and trade between communities. This means that any community that can produce metals will also be merging with other smaller communities while non-metal working communities will stay separate until interacting with them is efficient enough for the metal working communities. This typically involves improvements in transportation then war.

Wood plates do seem atypical in Golarion though, so I suppose the anthropology discussion isn't important in context.

[graystone]

ErichAD wrote:

Wood plates were regional

Heck, the chinese had paper armor. ;)