Materials for armor in Fantasy game

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Sounds like a good way to derail the campaign. You'll have one object worth more than all the treasure in the dungeon. I remember one game where we forgot about what we were doing and spent the remainder of the day trying to work out how to get a door (made of super expensive metal) off its hinge so we could sell it.

Gygax put adamantium doors in one of his modules deliberately. The players were supposed to figure out that they were "the treasure" for the dungeon - which incidentally required them to go through the dungeon to steal all the doors. Instead his test group complained how hard they were to break down.

So in one of the D&D novels he had the hero explicitly note how valuable the doors were as a sort of "take that".

I've not done the "door treasure" sort of thing, but I did put a big friggin gold solar disk 6" thick 30' off the ground in the "Foyer" of one dungeon (a few hundred pounds, no obvious way to get it down safely). And a 10'x10'x10' stone block trap in the front doorway to seal the players inside the dungeon :) They had to wait a day before the cleric could memorize Shape Stone to escape, so they used the time to loot the (small) dungeon and plan how to get the gold down off it's mounting point and back to civilization.


It was the finale to a campaign so giving them enough wealth to retire on was fine - wearable treasure like an Invulnerable Coat (or whatever) would likely be the entire POINT of going into that dungeon. If you need the fabled Invulnerable Coat, then you need the Coat, and everything else you pick up along the way is just something to put in the retirement fund in case you need to give the Coat back at the end of your quest.

[kdarc]

Thanks for the replies! I did find that old Elder Scrolls thread and it was suggested that Bonemold armor was simulated with Dragonbone from DF8, which seems fair.

I like the idea of applying the system of armor from Low-Tech, so I'm considering doing a supplement table in the same style with the exotic armors of the setting. So, applying Dragonbone on a medium plate, the base cost would be 60000$. This seem a bit much, and it after all a fantasy game, so I think I'll reduce it to 50000.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing to Meteoric and a few of the other materials from DF and in the meantime think up some more setting appropiate materials. Specific DR is a good idea and might actually make some factions interesting and give them a unique way of fighting.

As side note, what is the opinion on armor that grants Magic Resistance?

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by kdarc

As side note, what is the opinion on armor that grants Magic Resistance?

Im ok with armor that grants magic resistance.

I tired an idea in our DF Game a while back where there was an orcish armorer selling unusual leather armor for an exorbant price that would give either +3 to stealth (Forest Only), or +1 Magic Resistance. When they found out it was tanned Elf and Dwarf hide the players thought it was a bit morbid for a DF game, so we ditched it after that plotline wrapped up. But they did consider buying it....very carefully.

Now that it comes to mind, do Minotaurs react negatively to anyone in leather? Do they look at people wearing leather with the sort of horrific contempt that we (as humans) view people that have "gorilla-hand" ashtrays? Do they view hamburger/steak with the same quesiness that we view "bush meat" ?

Nymdok

[Bruno]

Considering that Minotaurs are more human than they are bovine, and are typically human-eaters, I somehow don't think they're easily shocked. Never mind that a not insignificant part of humanity regards "bush meat" as "dinner".

[Verjigorm]

Every minotaur I've every played(my first AD&D character was Minotaur, and I've tried to play one in every game I get the chance to), wasn't really picky about much. We'll eat anything weaker than us. And we're not Cows. Calling us Cows, or related to cows is about as insulting as calling a person a "gorilla" or "chimp". And since we usually have huge axes, pissin us off ain't a smart idea.

[mhd]

For some kind of reason, a vegan minotaur that thinks leather is iffy is would be seriously triggering my furry alert, in the same way "cat people" who lap milk from a bowl and cuddle all the time do (Unless we're talking about recently transmogrified / "awakened" / uplifted ones – maybe).

[kdarc]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

Im ok with armor that grants magic resistance.

I tired an idea in our DF Game a while back where there was an orcish armorer selling unusual leather armor for an exorbant price that would give either +3 to stealth (Forest Only), or +1 Magic Resistance. When they found out it was tanned Elf and Dwarf hide the players thought it was a bit morbid for a DF game, so we ditched it after that plotline wrapped up. But they did consider buying it....very carefully.

Nymdok

For some insane reason, this amuses me greatly...

Any suggestions on what might be an appropriate price for armor that grants Magic Resistance?

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by kdarc

For some insane reason, this amuses me greatly...

Any suggestions on what might be an appropriate price for armor that grants Magic Resistance?

It amused me greatly as well. But I also thought having the orcish tanner give out leather, tearshaped, collectible cards (Elf ears with tatoos on them) to the local children, kinda like Yu-Gi-O or pokemon cards today, was also in good fun. The group just found it morbid and disturbing. Buncha dirty elf symapthisers :)

If ita been orc nostrils or minotaur horns I bet thereda been no problems. I considered calling them out on their bigotry...but as the joke had already fallen flat, I didnt pursue it. :)

For cost, you can see GURPS magic and the magic resistance spell. It recomends 300 points. As with all things magic though it is going ot require a bit of interpretation on your part, and you may instead prefer to apply a flat cost factor for such a bonus if one hasnt already been suggested in the DF works.

I did it as the whole suit of 'dwarven leather' (which when you say it like that really doesnt sound ominous at all) was required to get the bonus. No mixing and matching of any other armor types and multiple layers of dwarven leather would not grant a cumulative MR but all other DR did apply.

note that by whole suit here I mean Helmet, Torso (front and back), arms, legs, hands and feet, groin and of course front and back.

If one bit of the armor is destoryed, you loose the bonus untill it is replaced by similar armor. Step in acid and Loose a boot? loose the bonus till you buy a new boot made of dwarf hide.

Nymdok

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Considering that Minotaurs are more human than they are bovine, and are typically human-eaters, I somehow don't think they're easily shocked. Never mind that a not insignificant part of humanity regards "bush meat" as "dinner".

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Every minotaur I've every played(my first AD&D character was Minotaur, and I've tried to play one in every game I get the chance to), wasn't really picky about much. We'll eat anything weaker than us. And we're not Cows. Calling us Cows, or related to cows is about as insulting as calling a person a "gorilla" or "chimp". And since we usually have huge axes, pissin us off ain't a smart idea.

Didnt mean to rile the minotaur devout! Just an idea :)

Now that I consider it further though, it might be entertaining to go through each race in DF and hypothesize what bonus might be bestowed on a skinned member of each. We've already discussed a few ideas on chitin from coleopterans and just one of a few possibilities each for elves and dwarves. I bet we could do them all and at the end of the thread have something both devilishly evil and useful for even the most moustache twisting bad guy.

Nymdok

[kdarc]

So I have worked out some ideas for Magic Resistance-granting armor. Basically, I want it to be a MR-granted version of Meteoric equipment from DF1 and what I'm fiddling with is this:

The armor grants magic resistance based on the total amount of the weight of armor made from the material is worn. So, for instance, wearing 0-20 lb. might give 1 MR, 21-30 might give 2, etc.

I want to the material (let's call it... Magresitrum until now) to be fairly heavy and reasonable priced. I'd love if some of the more experienced forumites could help me out with the specifics, on weight and price, as well as the amount of MR granted. The material is supposed to be rare and not commonly available (the large Empire controlling most of the setting world has more or less taken over all the mines), so that would probably be reflected in the price as well.

One side effect I am considering is the effect on weapons from the same material. I like the idea of "mage-bane" weapons, ala Meteoric from DF, but I'm not sure the weapons should grant MR. Any ideas?

Forgive my ignorance about the subject, I am still a relative newbie in regards to customizing equipment and such.