House Rules: Armor and Shields

Armor

Light Armor
Armor Cost Bonus Armor Check Penalty Weight1 Special
Reinforced tunic 1 gp +1 0 5 lbs. +2 to DV vs. attack rolls to confirm critical hits.
Haramaki 3 gp +2 0 1 lbs.
Padded 5 gp +3 0 10 lbs.
Quilted cloth 10 gp +3 0 15 lbs. DR 3/– vs. projectiles and thrown weapons 3 sizes smaller.
Lamellar cuirass 15 gp +4 0 8 lbs.
Leather 10 gp +4 0 15 lbs.
Hide shirt 5 gp +5 -1 18 lbs.
Leaf armor 500 gp +5 0 20 lbs.
Studded leather 25 gp +5 -1 20 lbs.
Wooden 20 gp +5 -2 25 lbs. Armor check penalty for swimming in this armor is 0.
Lamellar (leather) 60 gp +6 -2 25 lbs.
Spider-silk bodysuit 850 gp +6 0 4 lbs.
Chain shirt 100 gp +7 -2 25 lbs.
Medium Armors2
Armor Cost Bonus Armor Check Penalty Weight1 Special
Armored coat 50 gp +8 -2 20 lbs. Don and remove as a simple action.
Hide 10 gp +9 -3 25 lbs.
Do-maru 75 gp +10 -4 30 lbs.
Kikko 100 gp +10 -3 25 lbs.
Lamellar (horn) 125 gp +10 -4 30 lbs.
Scale mail 150 gp +11 -4 30 lbs.
Breastplate 200 gp +12 -4 30 lbs.
Breastplate (agile) 400 gp +12 -4 25 lbs. Armor check penalty for Acrobatics and Climb is only -1.
Chainmail 150 gp +13 -5 40 lbs.
Lamellar (steel) 300 gp +13 -4 35 lbs.
Heavy Armors3
Armor Cost Bonus Armor Check Penalty Weight1 Special
Banded mail 250 gp +14 -6 35 lbs.
Field plate 500 gp +14 -5 50 lbs.
Kusari gusoku 300 gp +15 -6 45 lbs.
Lamellar (iron) 500 gp +15 -5 50 lbs.
Splint mail 500 gp +16 -6 45 lbs.
Tatami-do 700 gp +16 -5 45 lbs.
Fortress plate 1,200 gp +17 -7 75 lbs. Add 1/2 armor's bonus (+enhancement bonuses) to ranged attacks that ignore armor bonus. Increase by 1 if you have dwarf weapon familiarity trait. Armor category can’t be reduced by any effect (including by special materials).
Half-plate 600 gp +17 -6 50 lbs.
Half-plate (agile) 900 gp +17 -6 55 lbs. Armor check penalty for Acrobatics and Climb is only -3.
Lamellar (stone coat) 500 gp +17 -6 45 lbs.
O-yoroi 900 gp +18 -6 45 lbs.
Full plate 1,500 gp +19 -6 50 lbs.
Stoneplate 1,800 gp +19 -7 75 lbs.
1Weight figures are for armor sized to fit Medium characters. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor fitted for Large characters weighs twice as much.
2Reduce your speed by 1 size category when wearing medium armor.
3Reduce your speed by 1 size category when wearing heavy armor. When running in heavy armor, you move only triple your speed, not quadruple.

Shields


Shield Cost Bonus Armor Check Penalty Weight1 Special
Buckler 5 gp +1 5 lbs. Shield arm is considered to be an open hand, can attack with weapon held by shield arm with -1 penalty to attack rolls, cannot shield bash.
Klar 12 gp +1 6 lbs.
Madu, leather 10 gp +1 5 lbs. With proficiency, no disadvantage to attacks while fighting defensively and reduce penalty from Combat Expertise by 1 (minimum -1 penalty).
Madu, steel 40 gp +1 -1 6 lbs. With proficiency, no disadvantage to attacks while fighting defensively and reduce penalty from Combat Expertise by 1 (minimum -1 penalty).
Shield, light steel 30 gp +3 -2 6 lbs. Thrown 10 ft.
Shield, light steel (quickdraw) 80 gol +3 -2 7 lbs. Thrown 10 ft.
Shield, light wooden 3 gp +2 -1 5 lbs. Thrown 10 ft.
Shield, light wooden (quickdraw) 53 gp +2 -1 6 lbs. Thrown 10 ft.
Shield, heavy steel 70 gp +5 -3 15 lbs.
Shield, heavy wooden 7 gp +4 -2 10 lbs.
Shield, tower 120 gp +83 -10 45 lbs. Use standacrd action to grant total cover except for spells along one edge until the beginning of next turn, cannot bash with a tower shield, nor use shield hand for anything else, -2 penalty on attack.
Snarlshield, steel 50 gp +5 -4 20 lbs. Disarm.
Snarlshield, wooden 5 gp +4 -3 15 lbs. Disarm.
War-shield, dwarven 50 gp +3 -1 8 lbs. Wielding two dwarven war-shields with the Multiweapon Fighting feat increases the higher of the two shield bonuses by 1.
1Weight figures are for armor sized to fit Medium characters. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor fitted for Large characters weighs twice as much.

Armor & Shields


Armor Check Penalty

Some armors and shields hurt a character’s ability to use Dex– and Str-based skills, to apply their full agility to dodge attacks, and can be distracting to a spellcaster's focus. An armor check penalty applies to all Dexterity– and Strength-based skill checks, as well as all Concentration checks. It also applies to a character's Dexterity bonus to DV and defense bonus (both to a minimum of +0); armor check penalty does not apply if the character's Dexterity is a penalty. A character’s encumbrance may also incur an armor check penalty that stacks on top.

Shields: If a character is wearing armor and using a shield, both armor check penalties apply.

Armor and Strength: The stronger you are, the more easier it is for you to wear armor. Add the armor check penalty from your armor and all of your shields, then reduce the total penalty by your Strength bonus, to a minumum of +0.

Nonproficient with Armor Worn: A character who wears armor and/or uses a shield with which he is not proficient cannot use his Strength score to reduce the armor (and/or shield’s) armor check penalty, and also applies the penalty on attack rolls in addition to the usual effects. The penalty for non-proficiency with armor stacks with the penalty for shields.

Sleeping in Armor: A character who sleeps in medium or heavy armor is automatically fatigued the next day. He takes a –2 penalty on Str and Dex and can’t charge or run. Sleeping in light armor does not cause fatigue.

Armor as DR

Armor and natural armor bonuses no longer apply to AC. Instead, they increase a character's DR/armor. Adamantine weapons ignore up to DR 20/armor.

Both armor and natural armor bonuses stack when determining DR/armor. Magical enhancement bonuses to armor or natural armor bonuses increases DR/armor by an equal amount.

Unlike most forms of damage reduction, DR/armor stacks with other types of DR. For example: when fighting a skeleton with DR 5/bludgeoning and DR 4/armor (+2 for armor, +2 for natural armor), the skeleton’s DR/armor reduces 9 points of damage from non-bludgeoning attacks from non-adamantine weapons, 4 damage from bludgeoning weapon attacks from non-adamantine weapons, and 5 points of damage from a non-bludgeoning adamantine weapon.

Adamantine armor increases DR/epic instead of DR/armor, and improves the armor bonus by an amount according to the armor's type (+1 for light, +2 for medium, and +4 for heavy).

Shield Bonus

Shields grant a shield bonus to your Defense Value. The shield bonus from a shield doesn’t stack with other effects that grant a shield bonus, except for those granted by other actual shields.

Alchemical Ballistic Padding


With the advancement in firearms technology, armorers have been hard at work at improving current sets of armor so that they can provide the needed protection against these new weapons. However, it were the alchemists who made the breakthrough needed to create anti-firearms armor. They developed a new alchemical substance that can be applied to ordinary fibers to form a layer of padding that can be incorporated in modern sets of armor. The alchemically treated fibers gained significant high-speed impact absorption and tearing resistance properties that allowed armor to be effective against firearms. On the downside, the extra padding made the armor heavier and less mobile.

Alchemical ballistic padding can be added to any type of armor or shield. This allows the the armor or shield to negate the firearm's ability to ignore DR/armor and shield bonus to AC. The padding increases the armor check penalty by 1 and the arcane spell failure chance by 5%, and reduces the maximum dexterity bonus by 1 (minimum +0).

Type of Mithral Item Item Cost Modifier
Light armor +250 gp
Medium armor +1,000 gp
Heavy armor +2,250 gp
Shield +250 gp
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