Armor and magik

[Anonymous]

Just to say that the slight change august and mongoose made in the leather armour and padded armour really makes a difference. In standard dnd leather and padded give a 10% and 5% chance that a spell fizzles. In lone wolf it was changed to nil and nil;

Thus magic using classes can now benefit from the +2 and +1 ac bonuses from both armours, something which they really need, without having to worry abt their spells fizzle. (or players having to roll more dice).

 

[Holmes]

True, but neither Brothers of the Crystal Star nor Magicians of Dessi have Armour Proficiency, so wearing armour means they suffer double Armor Check penalties and don't get any Dex bonus to AC.

So unless they don't have an AC bonus to Dex, and aren't worried about the Armour Check penalty, they may just want to stick to the robes... :lol:

 

[Matt Sharp]

True, but neither Brothers of the Crystal Star nor Magicians of Dessi have Armour Proficiency, so wearing armour means they suffer double Armor Check penalties and don't get any Dex bonus to AC.

So unless they don't have an AC bonus to Dex, and aren't worried about the Armour Check penalty, they may just want to stick to the robes... :lol:

However, considering that the Armour Check Penalty for both padded and leather armour is 0, they don't really need to worry too much about it. (Two times 0 is still 0, after all).

 

[Anonymous]

I personally thought that the absence of any spell fizzle chances meant that they could wear any of those two armour sets. After all, how much training do you need ot wear a leather jacket during the winter?

Hmm, official conformation on this? :shock:

 

[Holmes]

IIRC, the rule I'm mentioning is in the Equipment section, at the beginning of the description of the various Armours.

A suit of Leather or Padded Armour isn't just a lightweight jacket made of the material, but a full body covering.

Leather - as I've heard it described - is a breastplate and greaves, possibly with articulated joints that is made of hard boiled leather (not the soft kid leather usually used in jackets in any case)

Padded armor is equivalent to several layers of heavy cloth in similar fashion (similar to wearing several layers of heavy clothing).

I always took the rule to be aimed at multiclass characters primarily, myself.

 

[Anonymous]

I am well aware of that ruling Holmes. But since there are no feats in lw, and thus no way for the magii to get proficient in said armors, I simply assumed that the negation in spell %'s meant they could wear it. I mean, otherwise why the spell fizzle negation? The kai lords abilities are not spells, thus it wont be of benefit to them (imo anyways, I could be wrong)

Again, lets wait for someone to clear this up.

 

[Holmes]

They can gain the appropriate feats through multiclassing.

But you're right, Ms. Hahn would be the final authority on the matter. :wink:

 

[Reginald de Curry]

Well, if you're worried, just restrict them to waistcoats (1/2 normal AC bonus).

 

[Holmes]

I've been meaning to say this Reginald, but keep forgetting..

Your sig...how did you know I've always secretly dreamed of going after Altan with the Sommerswerd! :lol:

Freakin' CS of 30 when at max all you can have is about a 23 with a bow... :shock:

 

[SableWyvern]

I hadn't noticed this. The Dex 10 Dessi mage in the party will be quite happy, methinks. 8)

 

[Reginald de Curry]

I've been meaning to say this Reginald, but keep forgetting..

Your sig...how did you know I've always secretly dreamed of going after Altan with the Sommerswerd! :lol:

Freakin' CS of 30 when at max all you can have is about a 23 with a bow... :shock:

It came up during a discussion on the Project Aon boards. I thought it was worth remembering. :lol:

 

[August]

Mages can and should take advantage of the padded armour and leather armour possibilities if their Dex is low enough to keep them from losing out on an Armour Class bonus.

They are certainly wearable, as they are simple enough to not warrant too much difficulty.

The spell fizzle chance was reduced to 0% with them to make this an option and to keep more in line with the notes I had about spellcasting in Magnamund not mixing well with metal armour.

Take care!
-A

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks august. Thus, a mage should wear the leathers if and only if he does NOT have a dex bonus to AC correct? Otherwise he loses the dex bonus, yes?

 

[SableWyvern]

Xex: That would be if his Dex bonus is less than the Armour bonus. Keep in mind that leather provides a +2 to AC, while Superior Leather would provide +4. Hence, even characters with dex bonuses can benefit from armour, if that armour is good enough.

 

[Anonymous]

excellent point. Plus, even superior armor is not that xpensive. thnks everyone!

 

[August]

Please keep in mind that while it may not be that expensive, superior armour is not that common either. Games Masters are encouraged to make acquiring anything of superior quality difficult or time consuming, as the skilled craftsmen in Magnamund that can make things of this superlative nature are also rather rare.

Superior armour (and weapons, of course) makes for great treasure, especially if it is kept rare. There's a reason a certain sea captain kept his in a very, very trapped chest.

-A

 

[nunix]

Well, a main point to keep in mind re: expensive is.. how much gold did Lone Wolf ever -really- have? And consider how often he could lose it easily through various falls, thieves, et cetera.

Magnamund has never seemed a money-rich world to me, not a lot of loose cash floating around. All of its "wealth" is tied up in items, buildings, and so on. GMs wanting to restrict the buying power of their players need only make sure that not every giak or drakkarim has 20 or 30 Lunes stashed away on their bodies. Unless you've got a magic user in the party, a lot of that will probably go to healing items anyway.

 

[Holmes]

Well, a main point to keep in mind re: expensive is.. how much gold did Lone Wolf ever -really- have? And consider how often he could lose it easily through various falls, thieves, et cetera.

Magnamund has never seemed a money-rich world to me, not a lot of loose cash floating around. All of its "wealth" is tied up in items, buildings, and so on. GMs wanting to restrict the buying power of their players need only make sure that not every giak or drakkarim has 20 or 30 Lunes stashed away on their bodies. Unless you've got a magic user in the party, a lot of that will probably go to healing items anyway.

Ya know, you bring up an interesting point. In the gamebooks, 50 GC's is the max Lone Wolf ever carries. A broadsword can usually be had for 8 to 12, a potion of laumspur for about 5, a meal for 1, etc.

The OGL game doesn't really fit neatly into these pricing structures. I was always kinda curious why this is the case?

Not a big thing, just a source of curiousity. I'm sure my players are wondering it as well.

 

[SableWyvern]

I noticed that disparity as well, Holmes, although I've got a nice solution for my campaign that allows game book wealth to integrate quite well with the RPG.

Since I'm running my campaign based on the game books, I have decided to keep the amount of actual cash that the PCs have to a minimum. It will still be more than Lone Wolf carried, but _much_ less than you would expect in a standard D&D game. This shortfall will be made up for in much the same way it was in the game books: Before most adventures, the PCs will have the opportunity to be outfitted by the NPCs they're working for (in most cases, the Sommlending government).

The group started at level 4 with only 1st level wealth. Before heading off to begin book 2 (now at level 6), they were able to select up to three items chosen from a range of mastercrafted gear, laumspur potions and the like.

Maintains the game book atmosphere, and also makes it easy to keep the equipment power level pretty much where I want it to be.

 

[August]

Look, kids. There HAVE to be some disparities when you expand game books into a full role-playing game. In this case, I took only look at the pricing scheme in the game books and realized that unless I wanted a ton of items all roughly the exact same price (which would be dull), I needed to expand the pricing out a ways.

There's an easy solution if you want the game to be exactly like the books- change the prices. I recommend dividing costs by 5 or 10 to get a value closer to the game books. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.


-A