Armour Prices, Rules and Descriptions

Armour | Melee Weapons | Missile Weapons | Food & Lodging | Transport | Misc Stuff

Below is a table of armour prices. It also serves as a reference for different types of armour and allows you to work out armour encumbrance. There are two ways to use the armour in Fantasy Hero games. The simple way is use a simple activation roll. In this case, the cost listed translates into the cost for 8- / 11- / 14 — or complete (18-) protection. The weights of armour are calculated on the same principle. It is possible to mix armour types — for instance a Chain mail vest (8-) with plate vambraces (one more area for a total of 11-). A warrior with this combination would make his armour save on 11-, but a roll of 8 or less would mean he only counts Chain mail as his protection.

A more complicated (but more satisfying, to my mind) route is to use hit locations. In this case, what armour is being worn where, is defined by the player. The system outlined below can serve both uses. Note that what follows is a pretty gross approximation, but has the advantage that it is quick and easy to use (unless you're an armour geek, do you really care how much a pauldron weighs and costs?).

If you do care about such stuff, it is pretty easy to define what areas are left uncovered, since you already know what the armour in question looks like — you'll have to do the individual armour weights and prices yourself, though.

If you use activation rolls:

• An 8- roll translates to protection for (and armour price/weight is calculated off) covering for the central body region (Hit locations 10-12).
• An 11- roll translates to protection for (and armour price/weight is calculated off) covering for the full body, shoulders and head regions (Hit locations 3-5, 9-13).
• An 14- roll translates to protection for (and armour price/weight is calculated off) covering for the body, head, shoulders and upper arms, vitals and thighs region (Hit locations 3-5, 8-14).
• Complete protection of course includes every area, including hands and feet.

Most armour also requires some sort of padded coat to be worn underneath and this is included in the DEF value, but NOT in the cost. As a final note, the prices are heavily "fantasy genre" influenced, but were based originally on a manifesto of costs prepared for the Dukes of Szforza in Milano, in the late 17th century — which seemed appropriate to the Gothick Empires game setting. As for the other equipment lists, all costs are given in "generic" silver pieces.

A description of armours is given after the price list. The price list is simply an attempt to give a relative cost for these armours, since actual price will vary wildly depending on location, quality and circumstances.

Item	Cost (s.p)*	Protection	Weight (Kg)
Padded undergarment	10 / 15 / 20 / 25	1 PD/ED	0.9 / 2.2 / 3.1 / 3.5
Shield : Small	30	+1 DCV	2 (STR min 5)
— Medium	40	+2 DCV	4 (STR min 7)
— Large	50	+3 DCV	6 (STR min 10)
Leather armour	10 / 15 / 20 / 25	2 PD/ED	1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4 / 5
Quilted or padded armour	18 / 25 /30 / 45	2 PD/ED	1.3 / 3.1 / 4.4 / 5
Studded or reinforced leather	30 / 45 / 55 / 70	3 PD/ED	1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1 / 7
Plant fibre armour	Not applicable	3 PD/0 ED	1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1 / 7
Cuir bouilli	30 / 45 / 55 / 70	4 PD/ED	1.8 / 4.4 / 6.1 / 7
Splint armour	150 / 225 / 300 / 350	5 PD/ED	3.5 / 8.8 / 12.3 /14
Chain mail	300 / 450 / 600 / 800	6 PD/ED	5 / 12.5 / 17.5 / 20
Lamellar armour or Brigandine	600 / 900 / 1200 / 1500	6 PD/ED	5 / 12.5 / 17.5 / 20
Composite Plate and Chain	800 / 1200 / 1600 / 2000	7 PD/ED	10 / 25 / 35 / 40
Plate Harness	/ / /3000 +	8 PD/ED	28
Gauntlets: leather	8 each	1 PD/ED	0.25
— chain or similar	50 each	6 PD/ED	1.5
— plate	180 each	8 PD/ED	3
Helmet: light	15	5 PD/ED	2
— medium	35	6 PD/ED	3
— great	55	8 PD/ED	5

So, to provide an example:

Before setting out to visit his friends, Ralf the Mostly Harmless decides to equip himself with a short chain byrnie and a light helmet, which costs him 315 silver shillings. He also needs a gambeson (quilted undergarment) to go under that, which costs him another 10 shillings. Using the quickie system, he now has an armour roll of 11-, for 5 DEF, and if he rolls 8-, he gets 6 DEF. Alternatively, he has 6 DEF in locations 10-12 and 5 DEF in locations 3-5. The armour weighs a bit less than 8 kilos.

Encumbrance and PER rolls

We will use the rules as listed in the HSR when it comes to DCV penalties for weight. Thus light armour (such as Ralf's outfit in the example above) will normally cause a penalty of -1 on DCV and DEX rolls (or on any roll that involves normal movement, such as spellcasting with Gestures), while a heavy suit of composite plate would cause a penalty of -3. The same penalty also applies to PER rolls made by the armour wearer unless he takes the time to remove his helmet. and associated headgear. Importantly, it also applies to all rolls which require movement — not just those based on DEX, such as, for example, a sorceror's magic roll for a spell which includes gestures.

I do allow players to buy 5 point combat skill levels in DCV "Only to offset DCV penalties for fighting in armour" which is a -1 disadvantage.

Time to get in and out of armour

One of the consequences of the Real Armour limitation is that it takes time to get in or out of. The time actually varied greatly depending on the construction of the armour and the experience of the person putting it on, but as a general rule of thumb, you can use the following guide:

Getting out of armour takes about the same time as getting in, except that if the character can use a blade, the time can be reduced one step on the time chart, since straps and bindings can be sliced away. Of course the armour won't be of much use afterwards!

Using shields in combat,

Although there is more to the use of a shield than just holding it in front of you like piece of wood, I have assumed that learning to use a weapon also includes basic instruction on how to use a shield defensively. This allows you to use the shield to gain a DCV bonus (only against attacks on your front or shield side). If you want to use the shield offensively, then you have to buy WF: shield (although shields are included in WF: Common Melee weapons for most cultures). A shield used offensively can use its DCV bonus as an OCV bonus in a block. It may also be used to thump opponents, acting as a 2d6 HA, or a 1/2 d6 HKA if equipped with a thrusting spike. Shields are not ideal weapons however, and take an OCV penalty equivalent to their DCV bonus.

Smashing armour and shields

Combatants may decide to target their opponent's armour and/or shield instead of directly attacking. In this case, the attack is assumed to be directed at a focus, and thus takes a penalty of -2, but if attacking a shield, it gets no DCV bonus and instead gives the attacker an OCV bonus equivalent to its normal DCV bonus. This is because you are normally holding your shield between you and an incoming weapon (even though you normally try to deflect an attack with a shiekd rather than block passively). Shields are often thus destroyed in combat. Most shields are made of wood (DEF 4) and are designed to take a beating, so they have a higher BOD score than their mass would suggest (twice their DCV bonus). Shields often had metal reinforcing to prevent their wood being split (giving them DEF 6) and small and medium shields were sometimes made entirely of metal (the weight precluded larger shields entirely of metal) or faced with metal, and are thus DEF 7. The DEF of Armour is given above. Generally, each hit location will have 2-3 BOD, depending on its mass.

The DEF and Body of magic armour and shields is not calculated like this, but instead is derived from active points as outlined in the HSR.

Armour Descriptions (with hit locations)

The names given to various bits of armour varied with time and place — below is a rough guide to help you make sense of things. be aware that spelling was more or less considered up to personal taste through most of this era, and that the same piece of armour could be referred to by different names — or the same name used for different items — depending on who was writing. If you really want to know more detail, consult a decent book on armour (with illustrations!)