Original D&D Discussion - Sword and Sorcery type treasures

« Sword and Sorcery type treasures »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 24, 2013, 12:27pm

Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: Monsters & Treasure (1974) :: Sword and Sorcery type treasures

Author

Topic: Sword and Sorcery type treasures (Read 600 times)

thorswulf
Level 7 Enchanter

member is offline

Joined: Aug 2007
Gender: Male

Posts: 599
Karma: 17

Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Thread Started on Nov 23, 2008, 1:03am »

I like sword and sorcery stories and art. But if any warrior wore what they wear in those paintings, they're likely to die of exposure or get a sudden, incurable case of metal poisoning! So how do you survive wearing only ribbons, loincloths, harnesses, or body stockings? Magic, of course!

Most of this stuff wouldn't protect you from a sudden downpour, but it looks good as eye candy, and shows off a heroic physique. So here is my basic idea. These various, and very heroic looking pieces of armor have an initial AC of 7 due to magical enchantment. Call it the Harness of Argoth the Mighty, or the Hide of the Aurochs (Body stocking) or the Scintillating Bands of the Demoness Vassa (ribbons). The upshot is these brief bits of armor distract the enemies thus giving the warer a slightly better AC. Of course more famous artifacts of heroes might have even lower ACs. For what it is worth you could even treat rolled up armor this way, and just give it a fancy name. Of course those Wolf Clan warriors may wonder what you are doing wearing their legendary heroes war harness....

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Finarvyn
Administrator

Dungeon Master
member is offline

Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Male

Posts: 4,674
Location: Near Chicago
Karma: 178

Re: Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Reply #1 on Nov 23, 2008, 8:16am »

I've never put much thought into it. Certainly the artists didn't, either.

When my sister plays, she likes to buy a "chainmail bikini" for her character and I simply give it the same AC as any other Chainmail armor even though the bikini technically would cover lesss area. I let the "realism" factor slide so that the player can follow the character concept more.

Now, that doesn't mean that you can't give neat names to unusual armor types. I had one wacky game where I drew up a stack of "treasure cards" and each player got to pick one for his character without knowing what they did. One was the "Armor of Butkis" and looked like a Chicago Bears jersey and pads. One was a "Club of Ruth" which looked like a baseball bat. I had a good time drawing the pictures and it added a bizarre twist to the feel of the game, but we all had fun with it.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Marv / Finarvyn
DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003)
I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox
Builder of the TrollBridge
Master of Mutants; MA since 1976
OD&D Player since 1975

"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
- Dave Arneson

thorswulf
Level 7 Enchanter

member is offline

Joined: Aug 2007
Gender: Male

Posts: 599
Karma: 17

Re: Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Reply #2 on Nov 24, 2008, 12:25am »

I think it is The Mines of Custacalon that has barmaids dressed as amazons in chainmail bikinis. They get a whopping AC of 7! Personally I liked the idea Ken StAndre had for magical set of armor that was a bound demon in the form of a chainmail bikini. Must of chafed like hell... pun intended!

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

apeloverage
Level 6 Magician

member is offline

Joined: Apr 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 477
Karma: 20

Re: Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Reply #3 on Nov 24, 2008, 3:48am »

What happens is the villains think "Wow, that poor girl must be really cold. Oh man - I just saw a semi-naked girl and my first thought was that they must be cold. I'm really getting old. I hope she didn't see me staring. It's probably just what they wear at home. Hang on - surely northern barbarians would wear lots of clothes, not less." and by the time they think that they've been stabbed.

« Last Edit: Nov 24, 2008, 3:51am by apeloverage »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Teleleli; the people, places, gods and monsters of the great city of Teleleli and the islands around.

thegreyelf
Level 9 Sorcerer

member is offline

[avatar]

Elf Lair Games: The New Class of Old School!

Joined: Jul 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,307
Karma: 43

Re: Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Reply #4 on Dec 2, 2008, 9:05am »

In People of the Black Circle, Conan is actually gifted with a girdle (belt) which renders him immune to magic, and increases his resistance to physical attacks. Its effect is temporary and limited, but it's definitely a precedent.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Jason Vey, The Grey Elf
President, Elf Lair Games
http://www.elflair.com/
D&D Resources: http://www.grey-elf.com

Lord Cias
Level 1 Medium

member is offline

Joined: Dec 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 10
Karma: 2

Re: Sword and Sorcery type treasures
« Reply #5 on Dec 16, 2008, 2:51pm »

Bracers of Defense

Girdles of Defense

Chainmail Bikinis of Defense

He-Man's Power Armor

Personally, I allow female characters an AC bonus when wearing next to nothing . . . provided the player is female and dress the same way at the table!!!

Link to Post - Back to Top IP: