Sword and Sorcery type treasures

[thorswulf]

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....

[Finarvyn]

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.

[thorswulf]

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!

[apeloverage]

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.

[thegreyelf]

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.

[Lord Cias]

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!!!

[dwayanu]

Yeah, it would be more of a horror scenario if your typical gamer dude showed up trying to live up to the name "Thongor."

[jjarvis]

Nov 23, 2008 0:03:05 GMT -6 thorswulf said:

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!.

They don't need magic, all they need are fur wrapped boots and a fur cloak.