“No its ruined…” The dwarf’s deep voice echoed in the cave heightening the sense of frustration in it as he tossed the tattered stained silks back to the stone floor, “Be lucky if it sells at half the price if the merchant even wants it back now..”.  Duncan nodded listening as he retrieved his arrows from the bodies of the goblins holding each shaft high checking for damage “I believe payment was only for the return of his goods and there’s no bounty on these bandits… still one less future problem.”

“Sandell perhaps if I were to use some of my minor cantrips upon them, clean them up at bit or at least get rid of that smell.. Ugh you think the Goblins wouldn’t do that in their bedding.” their newest member the young enchantress Isabel moved over to the dwarf  her fingers toying with the pouch on her belt. “Lass if you can get THAT smell out, I’ll give you half my portion from this job.” the dwarf quipped back hefting his waraxe back into its holder.  

In the last article we discussed skill choices and DC's for the adventurers skinning their latest monster and some example prices for hides, this article we aim to give a few rules on just how much hide you get from a monster for crafting and what kind of advantages it brings.

While rules exist in the Dungeon Master's Guide and Pathfinder's Core Rulebook regarding Dragonhide and the amount hide needed to craft armour, there has been a lot of complaints from players regarding downgrade in abilities from 2nd Edition D&D and the sheer amount of hide required to make anything.
This will be focused upon in detail in a later article but these issues highlight why it is not suitable for a general ruling to be used on other materials,  however the rules regarding Chitin armour listed in Races of the Dragon (Quoted below) have made a much better ground work to create the rule set suggested here.

Races of the Dragon pg121
A single giant beetle provides enough material to create a single breastplate or tower shield sized for a character of the same size category as the beetle (or two such items for a character two or more sizes smaller than the beetle). For example, a Large giant stag beetle has enough chitin to make either a breastplate or a tower shield sized for a Large
character, or two such items for Medium or smaller characters. A suit of half-plate or full plate armor takes twice as much chitin, while a light shield or heavy shield takes half as much. (A chitin buckler can be made from the cast-off bits of any giant beetle.) The chitin from multiple giant beetles can be combined; a Small beetle counts as half of a Medium beetle, a Medium beetle as half of a Large beetle, and so forth

So taking this as our example:

A single creature provides enough material to create a single suit of light or medium armour (Hide, Scale or Breastplate depending on the creature) or a tower shield for a character of the same size category.
Two items can be created for a character one or more size categories smaller than the creature or four items for a characters four or more size categories smaller.
A suit of heavy armour takes twice as much material, while a buckler, a light or heavy shield takes half as much.
Small trinkets can be made from a number of cast offs, for items like cloaks treat them as a single suit of light armour while smaller items such as boots and gloves use the same amount of material as a light shield.

Of course this is subjected to common sense for example skinning a Wolf would provide enough material for Leather, Studded Leather or Hide armour or a leather buckler or hide light shield, you wouldn't be able to create a tower shield despite the rules as a wolf doesn't provide suitable materials.  It should also be remembered that most materials will also have to processed by a hide worker or tanner before they can be used in crafting.

Next looking at some possible effects of using unusual hide to make armour, rather than listing the effect of every creature individually here is some common questions by players.


Does it increase the armour/shield bonus?

The following method works well by preventing low CR monster from unbalancing the game at low level but rewarding at high level, it repeatedly mentioned on many roleplaying forums and the version below has been expanded to include shields:

Start with the natural armour bonus of the creature and divide it by three, rounding down.
This number is the basic non-magical armor bonus for a suit of heavy armour.
For a suit of medium armour you subtract 3 from this number.
For a suit of light armour you subtract 5 from this number.

For shields again start with the natural armour bonus of the creature and divide it by three, rounding down.
Halving this number this is the basic non-magical shield bonus of a tower shield.
For a heavy shield you subtract a additional 1 from this number.
For a light shield you subtract a additional 3 from this number.

If the value is less than the regular armour/shield bonus of the crafted armour then the material just has a visual effect and uses the normal armour bonus of the armour type.

So for an example: A Bulette (CR7) has a natural armour bonus of +12, dividing this by three equals a armour bonus of 4 for heavy armour or 2 for a tower shield (4 halved). Since both of these are below the normal ratings these are increased to 7 (splint mail) and 4 (Tower shield) respectively and have little effect on the armours abilities other than visual.  
A stronger creature like an Black Scorpion (CR15) has a natural armour bonus of +28, breaking down to 9 for heavy armour and 5 (rounded up from 4.5) for a Tower Shield. In addition the Black Scorpion armour would class as Chitin armour and gain any further benefits due to this.

Does it increase the maximum dexterity bonus?

In most cases it is easier to assume that the maximum dexterity bonus remains the same as the original armour unless the creature possesses an exceptionally light and strong shell or scales. Existing examples of this are Chitin armour which has been mentioned.

Races of the dragon pg121
Chitin Armor: The maximum Dexterity bonus of an armor or shield made chitin is 1 greater than that of the same type of armor made from metal. Breastplates, half-plate armor, full plate armor and shields can be made from chitin.

What effect does it have on the armour check penalty and spell failure?

The armour check penalty and spell failure is more of a result of the armours design rather than its material again this will often be unchanged, however armour made from particular heavy or bulky creatures may increase. Though I recommend by no more than +2 armour check penalty and +5% arcane spell failure on top of the armours normal penalties.

Handling addition effects.

Regarding a creatures natural damage reduction and resistances I have personally found the following system has worked well in many campaigns adding minor benefits while not unbalancing play.

Creatures resistance/damage reduction   Amount gained by wearer.
5                                                            1
10                                                          5
11+                                                        10

For example if a creature had 5 damage reduction bypassed by magic weapons, armour made from its skin would gain 1 damage reduction/magic.
The armour itself retains full damage reduction (added on as hardness) resistances and immunities, the reasoning behind why a character does not receive the full benefit is simple. It is not just a creature's skin that makes it resist to its elements and even the best made armour requires joints and openings for the wearer for moment and simply to put it on.
No plate or leather armour has ever been waterproof so while a splash of acid may harmlessly dribble down a black dragon hide breastplate, a knight being struck by a considerable amount would still suffer damage as acid seeps in through the cracks and joints of his armour.

One special mention is spell resistance (SR) rather than granting the wearer SR it simply affects the armour, alternatively it may be treated as the armour as having the spell resistance armour enchantment appropriate to the creatures SR without the Strong abjuration visible by detect magic.

D&D SRD
Spell Resistance: This property grants the armor’s wearer spell resistance while the armor is worn. The spell resistance can be 13, 15, 17, or 19, depending on the armor.
Strong abjuration; CL 15th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, spell resistance; Price +2 bonus (SR 13), +3 bonus (SR 15), +4 bonus (SR 17), or +5 bonus (SR 19).

The reasoning behind this is that it limits the enchantments that can be placed upon the armour as well as increasing the cost, in addition any attempts to enchant the armour would have to overcome the spell resistance.
In the rare cases of spell immunity the armour could not be enchanted at all and bring all the benefits and drawbacks of been immune to magic to the wearer.
It should be noted unlike most creatures with spell resistance the wearer of spell resistant or spell immune armour would not be able lower their resistance willingly and in an emergency may have to be stripped of their armour for healing spells to work on them.

Other things to consider?

A creatures extraordinary abilities have to be handled on case by case basis but a general ruling can be be taken as armour or equipment crafted of the creature reduces the cost of applying suitable related enchantments by 25%. For example:

The iconic Dungeons and Dragons displacer beast is famed for its displacement ability which makes it appear to 5 foot away from where it really is.
Creating a displacer beast hide cloak does not give the wearer the natural displacement ability of the displacer beast but it could be used to create a cloak of displacement (minor or major) at a reduced 25% cost ( 12,000 gp down to 9000gp and 25,000 gp to 18480gp respectively)

A possible suggestion to scale this would be to require higher CR monsters for more powerful magic items, continuing with the example above creating a cloak of displacement (major) with a reduced 25% cost would require the hide of the more powerful and rare displacer beast pack lord.

Here is the big question and arguably the most difficult: Cost.
Simply put I can't answer this, it really depends on how rare your creatures are and the demand. Sure wearing troll skin leather is effective but does it look and smell bad?
I will suggest that the cost for masterwork items is doubled, and that the armour for unusual creatures table from the SRD is used to determined the extra cost by using the nonhumaniod section of the table.

Armor For Unusual Creatures D&D SRD
Armor and Shields. Refer to the appropriate line on the table below and apply the multipliers to cost and weight for the armor type in question.
Size                        Nonhumanoid
Cost                       Cost     Weight
Tiny or smaller         ×1        ×1/10
Small                       ×2        ×½
Medium                   ×2        ×1
Large                       ×4        ×2
Huge                        ×8        ×5
Gargantuan               ×16      ×8
Colossal                   ×32      ×12

The craft DCs should not be changed from 10 + AC bonus as the increased AC does this automatically and the additional costs represent the extra time and equipment needed.

Finally these rules are not set in stone and are simply suggestions, don't be afraid to say no if you suspect something will unbalance your game or doesn't fit in. Perhaps not all creatures are suitable for crafting, perhaps it requires unique equipment only a certain faction has access to, its your world, your rules.
Now that the hide has been covered the next article looks at the spell reagent’s and material components.

Quick Link: Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

“So about that gold Sandell.” The young wizard grinned teasingly at the dwarf toying with the cleaned silks between her fingers the faint scent of Jasmine drifting in the air, looking still somewhat sceptical Sandell shrugged “Well that’s one roll just another nineteen to go… and the fabrics still stretched and torn.. Think you can handle that?”
Leaving the pair to discuss Duncan knelt amongst the bodies of the worgs running his fingers over the blood stained fur of one of the creatures that was still passing trying to calm its last moments, his eyes drifting to the world outside the forest leaves showing hints of red now as thoughts of the future drifted through his mind. “Winters coming..”

This is just a reminder for all you Cogboys and gals out there the fifth annual Asylum festival in Lincoln is coming up soon.

For you unfamiliar with the event The Asylum is the UK's (and possibly the worlds) largest Steampunk of the year, it is run by the VVS (Victorian Steampunk Society) who are a voluntary not-for-profit organisation and contains many events such as art exhibitions, talk panels ranging from the educational to the outright hilarious (I highly recommend Jack Unions monster hunting), competitions, parades and many stalls.

People are welcome to attend in costume or without as everyone is welcome, I've been every year and I've never had a problem walking around Lincoln's town centre while in costume apart from the occasional curious question.

If your still curious a video of some of last years events available on youtube here and this years Asylum festival website is here.

I hope to see you there.