“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..”
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