User:Aarnott/Lego Bin 15/Gear and Equipment

= Gear and Equipment =

Mysta's technology is somewhere around the "bronze age" as far as city technologies are concerned, but naval technology is far more advanced. This is to say, most nations will invest a significant amount of resources to have an armada of larger ships to accompany smaller war ships.

Weapons
Being a bronze age game, Mysta does not have the capability for certain weapons.


 * The metal used for weapons is bronze (not steel).
 * All weapons which have a weight that is mostly metal have their weight increased by a factor of x1.5.
 * Any two-handed weapon that is mostly metal (greatsword, greataxe) cannot be used.
 * "Composite" is considered a magical enhancement for bows (+1 modifier that adjusts to accommodate any Strength score).
 * The following weapons are considered "rare" and cost twice their normal value (or twice their masterwork value for masterwork versions): Longbows, any martial polearm.
 * The following weapons are unavailable: crossbows, lances and rapiers.
 * Lances just haven't been invented. People use shortspears or spears when mounted.
 * If the DM decides to play the "Beginnings of the Iron Age" adventure path, crossbows do exist, but they are a martial weapon.
 * Rapiers might work if you are playing the "Beginnings of the Iron Age".

Armor
I have borrowed ideas for the following table from http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/616-quasi-ot-bronze-iron-age-info.html.

Helms

Helms only add their AC bonus against critical hit confirmation rolls. Helms apply their armor check penalty to listen checks (but not other skill checks).

Helms can be enchanted at 1/10 the cost of normal armor, but their enchantment is considered an armor enhancement bonus that only applies to critical confirmation rolls and overlaps with any armor enhancements. Any special abilities only apply against critical confirmation rolls and extra damage from a critical hit (such as the extra fire damage added by a flaming burst).

For example, if Perseus is wearing a +1 Bronze Breastplate and a +2 Bronze Full Helm of Fire Resistance and he is attacked by a fire elemental that deals 1d8+10 fire damage on a successful slam, he normally gets +8 AC from the breastplate. If the fire elemental hits with a potential critical, he gets an extra +3 AC from his Bronze Full Helm (+2 helm, +2 armor enhancement that overlaps his +1 breastplate) against the critical confirmation roll. If the critical is confirmed, he takes 1d8 + 10 damage from the normal part of the attack and his helm reduces 10 fire damage from the critical part of the attack making the total damage (1d8 + 10) + (1d8 + 10 - 10) = 2d8 + 10 fire damage.

Design Notes

Medium armor grants you +9 AC (+7/+2 or +6/+3) or +8 AC at a lower weight (+5/+3). Light armor grants you +7, +8, or +9 AC depending on your dex bonus. This fits in nicely with the Grimoire rules. Because the weapons are bronze, I figured, "why mess with the expected AC value?" (even though the armor coverage is different), so I instead decided to make armor a little more mobile than regular D&D but assumed that its AC is well balanced against bronze weapons. That is to say, a bronze breast plate has an armor bonus of +7 because this world uses "inferior to steel" bronze weapons. There is no such thing as heavy armor in this setting. Heavy armor would be exotic.