In a fantasy setting what sorts of armours do you allow?

Warboss Squee · June 08, 2018, 08:17:18 PM

Quote from: Zalman;1042761The movie Excalibur too, those guys look hard-pressed to swing and ax!

Insurance meant they had a shit ton of padding to not get hurt.

Christopher Brady · June 08, 2018, 10:43:35 PM

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1042830Oh.

Couldn't speak to that, but the one about hundred pound armor and cranes for knights is simply one that on a personal level chaps my ass.

Another false statement is the belief that Western European swords were not as sharp as Japanese blades, and were quite blunt in comparison. Which is an utter and complete lie, but is designed to discredit and make fun of Western Europe's history of warfare and ability in such.

Gronan of Simmerya · June 08, 2018, 10:45:10 PM

Ah, yes, the "katanas give me a boner" school of history.

TJS · June 09, 2018, 04:53:00 AM

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1043021Another false statement is the belief that Western European swords were not as sharp as Japanese blades, and were quite blunt in comparison. Which is an utter and complete lie, but is designed to discredit and make fun of Western Europe's history of warfare and ability in such.

No it was just fanboys of Japanese media in the 80s who didn't know shit fetishising the things they likeed.

I'm not sure it's even a thing now. Longsword fighting it the new hotness.

FFS does everything need to be pulled back into the same bullshit ideological conflict?

Ewan · June 09, 2018, 12:29:39 PM

My impression was that the katana cult thing is rather like the Sir Walter Scott 'scimitar so sharp it cuts silk, which has been repeated in books and film.

In scene in question (from The Talisman), King Richard's sword can cut through a bar of iron and not suffer the least damage. He's strong. His sword is very strong too.

Saladin can slice through a silken pillow with a very light, delicate draw cut.

It seems to be about Westerners' imaginary view of the mysterious and subtle ways of the Orient. Razor swords and exotic fighting arts

Gronan of Simmerya · June 09, 2018, 01:50:40 PM

Quote from: Ewan;1043072My impression was that the katana cult thing is rather like the Sir Walter Scott 'scimitar so sharp it cuts silk, which has been repeated in books and film.

In scene in question (from The Talisman), King Richard's sword can cut through a bar of iron and not suffer the least damage. He's strong. His sword is very strong too.

Saladin can slice through a silken pillow with a very light, delicate draw cut.

It seems to be about Westerners' imaginary view of the mysterious and subtle ways of the Orient. Razor swords and exotic fighting arts

That's what Scott was doing, yes. And you can do that in a game too. The problem is when a katana cuts open a tank as easily as Saladin cut open a silk pillow.

In the movie version Robert Preston slices a silk scarf floating in mid air. Marvelous as a piece of film.

Ewan · June 09, 2018, 02:32:37 PM

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1043075That's what Scott was doing, yes. And you can do that in a game too. The problem is when a katana cuts open a tank as easily as Saladin cut open a silk pillow.

In the movie version Robert Preston slices a silk scarf floating in mid air. Marvelous as a piece of film.

Right!

But don't you know that the Japanese defeated us in WW2 by slicing machine-guns and armored vehicles to ribbons with their super-swords? And of course their ninja skills enabled them to get that close without being spotted and shot down first.

That's why I grew up under occupation on the West Coast.

Wait...

Ewan · June 09, 2018, 02:36:21 PM

Obligatory note for the easily-offended:

I'm not making fun of the Japanese, just poking fun at the more extreme sort of weeaboos.

Xuc Xac · June 09, 2018, 06:28:20 PM

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1043021Another false statement is the belief that Western European swords were not as sharp as Japanese blades, and were quite blunt in comparison.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1043023Ah, yes, the "katanas give me a boner" school of history.

Quote from: TJS;1043056No it was just fanboys of Japanese media in the 80s who didn't know shit fetishising the things they likeed.

I'm pretty sure it started with Victorian historians who were massive fanboys of the English archers beating French knights. They had longbow-ners.

Willie the Duck · June 09, 2018, 07:15:52 PM

I think there's a lot of thing at play. The Victorians did a good job of badmouthing their own pre-gunpowder era, implying that sword fighting was just a couple of brutes bashing each other with sharpened iron bars. The Japanese, OTOH, kinda reinterpreted the past as a more civilized time in some ways. They also produced some amazing propaganda films leading up to and during WWII about how their samurai could cut through rifle barrels, etc. Then after the war they've done a great job of exporting their national brand through media, and the image of katanas as super-weapons has stuck.

Krimson · June 09, 2018, 08:28:09 PM

Quote from: Dude with unquoteable name;1043087They had longbow-ners.

This made my day.

Elfdart · June 11, 2018, 10:58:01 PM

Quote from: John Scott;1042371It depends on many things. I usually allow everything available, the limiting factor is the setting & tech level the rarity of armour and the PC's resources and/or social status.

That's usually how I call it, too. My own campaign is very similar to the Dark Ages or late Migration Era, so the armors are as follows:

AC4 Splint -includes Banded (as described in AD&D) or other armors where chainmail has extra metal pieces added for protection, like heavy lamellar
AC5 Chainmail -pretty self-explanatory, though this refers to a whole suit or long coat (a chainmail shirt is AC6)
AC6 Scale -like splint, only without the chainmail
AC7 Studded -like scale, only the metal bits are fewer and farther between and attached to a backing of leather, thick cloth (this also includes what I call Scrap Armor -bits of this and pieces of that cobbled together, like the orcs in LOTR wear)
AC8 Leather/Padded/Paper -I don't worry much over whether the fabrics are soft or hard (or both). I figure it's six of one and a half dozen of the other.

These are just base numbers, which can go up or down depending on craftsmanship, materials, wear-and-tear, etc.

I don't get too hung up on what a particular armor is called, since most of the names were made up centuries after the armors were made. For example, "mail" was a generic term for any kind of metal armor 400 years ago, so the term "chainmail" was coined later to cut down on confusion. "Linothorax" and "transitional armor" are also relatively new terms for old armors.

Spinachcat · June 12, 2018, 05:10:38 AM

I love Mazes & Minotaurs' approach. You get +2 from your Shield, your Breastplate and your Helm.

For me, that's armor nirvana.

RPGPundit · June 14, 2018, 03:38:36 AM

I didn't want to go all obsessive with armor values in Lion & Dragon; but I did make some broad changes to make armor more clearly reflect Medieval-Authentic types in use.

Also, Fighters and Clerics get different ACs from the same armor than any of the other classes. Because there's a difference between wearing armor and being TRAINED to wear armor.