Making armor modular

[Charlaquin]

I’ve been playing around with the idea of making armor modular. Not sectional, mind - I’m not interested in the additional level of complexity introduced by having to worry about hit locations and coverage. I just like the idea of layering heavier armors on top of lighter armors to increase AC, instead of all armor being sold in complete sets.

To give an example of what I’m thinking, imagine if a padded gambeson was the baseline Light Armor. Just like now, wearing basic padded armor sets your AC to 11 + Dex and gives you disadvantage on Stealth checks. For a few extra GP, you could swap it out for a leather Buff Coat, which has the same AC calculation but without the Stealth disadvantage, just like current leather armor. Beyond that, you can start layering on mail, chest pieces, and limb protection to increase your AC. Instead of studded leather armor, you put on a Brigandine to give you +1 AC, or If you have proficiency in Medium armor, a Breastplate for +3 instead (at the cost of capping your Dex bonus to AC at +2, of course). And if you’re not worried about needing to be sneaky why not throw on a mail hauberk under your chest piece for an additional +1? And heck, if you’re getting stealth disadvantage anyway, might as well save yourself the 5 gold and stuck with the padded jack over the buff coat. If you’ve got heavy armor proficiency, you could upgrade even further with some mail gloves and chausses - they’ll get you a further +1, though with all that metal weighing you down you’re gonna lose that Dex bonus entirely, and they might slow you down if your Strength is under 13. That’s ok though, you won’t even miss it once you’ve saved up for some splint gauntlets and greaves. Sell those chausses for scrap metal, cause these babies are a straight upgrade at +2 AC. Provided you’be got at least 15 Strength, anyway. And if you’ve got that kind of strength, go big or go home. Those plate gauntlets and greaves may be pricy, but who could say no to +3 AC with no more drawbacks than your splint ones?

This modular model makes it possible to effectively reproduce all of the standard armors, plus a few other possibilities, but I’m not sure how to price each of the options, and I’m not sure if really does enough to be worth the added complexity or not. What do you folks think?

 

[Ganders]

I'm going to be a bit discouraging here. Not because I don't like your idea, but because it's difficult to get right.

The armor section of the PHB is not just short and simple, it's also deliberately vague. For instance, some versions of half plate include helmet and gauntlets, others don't. Some half plates include simple greaves, others don't. Each player imagines their character how they like it. By detailing each part, you may actually end up restricting options rather than increasing them. But.... perhaps you could adapt the piecemeal armor rules from Pathfinder or D&D 3.5.

Also, the idea of a metal breastplate is that it's virtually impenetrable. Adding a layer of mail under your breastplate doesn't actually help much, mail is for arms, legs, etc. where the breastplate doesn't cover. In the real world, people wearing plate armor tended to only use shields to block attacks aimed at vulnerable parts like arms and legs; if someone wanted to poke at your chest you wouldn't much care. When full suits of plate armor were developed, they stopped using shields altogether.

You're quite right about metal armors realistically being layered over cloth and padded armor. Also it was absolutely normal to wear helmet and other accessories for only a few minutes each day, not all day. But to model that you've got to get a little technical, at minimum you distinguish between piercing and slashing and bashing damage. Unfortunately, the D&D armor model is really pretty limited. Many other games do it better, it'd make sense to adopt one of those altogether, if you want a better system.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I do this now, but since no one has asked to turn chainmail into a chain shirt, or full plate into half or a breastplate, or just wear the gambeson from underneath it just hasn't come up.

But in my mind that's how it works, and that's what really matters.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm going to be a bit discouraging here. Not because I don't like your idea, but because it's difficult to get right.

Indeed it is! That’s why I’m asking for input.

The armor section of the PHB is not just short and simple, it's also deliberately vague. For instance, some versions of half plate include helmet and gauntlets, others don't. Some half plates include simple greaves, others don't. Each player imagines their character how they like it. By detailing each part, you may actually end up restricting options rather than increasing them.[/quote]
I’m ok with that. I’m more interested in options with mechanical weight to them than options that are purely descriptive. The way I see it, a system like this is no less able to accommodate folks who want to describe their set of “full plate” as lamellar instead of gothic plate armor or whatever.

But.... perhaps you could adapt the piecemeal armor rules from Pathfinder or D&D 3.5.

I’ll definitely give those a look, thank you!

Also, the idea of a metal breastplate is that it's virtually impenetrable. Adding a layer of mail under your breastplate doesn't actually help much, mail is for arms, legs, etc. where the breastplate doesn't cover. In the real world, people wearing plate armor tended to only use shields to block attacks aimed at vulnerable parts like arms and legs; if someone wanted to poke at your chest you wouldn't much care. When full suits of plate armor were developed, they stopped using shields altogether.

Umm, wearing a cuirass over a hauberk was absolutely a thing. Granted, the mail wasn’t really helping on bits covered by plate,, but a hauberk was still useful for covering the upper thighs, arms, and especially the parts of the torso the cuirass didn’t cover, like the arm pits. Heck, the haubergeon was developed in part because cuisses.

You're quite right about metal armors realistically being layered over cloth and padded armor.

Mail too, pretty much up until the late 14th, early 15th century. And honestly, probably continuing after that for folks who couldn’t afford a full harness.

Also it was absolutely normal to wear helmet and other accessories for only a few minutes each day, not all day. But to model that you've got to get a little technical, at minimum you distinguish between piercing and slashing and bashing damage. Unfortunately, the D&D armor model is really pretty limited. Many other games do it better, it'd make sense to adopt one of those altogether, if you want a better system.

Yeah, that’s more detail than I want to get bogged down in. Really just looking to model the modularity of armor, particularly transitional armor, and the layering of plate, over mail, over gambeson.

Maybe that’s the way to go. Light armor = cloth, medium armor = mail, heavy armor = plate, with upgrades within the category representing adding more modular pieces. Like if instead of ringmail -> chainmail -> splint -> plate, it went breastplate -> breastplate with splint limb armor -> breastplate with plate limb armor -> full plate harness.

 

[Charlaquin]

I do this now, but since no one has asked to turn chainmail into a chain shirt, or full plate into half or a breastplate, or just wear the gambeson from underneath it just hasn't come up.

But in my mind that's how it works, and that's what really matters.

So like, could you shave 400 GP off the price of full plate if you already have a breastplate?

 

[BookBarbarian]

So like, could you shave 400 GP off the price of full plate if you already have a breastplate?

An armorsmith might have to do some fitting for a fee but sure.

 

[Charlaquin]

An armorsmith might have to do some fitting for a fee but sure.

What about with stuff that’s worn under other stuff - if you have padded armor already, do you have to pay any extra fee to wear a chain shirt over it, and how much does it cost?

 

[BookBarbarian]

What about with stuff that’s worn under other stuff - if you have padded armor already, do you have to pay any extra fee to wear a chain shirt over it, and how much does it cost?

The 5e description of Chain Shirt has it between layers of cloth, not simply over a gambeson, so I would probably have a fee to integrate it. With proficiency in Smith's or tinker's tools you could do it yourself.

As far as the fee goes, I'm pretty lazy so a nice even figure like 20% of the cost of the armor you already have is where I'd start, and tweak as as needed.

 

[Charlaquin]

The 5e description of Chain Shirt has it between layers of cloth, not simply over a gambeson, so I would probably have a fee to integrate it. With proficiency in Smith's or tinker's tools you could do it yourself.

As far as the fee goes, I'm pretty lazy so a nice even figure like 20% of the cost of the armor you already have is where I'd start, and tweak as as needed.

Gotcha. This is helpful, thanks.