ARMOR AND SHIELDS

(TABLE III.F.)

As Dungeon Master, you must be fully conversant with the armor gradation system. Because prior game forms worked from a high base number (9) upwards, I have opted to follow the same progression herein for the sake of continuity and familiarity.

As a shield is the single common factor, it must be given a +1 factor, i.e. be 1 class (5%) better than no armor, but listed before the diverse armor types, in order to allow its inclusion as a constant (without over-valuing it).

For each +1 of armor, regardless of the type of armor, the wearer moves upwards (toward or beyond AC 2 to 1, 0, -1, -2, etc.).

Thus, chain mail +1 is chain mail (AC 5) 1 category better (AC 4), while a shield +1 is equal to armor class 8, or 2 places better than the armor worn by its inclusion, rather than but 1 (+1 for bearing shield, +1 for the magical bonus of the shield).

For game purposes all magical armor should be considered as being virtually weightless - equal to normal clothing, let us assume. This gives characters so clad a base movement speed equal to an unarmored man.

Magic shields, however, weigh the same as a normal shield of the same size.

Armor of +3 bonus is of special meteorite iron steel, +4 is mithral alloyed steel, +5 is adamantite alloyed steel.

Special items are described below:

Campaign Rule. Magic armor weighs 50% of the same type of mundane armor and is one class better in terms of encumbrance. See Equipment, Armor for additional citations.

Polyhedron #30; Dispel Confusion, p.29: ADQ: On page 81 of the Dungeon Masters Guide, it says that magic armor protects the wearer from spells that cause physical damage. Would this also protect against non-magical cold attacks? The implication seems to be that magic armor protects against a cone of cold spell but not against white dragon breath. ADA: Magic armor also gives saving throw bonuses vs. non-magical cold or fire attacks, assuming that the attack form allows a saving throw in the first place. It does not provide extra protection against attack forms such as gas and poison, which do not depend on physical damage to work, nor against spells which do not inflict damage, such as sleep, charm, etc. The passage merely indicates that magic armor provides defensive bonuses vs. damage-producing spells IN ADDITION to extra protection from normal attack forms.

Dragon #76, Sage Advice. Q. What are mithral and adamantite?A. Mithral is a very rare metallic ore that has a cloudy silver luster in mined form, but when refined and made pure becomes brilliant and silvery. It is soft, as metals go, and is easily fashioned into jewelry by dwarven, gnomish, human, and elven craftsmen. However, it is primarily used in alloys with pure steel to fashion weapons, shields, and armor; mithral/steel alloys retain magical dweomers much better even than the purest iron, and they may be enchanted to +4 quality. Adamantite is an even rarer ore that seems to come in several basic hues: brown-gold, blue-silver, and green-silver; a few cases are known of black adamantite ore (from drow enclaves). Adamantite is extremely difficult to mine because of its hardness, and must be made molten to be of any use at all. Usually only dwarves, gnomes and humans have access to adamantite, since it is found very deep in the earth and in very small quantities, though drow are able to find enough of it to make their armor and weapons. Adamantite must be alloyed with high-grade steel to be usable in making items, primarily because it is too rare to “waste” by making pure adamantite devices. Adamantite-alloyed armor and weapons maybe enchanted to +5 quality. It may be that pure adamantite can be enchanted to +6, but this is uncertain. Drow-made adamantite weapons are ruined by exposure to sunlight, because of the loss of special radiations that keep their powers operating; normally, adamantite items suffer no such problems. There are rumors that githzerai (see the FIEND FOLIO™ Tome) house themselves in adamantite fortresses, but this is extremely unlikely and is probably a rumor only; wasting adamantite on making forts is hard to excuse, and it is just not found in such quantities. There are no commonly circulated mithral or adamantite coins; if there were, they would be almost unusable by virtue of their great cost. A 1 g.p. weight of mithral would command upwards of 50 g.p.; an equal amount of adamantite would be much more expensive than that.

Leather armor +1

This is usable by those characters permitted to wear this form of armor.

Plate Mail of Etherealness

This is seemingly normal +5 armor, but if a command word is spoken, the suit enables its wearer and all non-living items he or she wears and carries to become ethereal, just as if oil of etherealness (q.v.) had been used. While in the ethereal state, the wearer cannot attack material creatures. A phase door spell will negate the ethereal state and prevent the armor from again so functioning for 1 day. There are 20 charges placed upon plate mail of etherealness, and, once used, they cannot be replaced or recharged. Furthermore, every 5 uses reduces the class of the armor by 1, so if 5 charges are used to become ethereal, the armor is +4, if 10 are used it is +3, +2 if 15 are used, and only + 1 if all 20 are exhausted.

Plate Mail of Vulnerability

This appears to every test to be magical +1, +2, or +3 armor, but it is actually -2, -3, or -4 cursed plate mail, whose great vulnerability will not be apparent until an enemy successfully strikes a blow in anger with desire and intent to kill its wearer. The armor will fall to pieces whenever an opponent strikes the wearer with an unmodified “to hit” score of 20.

Shield, large, +1, +4 versus Missiles

This is a typical large shield, but it is four times more effective against hand hurled and mechanically propelled missiles of all sorts. More importantly, the shield has a 20% chance of negating magic missile attacks (from a frontal position, of course).

Shield -1, Missile Attractor

This not only makes the bearer equivalent to a shieldless person, it also attracts missiles of all sorts to itself, so double or treble the bearer’s chances of being selected by random die rolling according to the size of the party he or she is in. This cursed shield is not distinguishable from a useful magical shield.