The Armourer ยท Chapter 2
How Armour Works
Armour has four numbers and a line of qualities.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Resistance | Added to the wearer's Resistance, which is half Might, rounded up. No armour adds more than +3 |
| Melee Defense | Attacks against the wearer at Engaged range add this many Bane Dice |
| Ranged Defense | Ranged attacks against the wearer add this many Bane Dice |
| Encumbrance | What the armour counts for while worn |
Deflecting and Vulnerable
Deflecting X (type). Attacks of that damage type add X Bane Dice. The blow skids off, or the padding spreads it.
Vulnerable X (type). Against attacks of that type, reduce this armour's Resistance bonus by X, to a minimum of 0. The armour has a gap that attack finds.
A type the armour does not name is neutral: full Resistance, no Bane Dice.
The two qualities use different currencies on purpose. What armour is good against is always Bane Dice. What it is bad against is always a reduction of its own bonus. No armour in this book grants extra Resistance against a type.
Deflecting is not Deflection. Deflection X is a shield quality in The Fantasy Armory that adds Ranged Defense.
Five Rules
1. Armour is never worse than no armour. Vulnerable reduces only the armour's own bonus. Resistance from Might is never touched.
2. Deflecting does not stack above 2. Count Deflecting from body armour and a shield together, and stop at 2. Melee Defense and Ranged Defense are separate and add on top.
3. One body armour at a time. A helm and a shield are worn with it. The padded garment under mail or plate is part of that armour, not a second one.
4. Natural attacks do not trigger Vulnerable. Claws, bites, slams, tails, horns, and hooves apply their type for Deflecting. They never reduce armour through Vulnerable unless the creature's entry says the attack does. A bear's paw is not a warhammer, and plate should be worth its price against a beast.
5. An untyped attack is Crushing if hand-to-hand and Thrusting or Ballistic if shot. Chapter 8 has the full defaults.
Choosing the Type
Many weapons carry two types. A sword cuts and thrusts. The attacker declares the type before rolling. A Versatile weapon that prints a type for each profile uses the type of the profile in hand.
A character caught with the wrong weapon usually has a second way to use it. That is why swords cost what they do.
Worked Example
Ser Aldous has Might 3 and wears a Mail Hauberk (Resistance +2; Deflecting 2 Cutting; Vulnerable 1 Crushing). His Resistance is 2 from Might plus 2 from the mail: 4.
- A bandit swings a Falchion (Cutting). The attack adds 2 Bane Dice. A hit meets Resistance 4.
- A second bandit thrusts with a Short Spear (Thrusting). The hauberk names neither quality for Thrusting. No Bane Dice; a hit meets Resistance 4.
- A third swings a Mace (Crushing). Vulnerable 1 reduces the mail's bonus to +1. No Bane Dice; a hit meets Resistance 3.
- A wolf bites him (natural attack, Crushing). Natural attacks do not trigger Vulnerable. A hit meets Resistance 4.
Helm X
A helm is bought and worn separately from body armour.
Helm X: reduce every Critical Injury roll against the wearer by X times 10, to a minimum of 1.
Helm is the answer to Vicious, which adds to those rolls. It has no effect on whether a Critical Injury is inflicted, only on how bad it is.