# How Armour Works

*The Armourer, Armour for the Fantasy, Ranged, and Modern Armories. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/the-armourer/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

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/the_armourer/the-armourer-combat-mace.jpg" alt="Helm X" loading="lazy">

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.