Armor, PIECE BY PIECE
Protection isn't an all-or-nothing proposition
by Matt Bandy


 
Hit location Partial armor types Scavenging partial armor Suits of armor Combat procedure
Dungeons & Dragons Dragon magazine 1e AD&D Equipment (AD&D) The Dragon #112

The Oriental Adventures AD&D® game
book gives rules for partial armor, stating
that each piece lowers the original armor
class by a given amount. According to this
system, a shin guard lowers armor class
by one, offering as much protection as a
shield. But would not a shin guard actually
offer one?s shin an armor class independent
of that of the remainder of the body?
To realistically present a partial armor
system, a hit-location chart must be implemented,
and partial-armor types must be
described as to which areas of the body
they protect and to what extent.

Hit location
Normal AD&D game combat consists of
sparring with an opponent and striking
whenever possible. When partial armor
types are introduced to this scenario,
however, it becomes implausible. The shin
is not a tempting enough target (and
would not be hit often enough) for a shin
guard to contribute to the armor class of
the whole opponent. The following table
shows random hit location for a strike;
independent of which hand the attacker
uses.

Before rolling on this table, however, the
defending player rolls a 20-sided die. A roll
of 20 indicates that defender?s shield
catches the blow; if a large tower shield is
used, a roll of 19 or 20 indicates this happens.
For each magical ?plus? of the shield,
add a bonus to the roll. Thus, a shield +5
protects the user on a roll of 15 or better,
assuming a regular-sized shield is used.
 
Dice Location hit
01-10 Head
11-15 Neck
16-30 Chest
31-40 Abdomen
41-45 Thigh
46-48 Shin
49-50 Knee
51-60 Upper arm
61-70 Lower arm
71-75 Elbow
76-80 Foot
81-85 Hand
86-95 Shoulder
96-00 Groin

In melee, a right-handed combatant will
always strike the left side of his opponent?s
body, and vice versa. In missile fire, there
is a 50% chance of either the left or right
side of the body being struck.

Partial armor types
There exists a protective piece of equipment
for nearly every region of the body.
These guards are made of materials ranging
from steel to leather, and provide
protection in directly varying degrees. The
following table lists partial armor types as
to which areas of the body they protect
and to what extent.
 
Armor type Areas protected AC
Helmet, great Head 1
Helmet, small Head 3
Collar, leather Neck 7
Collar, steel Neck 3
Breastplate Chest 2
- Abdomen 3
Mail tunic, leather Chest 8
- Abdomen 8
- Groin 8
- Shoulders 8
Mail tunic, studded Chest 7
- Abdomen 7
- Groin 8
- Shoulders 7
- Upper arms 7
Mail tunic, ring Chest 7
- Abdomen 7
- Groin 7
- Shoulders 7
- Thighs 9
Mail tunic, scale Chest 6
- Abdomen 6
- Groin 7
- Shoulders 6
- Upper arms 8
Mail tunic, chain Chest 5
- Abdomen 5
- Groin 5
- Shoulders 5
- Upper arms 6
- Thighs 6
Mail tunic, splint Chest 4
- Abdomen 4
- Groin 5 
- Shoulders 5
- Upper arms 6
- Thighs 6
Mail tunic, banded Chest 4
- Abdomen 4
- Groin 4
- Shoulders 4
- Upper arms 6
- Thighs 6
Thigh guard, leather * Thigh 7
Thigh guard, steel * Thigh 3
Shin guard, leather * Shin 6
Shin guard, 
steel		 Shin 2
Knee guard, knee * Knee 3
Bracer, leather * Lower arm 6
Bracer, steel * Lower arm 4
Mail shoes * Feet 8
Boots, high hard * Thigh 8
- Knee 9
- Shin 8
- Foot 8
Boots, high soft * Thigh 9
- Knee 9
- Shin 9
- Foot 9
Boots, low hard * Shin 8
- Foot 8
Boots, hgh soft * Shin 8
- Foot 8
Boots, low soft * Shin 9
- Foot 9
Shoulder gd., leather * Shoulder 6
Shoulder gd, 
steel *		 Shoulder 3
Groin guard Groin 3
Gauntlet * Hand 3
Gloves, leather Hand 9

* These items are sold singly, and may 
be bought for either the right or left side 
of the body. 


When two pieces of partial armor overlap,
the armor class for that area of the
body equals that of the more protective
piece of armor.

Weight and cost for each piece of partial
armor are shown on the following table;
each figure is given in gold pieces.
Item Cost Weight
Collar, leather 1 10
Collar, steel 10 20
Breastplate 100 100
Mail tunic, leather 5 120
Mail tunic, studded 13 170
Mail tunic, ring 25 200
Mail tunic, scale 38 280
Mail tunic, chain 65 220
Mail tunic, splint 70 300
Mail tunic, banded 80 280
Thigh guard, leather 4 15
Thigh guard, steel 6 30
Shin guard, leather 3 15
Shin guard, steel 5 30
Knee guard 10 10
Bracer, leather 2 10
Bracer, steel 4 20
Shoulder gd., leather 5 15
Shoulder gd., steel 8 40
Groin guard 2 10

ARMOR CLASS BY ARMOR TYPE AND BODY PART COVERED
Body part Leather Padded Studded Ring Scale Chain Splint Banded Plate Mail Bronze Field Plate Full Plate
Head 10 10 10 10 10 6 6 6 3 4 2 2
Neck 10 7 3 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 3 2
Chest 8 8 6 7 6 5 4 4 3 4 1 0
Abdomen 8 8 7 7 6 5 4 4 3 4 2 1
Thigh 8 8 7 9 3 3 3 3 5 5 2 1
Shin 6 8 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1
Knee 8 9 8 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
Upper arm 8 8 7 8 7 5 5 5 5 5 2 1
Lower arm 8 8 7 10 8 8 5 3 3 4 3 2
Elbow 8 8 8 8 8 8 5 4 4 4 3 2
Foot 10 10 10 10 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2
Hand 10 8 10 8 10 9 5 4 4 4 3 2
Shoulder 8 8 7 7 6 5 5 3 3 4 2 1
Groin 8 8 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 3 2

Scavenging partial armor
In any melee, there is a 1% chance per
man-sized human, demi-human, or humanoid
slain that a character, given time,
will be able to salvage one piece of partial
armor that will fit him or her. Given one
hundred corpses, there is a 100% chance
of finding one piece, and a 1% chance per
corpse over one hundred of finding another;
it takes one round to search one
body. For each item found, one roll is
made on the following table. Note that the
composition of a piece of armor (leather or
steel) depends entirely upon the armor
used by the warriors. All other potentially
important factors that could influence the
sort of armor found must be considered.
 
Dice Item found
01-05 Helmet
06-10 Breastplate
11-34 Thigh guard
35-60 Shin guard
61-66 Knee guard
67-84 Bracer
85-00 Shoulder guard

For all items except helmets and breastplates,
an even roll denotes that the item
was made for the right side of the body,
and an odd roll, the left. Thieves may only
use partial armor types made of leather.

Suits of armor
Suits of armor may be fitted neatly into
the partial armor system by determining 
to what extent they protect certain areas
of the body. The table at the top of this
page gives these figures.

Combat procedure
Combat utilizing the partial armor system
is conducted in this manner:

1. Initiative and surprise are determined.

2. The combatant with the first strike
attacks, following this format: First, a roil
is made on the hit location tables (making
shield-hit rolls beforehand). Second, the
combatant rolls to hit against the armor
class of the body part indicated by the
previous roil.

3. The combatant with the second strike
attacks, following the same procedure. 

JULY 1986


Quote:
Originally Posted by gideon_thorne
Quite right.
Campaigns && battlefield conditions, one would 'pick up' bits and pieces.
Momentos of fallen comrads can fit in here as well.
Aragon with Boromir's bracers is a good example.
Better still...


Actual warriors would strip the captured and dead foemen of armor so as to improve their own.
The Vikings were well-armored thus.
Hovever, it is logical that the "upgrading" would be as cmplete as possible, discarding lesser protection for greater.
So mixed sorts of armor would be rather rare I should think, save for hill bandits and their ilk.

FWIW,
Gary