Today we tackle the gear in the Oriental Adventures handbook. I have a big issue with a lot of the weapons, as they are really bi-polar. Most of them are exotic weapons, with pretty high costs, and while they will have special abilities, like tripping or easily hidden, they do overwhelmingly inferior damage. Even the items that are pure clones of standard items, like a katana being a masterwork bastard sword, still cost more for the exact same item. (Same case with the wakizashi and masterwork short sword.) Then there are the items I really hate what they did with, like the Kusarigama, an incredibly awesome weapon that makes absolutely no sense numerically in DnD. Also, there is no mention of the Kanabo, the Japanese great club that is made to literally break swords and shields, or the No-dachi, which is what Sephiroth's Sword is based off of. Then there is the armor, which in some cases is better than the standard equivalent, but in most cases makes absolutely no sense, like the Ashigaru light armor, which is essentially a peasants/mercenaries tossed together splint mail. It has solid metal bands, and is bound together with chain, cloth, lacquer and rope. Yet it is the equivalent in the rule book to studded leather armor. This makes absolutely no sense, splint mail is the same as studded leather? As my rambling shows, I take this kind of seriously, so we're reworking the entire oriental armory. (Standard speed rules apply for armor types. Saving myself several columns with that.)
those with a "*" next to them have been reworked extensively, and will have explanations below. If it doesn't have an "*" next to the entry, it is for the most part identical to the version found in the Oriental Adventures handbook.
Starting with the armor (Page 75 in PDF, can't find an isolated chart for the life of me):
AC: Max Dex: Armor Check: Arcane spell failure: Cost: Weight:
Light Armor:
Cord Armor* +1 +8 -1 5% 15g 15 lbs.
Bone Armor +3 +4 -3 15% 20g 20 lbs.
Leather Scale* +5 +5 -2 15% 300g 20 lbs.
Medium Armor:
Dhuenka* (Eliminated)
Ashigaru Armor* +5 +3 -4 30% 200g 30 lbs.
Brigandine* +5 +4 -3 25% 250g 25 lbs.
Partial Armor* +6 +4 -3 25% 500g 30 lbs.
Heavy Armor:
Lamellar* +7 +1 -6 30% 700g 40 lbs.
Great Armor* +8 +2 -4 40% 1700g 45 lbs.
Shields and Add-ons:
Chahar-aina +1 - -1 5% 75g 10lbs.
Dastana +1 - -1 5% 25g 5lbs.
Tessen +1 - -1 5% 12g 1lbs.
Kappa Shell* +3* - -6 30% 100g 35lbs.
Thus concludes the actual chart, for those unfamiliar with the base chart, this is the one we're using for the game and the rest of the information here is a little extraneous.
First off, we will start with light armors. Cord armor I've changed to be pretty much identical to padded armor. From what I can tell, this is an armor type mostly made up in the oriental adventures handbook, made of knotted together cord and rope. I certainly don't doubt armor of this makeshift type has existed through out history, I can't find actual pictures or anything, no wikipedia page, nothing. The basic picture of the armor is pretty much a retarded rope bee keeper suit. I'm changing this to essentially an upper body only style armor, (like mostly every other light armor in DnD is) and it is identical to padded armor. I hypothesize that in reality, this type of armor is better against slashing weapons, and worthless to piercing weapons, like daggers or arrows. (Chain mail has this exact same weakness)
Moving onto bone armor, I haven't changed that because I didn't want to have only 2 light armors. That is it, I think this is another kind of stupid made up armor. This armor makes much more sense in the dark sun setting than the oriental adventures setting, where even peasant militias had Ashigaru armor, which was a poor man's splint mail, made out of metal.
Leather scale, as described, makes very little sense. It is scale mail, just with leather scales instead of metal.... but scale mail was made onto a leather/cloth/tiny bit of chain backing. Scale mail predates chain mail by many hundreds of years, it was being made by Persians, Romans, and many other cultures out of bronze before metal working became prevalent. Therefore this armor doesn't make much sense as written, leather scales on a leather/cloth backing? So it is just thick leather armor, or hide armor? This armor is now a much more expensive, much better put together piece of equipment. It has leather scales, but placed onto a mixed chain shirt/cloth backing. This better distributes the weight, while making the armor thicker and more protective. (The issue with all chain shirt/chain mail armors is the entire weight is placed only on the shoulders, and it wears you out very fast.) The new product is the most expensive, best light armor available. (This armor is 600g base in Contrador, 900g in the elflands, and 1200g base in the sky or underdark.)
Moving onto medium armors, we start off with the Dhuenka, which is a super thick, partially enchanted rhinocerous hide armor. (Where the hell are the Japanese, Chinese, or Koreans getting Rhino hide anyway? The nearest rhino species is in India... and Asian cultures were excellent metal workers. Makes way more sense in Dark Sun) It is supposedly used by spellcasters, in the description, yet it has really high arcane spell failure, and isn't a light armor, so bards or warlocks, the normal armored caster types can't even use it. Having hide armor made out of a more exotic or thick animal hide, like a rhinoceros or elephant, will yield a superior product with better than +3 ac. Therefore, this armor is not needed. DELETED!
Which brings me to the first major rework of this chart, Ashigaru armor. In the normal chart, it is light armor identical to studded leather, in reality, it is a steel plated armor held together with chain, leather, cloth, rope, and lacquer depending on the time frame. (This style of armor dates back passed 1000 AD, and was in use in the 1700's.) In reality, this armor was mass produced in the mid 1400's, and given mostly to peasants and mercenaries. Comparing this to studded leather.... shoot a piece of lacquer coated steel with a crossbow, maybe it will go through, maybe it won't. Shoot a piece of leather with some metal rivets in it... and it will go through the giant majority of the time. The armor was even made collapsible, so warriors could store it in a backpack and carry it around. It is now a medium armor, set up much more like the oriental adventures equivalent of chain mail. (Adding the "Collapsible" ability to the armor adds 200g to the cost, a gnome may store this armor in a pocket plane if it is all folded up, and any other warrior may carry it on their person in an easy to get to pack, this makes it very popular among oriental rogue/warrior and ninja/warrior gestalt mixes, staying to a cheaper light armor for day to day use, and unfolding the tougher Ashigaru armor when needed.)
Moving onto brigandine, this is actually not an Oriental style armor at all. This armor, by this specific name, is another medieval European armor, that in 1st and 2nd edition, was included in the expanded arms and equipment guide. While the picture in the Oriental Adventures hand book looks Asian influenced, and there certainly were brigandine style armors in Japanese and Chinese culture, the way it is described is pretty much like the european style minus one thing, the metal plates are more exposed on the Asian styles. (Note the game of thrones picture has almost no metal visible, it is placed between two layers of leather.) This armor was primitive, but fairly inexpensive to make, and much more stealthy and easier to move in than the standard chain mail/ring mail armors of the period. In 2nd edition DnD, brigandine was the only heavier armor that rangers and fighter/thieves could wear and still use stealth abilities. (Later books and kits would add rules giving penalties depending on armor type, which is much more realistic and allowed all of us to have Minsc in BGII go stealth in full plate mail and walk with your assassin and be a tank once that backstab went off.) I'm making the following changes to the armor, first off, it is available at this price anywhere, not just Oniboros, (my Oriental Adventures continent for those unfamiliar) and it has a significantly higher max dex bonus, and is as strong as chain mail now. In fact, it is more expensive, better chain mail, which is more realistic anyway. (With the possible exception of a well placed slashing attack, Brigandine is better in almost every situation. Chain mail is incredibly weak to piercing attacks in reality, and things like arrows and crossbow bolts, and later bullets, went through chain mail as if it were not even there, and those are incredibly common weapons through out history.)
Partial Armor, this is in essence the PHB breastplate. Just a piece of a heavy armor to allow maximum mobility. I'm changing the name to Haramaki-do, and despite the explanation in the Oriental Adventures book, which states it is pretty much everything except the helmet and half the arm guards, this is only the breastplate/shoulder covering. This is very popular among Samurai/duskblades. I increased the base AC by 1 to make it better than the others numerically... only difference.
Moving onto heavy armor, there are now 2, lamellar (please ignore the ridiculous metal mask.) and 'great armor.'
Starting out with lamellar, this is in reality samurai armor. (Though lamellar armor is prevalent in many cultures) For gameplay purposes, this is just a not as well put together samurai armor. It is slightly better than half plate in standard armor.
Then we move on to "Great Armor." First, the name is now the proper Tosei-Gusoku, and it is equivalent to full plate mail, with a slightly better dex bonus. Historically, European culture stopped using armor only a few hundred years after the discovery of black powder weaponry, the most famous gun using, sword wielding, armor wearing European warrior is the French Musketeer, (the most elite of all Musketeers really... and were in use from mid 1600's to the mid 1700's.) which is honestly the pinnacle of gun/armor/sword warrior in European culture. In Japanese, (and other Asian) cultures though, armor was continuing to be used with guns into the 1800's. Ashigaru armor, which I spoke of above, was reworked in the mid 1600's to be better protection against firearms of the time, and was mass produced to be flexible, collapsible, and able to withstand early matchlock style firearms. The elite samurai armor was made even better than the Ashigaru, and as such was still being used in the somewhat modern era. (mid 1800's.) By the time long rifles and more advanced rounds came out though, armor really became more of a hindrance, and that is why armor isn't in use today.
Oh I forgot the Kappa shell. Small races can use it as listed in the Oriental Adventures book, hiding under it for cover, but everyone else just gets a +3 bonus, it is the equivalent of a heavy shield.
Well, that concludes our strange history lesson/ stat update. I wanted to do the weapons as well, but that will be an even bigger rework, since there are so many more. This one ended up taking hours of research, typing, and editing. The chart is obviously the important part of this post, and shall be referenced with all oriental armor from here on out.
"You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain." Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of the Five Rings
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