Armor and Shields

Release 4
Copyright © 2010, 2024 Jeff Johnson
All Rights Reserved – CC BY-SA
A Basic Fantasy RPG Supplement See last page for full license information

INTRODUCTION
This supplement provides additional armor and shields for play using the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game rules. If
you do not already have a copy of the Basic Fantasy RPG rules, please visit www.basicfantasy.org and download a
copy.

The tables below provide an expanded range of armor Shields

and shields for use in the game. Availability of these
additional items is at the discretion of the Game Master, of Shield Type Cost Weight AC Bonus Melee/Missile
course. Buckler 5 gp 2 +1/0
Medium Shield 7 gp 7 +1/+1
Unless otherwise specified, a suit of armor takes 10 Tower Shield 15 gp 12 +1/+3
rounds minus the character's Dexterity bonus to put on or
take off.
Armor Descriptions
Armor is often made of differing materials, especially
shields. Some Plate Armor is made of bronze or possibly Padded Armor is created from layers of cloth placed on
some other alloy, though it is most commonly made of top of each other. It is often ceremonial, being not much
steel. Differing materials and their effect on weight, cost use, but does offer minimal amounts of protection. The
and AC is beyond the scope of this document. Game layers of cloth are great for winter months because they
Masters are encouraged to make these adjustments as provide solid insulation, but often get very sweaty and
they see fit while adhering to the simple and basic nature dirty unless properly laundered with frequency.
of the Basic Fantasy RPG.
Hide Armor is much like leather in its working and
It is safe to assume that Armor which weighs 25 or less protection. Often hide armor can be found in remote
pounds is considered “Light” and armor that weighs 50 areas or barbaric lands; it is the most common type used
or more pounds is considered “Heavy”. Any armor that by orcs and many other humanoids. The process of
falls within those bounds may be considered “Medium”. creating hide armor involves curing the beast's hide and
sewing it to clothing. It is often hot and itchy, but offers
Armor protection similar to regular leather armor.
Armor Type Cost Weight AC Leather Armor consists of pieces of hardened and/or
No Armor 0 gp 0 11 layered leather. There are a variety of methods for
Padded 15 gp 10 12 creating this armor, most of which involve boiling,
Hide 10 gp 30 13 shaping, then stiffening the armor. The leather pieces are
Leather 20 gp 15 13 sewn to a cloth undergarment for maximum flexibility.
Studded Leather 30 gp 25 14
Studded Leather Armor is similar to regular leather
Ring Mail 25 gp 30 14
armor, but instead of hardening the leather, metal studs
Chain Mail 60 gp 40 15
and/or small plates are riveted to it. The studs coupled
Scale Mail 80 gp 55 16 with the leather material provide added protection from
Splint Mail 100 gp 45 16 attacks at the slight cost of mobility.
Plate Mail 300 gp 50 17
Field Plate Mail 500 gp 70 18 Ring Mail Armor consists of rings of steel directly sewn
Full Plate Mail 1500 gp 80 19 to an undergarment. The rings themselves offer great
flexibility and decent protection. The underlying garment
is usually a soft and supple leather which can withstand
mild punishment.
Chain Mail Armor consists of rings of metal that are
interwoven, rather than being stitched to a leather
garment. Chain mail is worn over a padded
A BASIC FANTASY SUPPLEMENT ARMOR AND SHIELDS

undergarment (see Padded Armor, above); if worn this sort of armor must wait at least a full week between
without the padded undergarment, chain mail armor placing the order and receiving the finished suit. Field
provides an Armor Class of 13 at a weight of 30 pounds. plate armor is worn over a padded undergarment (see
Chain mail is very flexible and durable. It is one of the Padded Armor, above), and if worn without the
most popular and affordable armors available to player undergarment, the Armor Class provided is 17 at a weight
characters. Chain mail may be made either in the form of of 60 pounds.
a suit (i.e. tunic and trousers) or in the form of a hauberk,
which consists of a tunic with a skirt or kilt to protect the Full Plate Armor is generally identical to field plate
legs. armor, but is of superior design and manufacture; only an
expert armorer can fashion it. The plates cover the
Scale Mail Armor is made of metal scales directly woven wearer more fully, and chain mail is generally not used at
to an undergarment that offers flexibility and moderate all. Also, the plates themselves are designed to deflect
protection. weapon strikes away from any otherwise-vulnerable joint
in the armor. Those who wear Full plate suffer a -1
Splint Mail Armor is a form of chain mail where small penalty to attack rolls due to limited mobility while
strips of thick metal are interwoven amongst the rings of wearing the armor. Full plate cannot be put on alone and
the mail. These small embedded plates offer excellent takes at least 1 turn to get into with assistance.
coverage and thicker protection than regular Chain Mail
at the price of additional weight and less flexibility.
Shield Descriptions
Plate Mail Armor is another common form of metal
armor. Large plates of hard metal are fashioned to cover A buckler is a small shield worn on the forearm to block
the torso, arms and legs and attached at the joints to an incoming attacks. It is usually about a foot in diameter.
underlying suit of chain mail; a padded undergarment The wearer of a buckler receives +1 to his or her Armor
(see Padded Armor, above) is worn underneath. If plate Class when in melee combat, but gains no protection
mail is worn without the undergarment, the armor class against missile fire. Bucklers may be used by those
provided is 15 at a weight of 40 pounds. The individual wielding two weapons, as described in the Combat
pieces of the plate mail have specific names, as follows: Options supplement; if this is done, the character may
either attack with the off-hand weapon or gain the benefit
 Breastplate – covers the chest and back of of the shield.
the wearer. This is also sometimes called a
cuirass. The breastplate is the largest part of A medium shield is usually about 3 feet in diameter and
the armor and weighs about 16 lbs. is often round, though shields may come in a variety of
 Faulds – worn below the breastplate to shapes. A medium shield is worn by looping one's arm
cover the waist and hips. The faulds weight through a strap and then grabbing a handle of some sort
around 10 lbs. on the backside of the shield. A medium shield will give
 Tassets – worn on the thighs. Tassets the wearer +1 AC in both melee and missile situations; in
compromise approximately 8 lbs. of the other words, this is the “standard” shield as described in
overall weight of the armor. the Core Rules.
 Greaves – worn on the shins. A pair of A tower shield is a very large shield that is almost the
greaves usually weighs about 4 lbs. height of the wearer; such a shield is generally rectangular,
 Pauldrons – worn on the shoulders. but oval, elliptical, and curved shapes are not uncommon.
Pauldrons, on average, weigh about 6 lbs. Because of the bulky and cumbersome nature of such a
 Vambraces – worn on the forearms. large shield, it only offers protection similar to a medium
Vambraces generally weigh about 4 lbs. shield while in melee (+1) yet gives superior protection
 Gauntlets – worn on the hands. Gauntlets against missile fire (+3) due to its size.
only weigh around 2 lbs.
Field Plate Armor consists of solid pieces of plate armor, Optional Rules
fastened together with a variety of complicated sliding
Piecemail Armor
parts, hinges, and straps. Small pieces of chain mail are
used to cover hard-to-protect joints, such as behind the In some instances, a Game Master may wish to allow
knees and under the arms. Field plate armor provides characters to piece together the various parts of Plate
greater protection than regular plate mail with a relatively Armor to create a customized appearance or for some
small increase in weight, but must be custom fitted to the other purpose. This is known as Piecemail Armor. For
wearer; this generally means that a character purchasing

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ARMOR AND SHIELDS A BASIC FANTASY SUPPLEMENT

every two pieces of Plate Mail Armor, other than the For example: Thorus the dwarven fighter currently wears
breastplate, a character may add +1 to their AC, up to a chain mail. He finds a suit of Dwarven Plate Mail while
total bonus of +3. The character cannot gain more than exploring an abandoned mine, but one of the gauntlets
+3 AC. Note: a “piece” of plate mail encompasses both and the breastplate is missing. He straps on the greaves,
the right and left hand side of the respective part. A single tassets, pauldrons, vambraces and faulds. Five full pieces
vambrace is not considered a “piece” until a second have been strapped on, thus raising the Dwarf's overall
vambrace accompanies it. A breastplate may only be armor class to 17. This also increases the overall weight of
worn over padded armor and offers a +2 bonus to AC. his armor by 32 lbs. to a total of 72 lbs. which is heavier
than Plate due to overlapping the Plate Mail pieces with
the chain mail pieces.

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A BASIC FANTASY SUPPLEMENT ARMOR AND SHIELDS

Armor and Shields

Release 4
Copyright © 2010, 2024 Jeff Johnson – All Rights Reserved
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