Armor tends to be the largest component in a character’s Resilience, ranging in value from 1 to 5 points, and it can be readily maintained. Armor is lost first when a character takes a damage effect, followed by magical Protection and then Vitality (resilience is lost in alphabetical order, essentially: A-P-V). Note, however, that there are no effects in game which bypass one protection form or another that do not simply ignore resilience altogether, so keeping track is only important when figuring out when to recast spells, get some rest, or maintain armor.
Armor Maintenance requires at least Basic Repair (Craft 1), which allows a character to refit any suit of armor back up to its maximum value, even if it is at 0. This process takes 10, 5, or 1 minute of roleplaying the repair, depending on the ability used, but the character need not remove the armor in order to do so. See
Craft for further details.
Armor Styles
Below are the basic guidelines for armor. Please note that all armor phys reps will be appraised by staff on a case by case basis for point value.
There are three basic styles of armor: leather, chain, and plate. Each style provides varying amounts of protection dependent on the amount of coverage it gives to vital locations. Please note that the armor ratings are an abstraction created for game balance and not for historical or physical accuracy. Aesthetics are a very important factor in allowing armor in game, and we reserve the right to reject a suit if we believe it is inappropriate.
Leather Armor
Provides one point of armor if it covers the torso, and it provides another point if it protects at least four of your five limbs (head, arms, and legs). If more than 50% of the leather on the torso is studded then you receive an additional point of armor. Characters can use synthetic leather, but it must be appropriately thick.
Examples of leather armor:
Padded Cloth, Chain “Bikini” Leather w/ studs, Thick Hide, Bamboo,
Chain Armor
Provides two points of armor if it covers the torso; it provides another point if it protects at least three of your five limbs (head, arms, and legs). Chain mail may be made of metal of any type.
Examples of chain armor:
Ring Mail, Chain, Brigandine, Scale Mail
Plate Armor
Provides three points of armor if it covers the torso; it provides another point if it protects at least two of your five limbs, and two points if it covers four of your five limbs.
Any combination of armor which totals 4 or 5 points is considered to be “Heavy” armor and requires the Capable ability (Strong 1) in order to wear.
There are myriad different types of armor throughout history and in fantasy beyond basic leather, chain and plate, but we filter these styles into these three groups whenever possible. Below is a sampling of these types and which class they fall into our groupings. Plate armor may be made of metal, or of rigid plastic made to look like metal.
Examples of plate armor:
Plate Mail “Bikini” Plate, Lamellar, Banded, Splinted
Armor Rules
Coverage
For armor to give its full benefit, it must cover more than half of the torso or limb that it is to be protecting. If the armor covers less than half the area that it is protecting and more than one third then it is treated as if it was armor of a class one level lower than it. For example a Plate bracer that reaches from the wrist to the elbow would count as fully protecting that arm as plate armor. If it only reached from the wrist to just over halfway up the forearm, then it would count as chain. Steel bracelets that cover only the wrists would not count as armor at all.
Helmets
A helmet must fit on the head and not fall off when the player bends over ninety degrees at the waist, for obvious safety reasons. Helmets must be made of reasonably rigid material and hats do not qualify.
Piecemeal Armor
When determining the value of piecemeal armor (armor composed of various types) you count the piece that gives the highest value only. So if you are wearing full leather sleeves and plate bracers that reach from the wrist to the elbow, you would count them as plate armor; they provide the greatest protection even though the leather is providing the greater coverage.
Item Tags
Armor is given in-game tags as full suits, not as separate pieces. This means that if a suit of armor’s total value is between 1 and 3 it counts as light armor for the purposes of crafting and trait requirements. If a suit’s full armor value equals 4 or 5 then it counts as heavy armor for the purpose of crafting and trait requirements.
Shield types and guides
As a reminder, latex shields are not allowed at Echoes.
Buckler
Maximum area of 216 square inches (equal to a circle 16 inches in diameter) with no dimension greater than 21 inches. Minimum area of 50 square inches (equal to a circle 8 inches in diameter) with no dimension greater than 11 inches. Bucklers may be attached to the arm with straps, leaving the shield hand free, or used with a handle.
Small Shield
Maximum area of 454 square inches (equal to a circular shield 24 inches in diameter) with no dimension greater than 30 inches. Small shields must have a handle, and arm straps are optional.
Large Shield
Maximum area of 531 square inches (equal to a circular Shield 26 inches in diameter) with no dimension greater than 36 inches. Large shields must have a handle, and arm straps are optional.
Note : All shields must be constructed from a solid base of wood, metal, or other robust material; foam shields are not allowed. All shields must also have at least 5/8” closed cell foam edging, and they may have no bolts, screws, or nails sticking out from their face.
