Jeremy's Reviews Blog

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Arms & Armor

Although Bastion Press pretty much just puts out d20 products (not surprisingly since it was founded by an ex-TSR/WOTC guy, Jim Butler), most of their products tend to be a bit on the quirky side. That is, they don't necessarily appeal to a wide audience. This book, Arms & Armor, is an exception - it's a great reference for anyone playing D&D/d20 3.5.

The title pretty much sums up what's in it. Half the book is devoted to weapons, about one third armor, and the rest misc stuff relating to both. It essentially combines the material on weapons and armor from the d20 SRD/D&D PHB/DMG with a whole lot of new material, plus some of the best stuff culled from the pages of over a 100 other d20 books (the joys of the OGL!).

There was a verion of this book for 3.0, and was one of the first Bastion Press products, but it's been updated to 3.5 and expanded quite a bit. It also includes Epic level stuff. And it's hardcover, which in this case, is helpful, since it's quite likely to see a lot of use.

One of the big things that changed in 3.5 from 3.0, is how damage reduction worked. Used to me, magic weapons worked pretty much against all forms of damage reduction in critters. Not so in 3.5 - you often need a specific enchantment or a weapon made out of a certain material. This has led somewhat to golf bag syndrome, that is, characters carry along a large assortment of weapons, one for each situation, rather than just relying on the one with the best magic.


The first chapter is on weapons. The PHB has maybe 50 weapons in it. This has maybe 4 times that, including a large selection of asian themed weapons and even some African themed weapons borrowed from Atlas Games' excellent "Nyambe".


Dragon Whisker Fork (sort of a funky trident), Ta Mo Dagger (sounds like a rapper, actually, but is a double dagger/baton combo), Heaven Lotus Phoenix Tail.

Not as many spears as I would think. Bane spear, which is sort of a spear - mace combo (I think they used these on American Gladiators); Double Headed Spear (kinda obvious); Jump Spear (for attacking while jumping down from trees); Hook Spear (for tripping. Yar); Elf Spear (like a human's spear, only thinner and pointier); and Wolf Spear (not sure, exactly, funky head).

A lot of new swords though. Too many to mention, but I liked the "Cicada Wing" or "Chan Zi Dao), which is sort of like a double short sword, but with wing like things to stick people with, too; the "Double-Bladed Sword", which has two sword blades parallel to each other - if it had one more, it would be almost like the sword in "The Sword and the Sorcerer".

Also interesting is the Claymore, which is more or less a Greatsword, except it does a more variable amount of samage. The Greatsword does 2d6 of damage, while the Claymore does 1d12. (Oddly enough, no armored kilts or sequined gowns in the armor section).


When it comes to new weapons in an RPG, or at least a combat orientated one, you have to ask - is this weapon so good that everyone would use it? For the most part, this book avoids this. The only real exception is the "Weighted Greatsword", which is like a Greatsword, but better, in both terms of damage, and critical range. I'm also not sure it makes sense, physics wise. Basically, it's a great sword, but has a weight near the end of it, to make it hit harder. But, part of the point of a sword is that the tip is lighter, so you can swing it faster. Like corking a baseball bat. I think any advantage you gain from the weight would be offset by the increased difficulty in swinging the thing (ie, while the end might weigh more, you would be swinging it slower, since it's harder to swing). Not being a Cubs or Sammy Sosa fan, I wouldn't let this thing or corked bats in my game.


Earlier versions of D&D handled magical weapons somewhat fuzzily, on a case by case basis. 3.0 (and now 3.5) tried to standardize this somewhat, by having standard magical qualities that can be applied to any sort of weapon, generally based around an adjective (this was seemingly borrowed from computer RPGs). For instance, "Flaming" means the weapon always does an extra 1d6 of damage (and is probably a Gloria Gaynor fan*).

This books has a whole bunch of new qualities, as well as repeating the basic ones from the SRD for the sake of completeness.


Lastly, there are "Weapons of Valor", which are essentially specific, pre-made magical weapons.


Some of these get illustrations, along with a quote from an owner of that item, endorsing it, much like a car commercial.

For instance, for "Black Thresher", the quote from the owner is "Don't fear me; just a warrior with a flail. Not even smart enough to buy a sword like everyone else. Just a little closer now...". Heh. (Worked for Isuzu).



So, that pretty much covers the "Arms" aspect of the book. The Armor section pretty much follows the same basic pattern, first armor types, then armor magical qualities, then specific magical armor.

Most of the weapons in the book passed my "Is this so good that everyone would use it?" test, but the same isn't true of the armor.

One of the changes from early versions of D&D to D&D 3.0/3.5, is that what armor a character uses really depends on what their dexterity is. It used to be, characters with a high dexterity would always get a bonus to their armor class, but now, that bonus is limited by the armor. Generally speaking, heavier armor limits the bonus, and so on average, the most you could get, total (in terms of armor protection plus dexterity bonus) was about +8, plus or minus one or two.

For instance, the Chain shirt adds +4 to defense, but has a maximum dexterity bonus of +4 (for a total of +8). A Breastplate adds +5 to defense, but only has a maximum dex bonus of +3 (again, for +8). Leather adds +2 to defense, +8 max dex bonus. Etc. Some, like Chainmail, are a bit lower (+5 defense, +2 dex bonus), some a bit higher, like Full Plate (+8 defense, +1 max dex bonus), but in that range.

This book features several bits of armor that breaks this general rule. The most egregious is probably "Double Plate", which gives a +12 defensive bonus. Now in theory, in terms of physics/logic, it does make sense, it's just plate armor that has really big plates. But it probably needed more drawbacks added to it than it has (basically, there is just a strength requirement of 16, plus it's a bit slower than normal). But it's so good that just about everyone who could, would use it, because it's far better than regular full plate. Okay, it is a somewhat expensive, 3500 gp vs full plate's 1500 gp, but 3500 gp is not much for even low level adventurers/warriors.


If Epic Level items weren't enough, there's a chapter on artifacts and legends. This section actually introduces a couple different ways of having magical items evolve with the character. That is, as the player gets more powerful, so does the item. The first and simplest, is that legendary weapons have "tiers", which are essentially power levels, which only show up when the wielder has reached certain pre-requisites. Which is a certain base attack bonus, plus relevent feats (starting with Weapon Focus. Nothing too weird. And nothing exclusive).

If that doesn't float your boat, there's also Scions, which turns the wielders of the items into allegedly trendy cars. Not really. Rather, Scions are prestige classes, but instead of getting special powers from the class, the weapon gets special powers when used by the character. There are 4 types of scions, each mirroring the 4 basic archetpes (Fighter, Rogue, Arcane Spell Guy, Religious Type).

As prestige classes go, they seem about right. They are essentially the core class with most the frills stripped (save one or two, plus a small bonus, like to hit dice or something), plus an ability gained by the weapon. The ability gained by the weapon varies from weapon to weapon, usually topping out with the weapon becoming +5 at 10th level.

I can see a character doing this if they really really liked the weapon, like Sledge Hammer loved his gun. But from a game standpoint, probably not worth it, a character loses out on inherent powers and flexibility in favor of powering up a weapon. Which isn't that great. Depends a lot on how common magic items are in your game, too. And if they lose the weapon, they can trade in their Scion class levels for the apropriate regular core class levels.


The last chapter in the book is called "Martial Constructs", which for some reason, I keep reading as "Marital Constructs", which brings a smile to my face. Essentially, though, it's magic items that are also mechanical critters. Mostly, things called "Amulet Servitors", which are essentially magic amulets which transform into larger mechanical beasties on command, or when doused in water. Then a few Golems, the Amber and Force Golems, which are fairly conventional, plus "Golem Armor", which is pretty much what it sounds like. That is, a golem that is worn like armor. Except it looks like a giant flying monkey. Which is enough to give me nightmares (I have a phobia about flying monkeys). Also a mechanical stallion.

While these aren't bad, other than the "Golem Armor", they don't quite fit into the theme of the book ("Arms & Armor").




The layout is generally good, but a bit step backwards from previous Bastion releases. Usually they put what chapter it is in the outer margin, which makes it very easy to find stuff. In this, the chapter is just at the top of the page, in very small print.

Similarly, while there is an index, there aren't a whole lot of entries in it. Almost resembles a table of contents than an index. Specific weapons, either type or unique magical ones aren't mentioned, either. Like if I wanted to find "Claymore" in the book, it's not in the index, nor is something like "Luck Blade" or "Sword of Life Stealing". Nor is even something like "Swords". The closest to that is "Weapons", which is essentially the start of the chapter. Now granted, this would have taken a lot of time to do, but it is meant to be a reference work, so something like that would be extremely handy.


A lot of the weapons are illustrated (generally in groups of five), but not all. And somewhat confusingly, the illustrations are ordered differently than how the weapons show up in the book. For instance, the "Bane Spear" is illustrated up in the A-Bs, with the "Axe-Hammer" and "Double Chained Axe" and such, but the entry for it is way back in the "S"s, under "Spear, Bane". This happens an awful lot, enough to be something of a hassle.

* Sorry. I had to do that. Even though most people won't get it. And I am actually a fan of hers as well.



While nothing is truly essential for d20 except for the PHB and DMG, this book is about as useful as non-core book gets. I wouldn't use everything in it, but for the most part, not only is it a great reference, it's got a lot of cool new stuff. And it's pretty cheap, by today's prices. $30 for 176 pages, hardcover is a pretty good deal nowadays (I just paid $30 for 144 pages of D6 Space a few months ago, and Fields of Blood is 160 pages, $30, but softcover). It's funny, Bastion used to have prices somewhat higher than average, now they are somewhat cheaper.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Arms and Armor 3.5 (early scribblings)

The title pretty much sums up what's in it. Half the book is devoted to weapons, about one third armor, and the rest misc stuff relating to both.

It essentially combines the material on weapons and armor from the d20 SRD/D&D PHB with a whole lot of new material.


The first chapter is on weapons. The PHB has maybe 50 weapons in it. This has maybe 4 times that, including a large selection of asian themed weapons and even some African themed weapons borrowed from Atlas Games' excellent "Nyambe".


When it comes to new weapons in an RPG, or at least a combat orientated one, you have to ask - is this weapon so good that everyone would use it? For the most part, this book avoids this. The only real exception is the "Weighted Greatsword", which is like a Greatsword, but better, in both terms of damage, and critical range. I'm also not sure it makes sense, physics wise. Basically, it's a great sword, but has a weight at the end of it, to make it hit harder. But, part of the point of a sword is that the tip is lighter, so you can swing it faster. Like corking a baseball bat. I think any advantage you gain from the weight would be offset by the difficulty in swinging the thing.


Earlier versions of D&D handled magical weapons somewhat fuzzily, on a case by case basis. 3.0 (and now 3.5) tried to standardize this somewhat, by having standard magical qualities that can be applied to any sort of weapon, generally based around an adjective (this was seemingly borrowed from computer RPGs). For instance, "Flaming" means the weapon always does an extra 1d6 of damage (and is probably a Gloria Gaynor fan).

This books has a whole bunch of new qualities, as well as repeating the basic ones from the SRD for the sake of completeness.


Lastly, there are "Weapons of Valor", which are essentially specific, pre-made magical weapons.


For instance, for "Black Thresher", the quote from the owner is "Don't fear me; just a warrior with a flail. Not even smart enough to buy a sword like everyone else. Just a little closer now...". Heh.



So, that pretty much covers the "Arms" aspect of the book. The Armor section pretty much follows the same basic pattern, first armor types, then armor magical qualities, then specific magical armor.

Most of the weapons in the book passed my "Is this so good that everyone would use it?" test, but the same isn't true of the armor.

One of the changes from early versions of D&D to D&D 3.0/3.5, is that what armor a character uses really depends on what their dexterity is. It used to be, characters with a high dexterity would always get a bonus to their armor class, but now, that bonus is limited by the armor. Generally speaking, heavier armor limits the bonus, and so on average, the most you could get, total (in terms of armor protection plus dexterity bonus) was about +8, plus or minus one or two.

For instance, the Chain shirt adds +4 to defense, but has a maximum dexterity bonus of +4 (for a total of +8). A Breastplate adds +5 to defense, but only has a maximum dex bonus of +3 (again, for +8). Leather adds +2 to defense, +8 max dex bonus. Etc. Some, like Chainmail, are a bit lower (+5 defense, +2 dex bonus), some a bit higher, like Full Plate (+8 defense, +1 max dex bonus), but in that range.

This book features several bits of armor that breaks this general rule. The most egregious is probably "Double Plate", which gives a +12 defensive bonus. Now in theory, in terms of physics/logic, it does make sense, it's just plate armor that has really big plates. But it probably needed more drawbacks added to it than it has (basically, there is just a strength requirement of 16, plus it's a bit slower than normal). But it's so good that just about everyone who could, would use it, because it's far better than regular full plate. Okay, it is a somewhat expensive, 3500 vs full plate's 1500 gp, but 3500 is not much for even low level adventurers/warriors




The layout is generally good, but a bit step backwards from previous Bastion releases. Usually they put what chapter it is in the outer margin, which makes it very easy to find stuff. In this, the chapter is just at the top of the page, in very small print.

Similarly, while there is an index, there aren't a whole lot of entries in it. Almost resembles a table of contents than an index. Specific weapons, either type or unique magical ones aren't mentioned, either. Like if I wanted to find "Claymore" in the book, it's not in the index, nor is something like "Luck Blade" or "Sword of Life Stealing". Nor is even something like "Swords". The closest to that is "Weapons", which is essentially the start of the chapter. Now granted, this would have taken a lot of time to do, but it is meant to be a reference work, so something like that would be extremely handy.


A lot of the weapons are illustrated (generally in groups of five), but not all. And somewhat confusingly, the illustrations are ordered differently than how the weapons show up in the book. For instance, the "Bane Spear" is illustrated up in the A-Bs, with the "Axe-Hammer" and "Double Chained Axe" and such, but the entry for it is way back in the "S"s, under "Spear, Bane". This happens an awful lot, enough to be something of a hassle.