Weird West Q&A

I know you are working on details, but I was wondering about the Flavor of your WW.....

Armor (in real life) was essentially phased out of use as it didn't protect against the changes of the battlefield, namely the proliferation of guns. Now I have read armor and firearms and it doesn't say anywhere that Firearms bypass DR or anything, so I am assuming that DR from armor still applies to Firearms damage?

I know we are stretching Radiance to use it in WW, since it is obviously designed primarily for fantasy use. But given our setting - do people still wear armor?

Is the visual of a Western dusty cow-town, but with the Sheriff walking around in plate mail?

Has armor use survived because there are still monsters and magic?

Do Cowboys carry guns and swords?

I am just trying to visual this world in my mind and I am not sure what I am looking at yet. And also it will have an impact on character creation, of course.

~Armor: Firearms do not normally bypass DR (unless specified, like an enchanted rifle), so armor is still effective against guns. That being said, armor does inflict penalties for non-proficiency and DEX checks...

Light Armor is best for the cowpoke that doesn't wish to be bogged down.

Medium Armor inflicts -2 penalty on DEX-based skill checks. Most cowboys need to be able to ride their horses and use their lassos. But buffalo-hide armor might be the ticket if your trying to survive as a mountain man.

A bullet-proof vest would be equivalent to a Lamellar or Breastplate (DR 5). Or a chainmail shirt could stop a bullet, but they are both probably too uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time "out on the trail."

Heavy Armor inflicts -5 penalty to DEX-based skill checks. Plate mail may be bulky for cowboys, but that doesn't make it obsolete. For the western hero who likes to be on the defensive, nothing is better than some full plate armor.

Style of plate armor would be more in the vein of Spaniards and colonization-era, like metal breastplate of a cuirass with tassets (for cavalry).


...BTW, when creating characters for the campaign, any armor labeled as "masterwork" will not be allowed (at least in the beginning)...

great armor reply - thanks!

I like the Spanish armor flavore (spanish flavor)

Robyo wrote:
~Armor penalties: Besides the -5 penalty for non-proficient (which isn't a problem for Paladin) there's also Impairment. Page 154 of RPG states: "Medium armor inflicts a -2 penalty on all DEX-based skill checks while Heavy armor inflicts a -5 penalty. Nothing counters this penalty."

and so just to clarify - that is SKILL CHECKS only (as it is written) and does NOT include DEX based attacks

Chris wrote:great armor reply - thanks!

I like the Spanish armor flavore (spanish flavor)

Robyo wrote:
~Armor penalties: Besides the -5 penalty for non-proficient (which isn't a problem for Paladin) there's also Impairment. Page 154 of RPG states: "Medium armor inflicts a -2 penalty on all DEX-based skill checks while Heavy armor inflicts a -5 penalty. Nothing counters this penalty."

and so just to clarify - that is SKILL CHECKS only (as it is written) and does NOT include DEX based attacks

agreed. Gunslinger is proficient in light and medium armor, so shouldn't be too much of a problem...

i agree with your comment about character generation being quicker and easier. now that I kind of got in the hang of it, you can really roll pretty fast and have a wide variety of abilities to choose from!