A long time ago, I ran an M20 game in fantasy Japan. The weapon rules are available in English. The armor rules are available in German. This blog post is supposed to fix this.
Shields are hardly ever used. But you can use a tessen to defend yourself for AC +1 if you don’t attack this round.
If you care about how heavily armoured an opponent is, use the following:
+---------------+--------------+ | Type | AC | +---------------+--------------+ | light armour | AC +1 to +2 | | medium armour | AC +3 to +4 | | heavy armour | AC +5 and up | +---------------+--------------+
Ashigaru are common soldiers and militia men. Their armour provides AC +3 and costs 25 gp.
Shinobi are assassins and spies. Their light armour allows them to move silently and hide in shadows. It provides AC +2 and costs 15 gp.
Warriors use various pieces of armour. Japanese armour consists of various pieces. Having a full set is rare. Armour is usually kept in a wooden box.
+--------------------------------+----+-------+ | Armour | AC | Price | +--------------------------------+----+-------+ | Dō (chest) | +2 | 20 | | Kote (sleeves and gauntlets) | +1 | 20 | | Suneate (shin guards) | +1 | 20 | | Kusazuri (thigh, requires dō) | +1 | 20 | | and haidate (upper legs) | | | | Sode (shoulder, requires dō) | +1 | 20 | | Nodowa (throat and neck, | +1 | 20 | | requires sode) | | | | Wakibiki (armpit, requires | +1 | 20 | | sode) | | | | Kabuto (helmet) | +1 | 20 | | Mempo (face mask, requires | +1 | 20 | | kabuto) | | | +--------------------------------+----+-------+
A full set grants AC +10 and costs 180 gp.
If you prefer low AC games, and you use a Death & Dismemberment table, I have a solution for you.
+--------------------------------+--------------------------+ | Armour | Effect | +--------------------------------+--------------------------+ | Dō (chest) | AC +2 | | Kote (sleeves and gauntlets) | arms cannot be cut off | | Suneate (shin guards) | legs cannot be cut off | | Kusazuri (thigh, requires dō) | AC +1 | | and haidate (upper legs) | | | Sode (shoulder, requires dō) | AC +1 | | Nodowa (throat and neck, | head cannot be cut off | | requires sode) | | | Wakibiki (armpit, requires | AC +1 | | sode) | | | Kabuto (helmet) | no fainting | | Mempo (face mask, requires | no loss of eyes or teeth | | kabuto) | | +--------------------------------+--------------------------+
The best armour now provides just AC +5. Remember: no shields! But you’re still hard to kill because you are now immune to many injuries.
Best case, using the table from Halberds and Helmets:
+-----+--------------------------------+ | 2d6 | Effect | +-----+--------------------------------+ | 2 | decapitation *avoided* | | 3 | fatal wound 💀 | | 4 | severed limb *avoided* | | 5 | broken bone | | 6 | ⅔ of painful losses *avoided* | | | (nose, eye, ear, teeth) | | 7–8 | knock out *avoided*, just | | | stunned | | 9 | stun avoided, just knocked | | | down | | 10 | knocked down | | 11 | no effect | | 12 | adrenaline surge | +-----+--------------------------------+
☯
Discussion on G+.
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