Improvised armor

[pendell]

So I'm looking at this article (http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/2/28/egypt-special-the-7-best-helmets-of-the-revolution.html), and my first reaction was "what?"

Then I figured it out -- the reason one guy is wearing a saucepan, and the other guy is wearing a brick on his head, is because they're participating in a demonstration. Where rocks could be thrown and stuff could fall on your head.

So, in the absence of army helmets or construction helmets or anything better, these folks improvise hard hats.

Which brings up the question.

Imagine you are sitting at your table and one of your characters improvises a helmet out of -- to take the most egregious example -- a lamb salad and two baguettes. After you pick yourself off the floor -- what AC bonus would you give? A standard light helm is only 1 AC in the first place, but realistically speaking ANYTHING hard on your head is better than nothing or cloth ... right?

So how would you adjudicate this?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[pendell]

Thinking about this ... Here's the solution I thought of on the way home:

Grant 1 point of protection BUT

1) Shatter rule: When in combat, if 1d20 to-hit is < [some number], object shatters, or falls off, or becomes otherwise unuseable. Helmet is considered destroyed for game purposes. What that number is depends on the specific object selected.

2) In the case of something like a pail, where you actually have to lift it up to see what you're doing, penalties to dexterity, evasion, and co.

3) In the case of something particularly silly looking, charisma penalties.

Problem : This is too complicated. Rule zero "You can't do that" works, but is a cheap solution.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Curmudgeon]

So how would you adjudicate this?
I'd just go with the standard rules: a helmet is part of a whole suit of armor, and doesn't do enough by itself to boost your AC by even half a point overall. It would only provide a benefit in particular circumstances, such as missiles coming in from directly above the wearer where the head becomes a much more likely target. So you could have it provide +1 to AC when the attacker is above the improvised helmet wearer.