ExHunterEmerald
2007-05-30, 01:35 PM
Breakaway Belts
They'd chased the monster for days. Each attempt on his life had been foiled, aided in no small part by the heavy breastplate that had turned aside dozens of potential killing blows. But finally they'd caught the beast on the night of the moon.
Imagine their surprise, Isaac thought in his last few moments of clarity before the curse overtook him, when the armor changed with him.
There are numerous solutions to the "problem" of armor during a lycanthropic shift. Some went to magic, and others went to more pragmatic solutions.
Breakaway belts are one of the more simple innovations that's proven effective. They come in two varieties.
Breakaway Belts
Breakaway belts are useful in several ways, but the general purpose is to release armor hastily. Werecreatures with armor they don't want damaged often replace the normal straps on their armor with them--during a change, the belts simply snap and release the armor shell, preventing harm to the gear.
Though easy to produce and easier to design, the long-term costs of using breakaway belts is
Using a breakaway built outside of a lycanthrope
The user may voluntarily snap the belts as part of a move action to remove his armor.
Sliding Belts
Though called a form of breakaway belt, this is a misnomer. These complex bands actually slip their notches when force is applied to them in a certain way, loosening. Lycanthropes and size-changers almost exclusively create and use these.
Armor with Belts
When a lycanthrope in breakaway belts changes size categories(upwards) his armor will simply slough off.
When using sliding belts, the lycanthrope's armor will remain on him and undamaged as the belts loosen. He retains any bonuses his armor provides.
To craft a breakaway belt, one must make a Craft (Leatherworking) check and have leather scraps worth twenty gp, as well as crafting tools. If they're designed to simply break, the crafter must only make two checks. The first is DC 15, to craft the belts. The second is DC 15 plus the base (non-magical bonus) AC of the armor he is applying the belts to. If the first check succeeds and the second fails, he's created the belts, but been unable to properly apply them to his armor to function right.
If the second check fails by five or more, he's damaged some of the belts attempting to work them onto the armor, and must spend half the required materials again, as well as remaking the DC 15 craft check.
To craft a sliding belt, the process is similar, but the checks are DC 20 and DC 20 plus double the base AC of the armor he is applying them to.
Most of those who use breakaway belts design them themselves, because the costs of replacing them (and the questions that might be raised as to why so many are used) can be prohibitive.
They'd chased the monster for days. Each attempt on his life had been foiled, aided in no small part by the heavy breastplate that had turned aside dozens of potential killing blows. But finally they'd caught the beast on the night of the moon.
Imagine their surprise, Isaac thought in his last few moments of clarity before the curse overtook him, when the armor changed with him.
There are numerous solutions to the "problem" of armor during a lycanthropic shift. Some went to magic, and others went to more pragmatic solutions.
Breakaway belts are one of the more simple innovations that's proven effective. They come in two varieties.
Breakaway Belts
Breakaway belts are useful in several ways, but the general purpose is to release armor hastily. Werecreatures with armor they don't want damaged often replace the normal straps on their armor with them--during a change, the belts simply snap and release the armor shell, preventing harm to the gear.
Though easy to produce and easier to design, the long-term costs of using breakaway belts is
Using a breakaway built outside of a lycanthrope
The user may voluntarily snap the belts as part of a move action to remove his armor.
Sliding Belts
Though called a form of breakaway belt, this is a misnomer. These complex bands actually slip their notches when force is applied to them in a certain way, loosening. Lycanthropes and size-changers almost exclusively create and use these.
Armor with Belts
When a lycanthrope in breakaway belts changes size categories(upwards) his armor will simply slough off.
When using sliding belts, the lycanthrope's armor will remain on him and undamaged as the belts loosen. He retains any bonuses his armor provides.
To craft a breakaway belt, one must make a Craft (Leatherworking) check and have leather scraps worth twenty gp, as well as crafting tools. If they're designed to simply break, the crafter must only make two checks. The first is DC 15, to craft the belts. The second is DC 15 plus the base (non-magical bonus) AC of the armor he is applying the belts to. If the first check succeeds and the second fails, he's created the belts, but been unable to properly apply them to his armor to function right.
If the second check fails by five or more, he's damaged some of the belts attempting to work them onto the armor, and must spend half the required materials again, as well as remaking the DC 15 craft check.
To craft a sliding belt, the process is similar, but the checks are DC 20 and DC 20 plus double the base AC of the armor he is applying them to.
Most of those who use breakaway belts design them themselves, because the costs of replacing them (and the questions that might be raised as to why so many are used) can be prohibitive.