The weapons and armor system in Elemental just bugs the hell out of me. I'd really like to see more choices and have the items available actually make logical sense and reflect reality.
I'm very much surprised that there are no requirements in order to use any of the weapons or armor from what I've seen. Penalties from wearing armor too heavy like combat speed would make a lot of sense. Your wimpy mage puts on the heavy armor but can barely move one square as a consequence invites a little more thought and provides different valid strategic options.
This is from Gurps and PD is passive defense which is the ability for a glancing blow because of the armor which improves the chance that you'll take no damage and DR is damage resistance which absorbs damage from a successful attack. TL is the Tech Level in which the ability to make that armor arrived.
Though there is always asynchronous development such as the advanced metallurgy of Celtic Gaul and their invention of "chain mail" along with exquisite fine wired jewelry or the swords from Damascus that through luck stumbled upon creating carbon nanotubes from trace deposits in the Indian iron which granted the swords amazing strength and flexibility.
The myth of armor severely impacting your speed is partly as said in the article because of the late medieval practice of jousting and partly because of the role of tailored armor. Quality armor made specifically for your build doesn't restrict movement that much and is significantly more comfortable than piecemeal stuff just "put together". If you've ever had a men's wearhouse suit and then put on a quality tailor made business suit you might have an idea of the difference.
http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=849
| Item |
TL |
PD |
DR |
Cost |
Weight (lbs.) |
| Clothing |
any |
0 |
0 |
~$20 |
2+ |
| Winter clothing |
any |
0 |
1 |
~$60 |
7+ |
| Padded cloth armor |
1-4 |
1 |
1 |
~$100 |
14 |
| Light leather |
1-4 |
1 |
1 |
~$150 |
10 |
| Heavy leather |
1-4 |
2 |
2 |
~$200 |
25 |
| Jack (see notes) |
3 |
2 |
3 |
~$375 |
17 |
| Light Mail |
3-4 |
2 |
3 |
~$1750 |
18 |
| Med. Mail |
3-4 |
3 |
4 |
~$1100 |
30 |
| Heavy Mail |
2-4 |
3 |
4 |
~$550 |
45 |
| Medium Banded Mail |
3 |
3 |
4 |
~$1650 |
35 |
| Heavy Banded Mail |
3 |
3 |
4 |
~$825 |
50 |
| Scale armor |
2-3 |
3 |
4 |
~$750 |
40 |
| Brigantine |
3-4 |
3 |
4 |
$1250+ |
35 |
| Half plate |
3-4 |
4 |
5 |
$2000+ |
40 |
| Light plate |
3-4 |
4 |
6 |
$4000+ |
35 |
| Heavy plate |
3-4 |
4 |
7 |
$6000+ |
55 |
| Jousting plate |
3-4 |
4 |
8 |
$10000+ |
110+
|
http://www.gamesdiner.com/sites/gamesdiner.com/files/GLAIVE_Mini_v1_0_for_GURPS_4e_0.pdf
The above provides a simple guide that could allow the creations of any type of weapon you've never heard of with all sorts of different weights and sizes. How much damage does a two handed weapon wielded by a 14 foot tall ogre do that ways 40 lbs?
Most weapons weigh a lot less than most people think. I've seen people wield a claymore in one hand and manipulate it like others use an epee. About 3 pounds is a good broadsword and 5 pounds is most two handed weapons from claymores to katanas. So that equates the metal stat in Elemental to one metal is equal to a handful of pounds of iron...
I'd like to see modifiers to different building materials. Like bronze swords to iron to steel to midnight etc...
