Topic: Questions on Dragon Skin Armor treasure

[Bruce]

I rolled for random treasure and the party has found a suit of Dragon Skin Armor. The description for the armor is that it gives a bonus of +80 to DB and has no associated maneuver penalties. But are there casting penalties? There is only one character in the group who would wear it but he is a Warrior Mage. It would make sense that it has no casting penalties because it is from a dragon of all things and they can cast spells.
Also, does the armor adjust to fit the wearer?

[Thom @ ICE]

Nicholas would need to give any official ruling - however, my input would be -

* Self-adjusting armor - I would say that it does not. Just makes it way too powerful.  The armor form is not it's natural form, so why would it change just because it was put on someone?

* Casting Penalty - since the penalty is a combination of material type and how it impacts mana access/flow - I would retain the Plate penalty of 10 PP.  Dragons don't get that penalty because they are actually one with the armor itself - but simply wearing it does not make it part of you.

* Maneuver Penalty - lack of associated maneuver penalties assumes that the armor is custom fit to the character, therefore using HARP rules as a basis and considering the risk/benefit for this armor - I would use UF MaxMP = -250, UF MinMP = -50, with MxMP = 0, Min MP =0.  Therefore, in order to get the full Man Penalty benefit, the armor really needs to be customized - at a high cost, and a risk of failure. 

If Armor by the piece rules are used -
* Casting Penalties = Same as plate
* UF Man Penalties = Plate*1.25   (Ex: Plate Boots = 20 (UF Max MP); Dragonskin Boots = 25 (UF Max MP))

[dagorhir]

You can find the details about Dragonskin armor in Martial Law (page 51). It falls into Rigid Leather base.

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

Dragonskin armor is fully detailed in Martial Law, and it does have casting penalties. It will not be self-adjusting unless it has been additionally enchanted.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

[Thom @ ICE]

That's what I get for trying to answer early in the morning without digging out the books.
Thanks for clarifying.

[Bruce]

Dragonskin armor is fully detailed in Martial Law, and it does have casting penalties. It will not be self-adjusting unless it has been additionally enchanted.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

Awesome! Thanks everyone for chiming in. The only difference is the description under Dragonskin armor in the treasure tables it states, "...this armor grants a +80 bonus to DB and has no maneuver penalties associated with it at all." So I am thinking there is no MM penalty associated with this armor.
On that note how would being unfitted affect the wearer?   

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

You can choose to consider that the treasure table entry is for a specific set of armor that has been further enchanted to remove maneuver penalties. Note it does have a higher cost than Martial Law "standard" dragonskin armor. You might use the UF penalties from Martial Law.

Best wishes,
Nicholas