Armour

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Metal Armours

Chult is a hot and humid land. Average temperature during daylight is 36 C (96 F), basking under the tropical sun. Humidity makes the heat feel even more unforgiving. While conditions are still tolerable, traditional metal can make it a lot more difficult as the metallic surface may become so hot it's hard to touch or wear.

Heat and Exhaustion

During daylight, wearing medium or heavy armour with a substantial amount of metal provokes +1 level of Exhaustion in about 20 minutes. This Exhaustion can only be recovered over the course of a Short Rest cooling off in a shade and drinking water. In case the environment turns even hotter, above 38 C (100 F), this exhaustion is added on top of any extra exhaustion from the regular rules in the DMG page 110. These rules also apply to shields.

Less Travel Time

This can significantly slow down travel time in the best hours of day, while the sun is high and the jungle is not so dark. Adventurers who insist in wearing metal all the time can half the pace of advance for the entire group.

No AC bonus without preparation

The GM will assume adventurers won't be wearing any armour if they don't specifically prepare for combat. In these conditions, any surprise attack or emergency situation is a risk.

Items Affected

These are the common types of protection from the PHB that are affected by the 20-minutes rule:

MediumHeavyShields
  • Scale Mail
  • Breastplate
  • Half Plate
  • Banded
  • Ring Mail
  • Chain Mail
  • Full Plate
  • Splint
  • Plate
  • Shield, buckler
  • Shield, large, steel
  • Shield, small, steel

Chultan Armor Options

Chultans wear different types of armours to avoid these issues as much as possible. They are made of dinosaur hide, beads and scale of giant beasts. They also tend to wield large, colourful leather shields that can cover their entire body from a hailstorm of arrows (or Batiri darts...).

ArmorCost in GPACStrengthStealthWeight in Lb.
Light     
Beaded2512 + Dex  15
Fetish2511 + Dex  5
Woven Cord1011 + Dex  10
Medium     
Chain Shirt15013 + Dex (max 2)  20
Giant Snake Scales7514 + Dex (max 2) Disadvantage45
Bone breastplate
(Stegosaurus)		60014 + Dex (max 2)  15
Giant Beetle Half Plates95015 + Dex (max 2) Disadvantage35
Heavy     
Ankheg Carapace4014 Disadvantage40
Giant Dragonfly "Scales"10016Str 13Disadvantage47
Salamander Scales45017Str 15Disadvantage60
Bone Plate Mail
(Euoplocephalus)		220018Str 15Disadvantage50
Shield     
Buckler, wooden     
Large Wicker Shield5+2  10
Wicker Body Shield15+3Str 12 15
Parrying20+3Str 12 6
Large Leather Shield2+1  8
Beaded armor. This armor is made from beads and woven leather cord. This makes the armor highly decorative, yet still provides some degree of protection to the wearer. It is most common amongst nobility and the priesthood. Unlike leather armor, beaded armor is quite comfortable in warm weather and high humidity. Fetish armor. Grisgris armor is made up of tiny pouches holding divine spell components and tied onto a leather harness. Woven Armor. This armor is made from cord, thatch, rope, wicker, or other woven material.

Jujus: Protection Charms

These hard-to-obtain amulets can only be made by the people living in the Ikembara village at the jungle of eternal twilight, near Orolunga. The unique combination of fey and primordial energies creeping from this corner of Chult enables the creation of jewelry that, in the right conditions, can protect nearly as well as body armors. They create an aura of deflection that mechanically works like DEX modifiers to AC with some more features but also limitations.

Rules

  • Needs attunement.
  • They are custom-made by a witch doctor: after attunement, it binds to the character. De-attunement destroys the juju.
  • Provide additional DEX bonus that only works for the purpose of AC calculation. (And are therefore constrained by Medium and Heavy armors.)
  • They have daily charges to cast a certain spell, like wands - but over-usage may destroy the juju. After using the last charge, a roll of 1 in a d20 exhaust its magic forever.
  • Weight is negligible.

List of Jujus

Juju CharmCost in GP+DEX mod to ACSpellDaily ChargesRarity
Barriers     
--+1 3Uncommon
--+1 3Uncommon
--+2 2Rare
Buffs     
--+1---
--+1---
--+2---
Debuffs     
--+1---
--+2---
--+2---
Recovery     
--+1---
--+2---
--+2---