Variant Armor

Custom rules for crafting armor from creature remains

Variant Armor Calculator

Calculate crafting time, damage reduction, and selling price for variant armor

Variant Armor Mechanics

These variant mechanics provide exciting opportunities for players to craft non-magical armor from creature remains. If a player chooses to enchant these items, they would follow the base rules for creating magic items.

⚠️ Important: Materials from a creature cannot be used to craft an armor with a higher base AC than the original creature's AC.

Crafting Time Requirements

Armor TypeCrafting Time
Light ArmorCreature's HP in hours
Medium ArmorCreature's HP × 2 in hours
Heavy ArmorCreature's HP × 4 in hours

Professional Assistance

If a professional is working on the armor, the time is reduced by a factor of 5. This can be further reduced if multiple professionals are working on it.

Base Damage Reduction

When crafting armor from creature remains, the armor gains a base damage reduction to a specific type of damage the creature was resistant or immune to:

  • If the creature was resistant: Damage reduction equals the creature's CR ÷ 2 (rounded up)
  • If the creature was immune: Damage reduction equals the creature's CR

Selling Variant Armor

When selling variant armor, add the base armor cost to 100 × the damage reduction modifier.

Example:

Selling plate armor with a fire reduction of 10 would be 1,500 + (100 × 10) = 2,500 GP