Worldbuilding and Character Development for 5E D&D Inspired by Game of Thrones — Chain Shirt

While rewatching Game of Thrones all the way through for a second time recently the series engaged me in different ways this time around. It’s fun knowing the fate of characters and watching how each step along the way influences the outcomes. In addition being caught up in the spectacle the first time around I simply missed a lot of the nuance. Like countless other fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons nerds the show appeals to me as a source of gaming inspiration too. One particular standout from Game of Thrones is the armor worn by warriors across Westeros and Essos. A wealth of worldbuilding and character development potential for 5E D&D awaits through armor and I’m excited to explore them. Let’s get into it.

Armor offers more than protection in 5E D&D

There’s A Song of Ice and Fire from Green Ronin custom designed to reflect the realities of Westeros with play centered around noble houses and the characters from them, which I played once at PAX Unplugged. But I’m more interested in a very particular aspect of Game of Thrones I’ve always found really neat — the distinctive armor worn by people of various regions.

In 5E D&D there’s 12 kinds of armor in three different categories — light, medium and heavy — plus shields. Generally a warrior wishes to wear the best possible armor for protection in battle. I wonder if there’s not perhaps equally useful reasons for donning different armor types including worldbuilding from either side of the Dungeon Master screen.

It’s worth noting when it comes to 5E D&D mechanics I am not a believer in the necessity of squeezing every possible incremental bonus from every source. If you’re in the camp plate armor or bust you’ll have to continue reading with a grain of salt. In fact part of my curiosity in exploring this idea is wondering how armor can inform other character choices.

Light armor in 5E D&D

There’s three types of light armor in the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook plus another one found in Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. Light armor takes one minute to both don and doff.

“Made from supple and thin materials, light armor favors agile adventurers since it offers some protection without sacrificing mobility. If you wear light armor, you add your Dexterity modifier to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class.”

Light. Leather, Padded, Pride Silk Outfit, Studded Leather

Medium armor in 5E D&D

There’s six types of medium armor in the PHB. Medium armor takes five minute to don and one minute to doff.

“Medium armor offers more protection than light armor, but it also impairs movement more. If you wear medium armor, you add your Dexterity modifier, to a maximum of +2, to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class.”

Medium. Breastplate, Chain Shirt, Half Plate, Hide, Scale Mail, Spiked Armor

Heavy armor in 5E D&D

There’s only four varieties of heavy armor in 5E D&D. Heavy armor takes ten minutes to don and five minutes to doff.

“Of all the armor categories, heavy armor offers the best protection. These suits of armor cover the entire body and are designed to stop a wide range of attacks. Only proficient warriors can manage their weight and bulk. Heavy armor doesn’t let you add your Dexterity modifier to your Armor Class, but it also doesn’t penalize you if your Dexterity modifier is negative.”

Heavy. Chain Mail, Plate, Ring Mail, Splint

Making the most of chain shirt in 5E D&D

According to the 5E D&D PHB a chain shirt is made of interlocking metal rings worn between layers of clothing or leather. This armor offers modest protection to the wearer’s upper body and allows the sound of the rings rubbing against one another to be muffled by outer layers. It costs 50 gold pieces and provides an Armor Class of 13 plus Dexterity modifier up to a maximum of 2, making it the most expensive armor as well as offering the most protection so far. It weighs 20 pounds and does not cause disadvantage on Stealth checks.

There’s little love for the chain shirt to be found among official 5E D&D creatures. Subterranean commoners seem to dig their chain shirts, at least among the svirfneblin (deep gnome) and drow folk. The ubiquitous guard NPCs pair their chain shirt with a shield while priests forego the shield because perhaps it clashes with dogma or their vestments (or more likely so they have a free hand for their holy symbols). Bards from Volo’s Guide to Monsters follow in the priests footsteps while firenewt warriors take after guards for added protection.

Considering this eclectic collection of chain shirt enthusiasts it seems this type of armor acts as sort of a deterrent to violence in a psychological way. Encountering hostility from and potential battle with other sentient creatures increases the appeal of a chain shirt. It conveys preparedness and a measure of sophistication so perhaps those with harmful intent think twice. A chain shirt helps level the playing field for those who aren’t necessarily quick and nimble. An exceptionally dexterous warrior wearing studded leather armor and carrying a shield still outmatches an opponent like a bog standard guard.

Chain shirts and chain mail in general present an unusual situation as regards Game of Thrones. I’m no scholar of the show so I can’t say with 100% certainty but as I recall there is very little chain mail armor worn by warriors of Westeros or Essos that’s not a component of more comprehensive armor. Stannis Baratheon rocks some chain mail beneath a breastplate and other plate armor bits as do many other warriors. Not surprisingly the most likely place you’ll see a chain shirt on it’s own — the rank and file guards of King’s Landing. A bit of research into real life armor history shows how plate armor largely replaced chain mail, the latter sometimes proving more expensive to manufacture! This all makes sense to me and squares with my takeaways based on the creatures commonly found wearing a chain shirt.

Imagining a culture for whom the chain shirt is both the ideal armor and the pinnacle of what they can produce is a bit tricky. These warriors deal primarily with other sentient creatures for whom the first line of defense is the chain shirt’s psychological deterrent. They’re generally above average when it comes to agility and keep their options open for being sneaky. Again this reinforces why it’s the perfect armor for a guard to wear. For the subterranean folk I imagine wearing a chain shirt serves much the same purposes except their world is so dangerous that chain shirts are like everyday casual wear down there.

An soldier seems a likely candidate to rock a chain shirt. For a military person chain shirts could very well be standard issue and supplemented with greater armor when needed. Otherwise soldiers wear these personal protective body armor vests as part of their regular uniforms. A soldier’s gotta be ready to deploy, defend a base or respond to any other sort of threats at a moment’s notice after all.

• Weapons. Battleaxe, flail, glaive, greataxe, greatsword, halberd, lance, longsword, maul, morningstar, pike, rapier, scimitar, shortsword, trident, war pick, warhammer, whip
  • Curating the weapon selections for each armor type hit a snag along wht way, which I explained in previous posts about light armor. From there on out I’m flying by the seat of my pants and since hide armor got all the simple melee weapons I’m going with all the martial melee weapons this time around.
• Battle Master Builds. Bodyguard, hoplite, strategist
• Actions in Combat. Disarm, mark, shove aside
• Feats. Alert, Charger, Crusher, Defensive Duelist, Fighting Initiate (Defense, Dueling, Protection, Interception), Great Weapon Master, Inspiring Leader, Martial Adept (Bait and Switch, Commander’s Strike, Commanding Presence, Disarming Attack, Maneuvering Attack, Menacing Attack, Parry, Rally, Tactical Assessment), Medium Armor Master, Mobile, Piercer, Polearm Master, Sentinel, Shield Master, Slasher, Tough

Now comes the fun part — worldbuilding! Who are these chain shirt clad warriors? Whether this culture represents a subculture of existing society like guards or the basic garb for an entire population the chain shirt illustrates a group of people within a larger and much more dangerous world. These folks need to put the thought in other creatures’ heads that they’re more trouble to trifle with than it’s worth. Since I adore svirfneblin and among the denizens of the Underdark they’re basically the least dangerous they make an ideal lens through which to explore worldbuilding.

Sticking with incorporating a monstrosity from the Basic Rules into these worldbuilding exercises I’m taking inspiration from the subterranean folks to focus on regional life beneath the surface. There’s only one monstrosity with any modicum of Intelligence before straying too high in challenge ratings — the lamia — and this creature brings a lot to the worldbuilding table. Unlike comparable monstrosities a lamia is smart enough to recognize the increased difficulty posed by prey in chain shirts. Even with their obvious armor svirfneblin might make tempting targets either individually or as part of a caravan, encampment or village but their Gnome Cunning gives them an edge over these vain predators too. They survive by virtue of their stealth, cleverness, and tenacity after all.

And that’s the chain shirt. This series about 5E D&D armor continues to be a lot of fun (for me anyway but judging by the view count others not so much). Playing a svirfneblin soldier from a subterranean region like this sounds terrific to me. A small tweak to our Sling Master would be right up this character’s underground alley. Get them into a party with a Tunnel Runner, an Illusion Warrior and a Haunted Rogue and you’ve really got something. Alternatively a DM might put all those into a group together and give subterranean adventurers a run for their money — if they don’t all get caught by the Roper Wrangler first!

Next up for medium armor comes my favorite kind of armor — scale mail. Concepts like this armor series fly in the face of achieving numerical superiority in 5E D&D but in my experience this is the most forgiving edition of the game. There’s so much more to be gained through engaged roleplaying than the quest to have the highest numbers on a character sheet. Before bristling let me be clear I’m not suggesting optimized characters lack engagement opportunities. What I am explicitly putting forth is there’s value in considering less than optimal choices. This is not because of a perceived superiority in more mechanically challenged characters but rather simply a different set of pros and cons to help define who they are through their adventures.

*Featured image — A svirfneblin warrior of the Underdark hoping her chain shirt deters lamia and other would-be attackers. This warrior’s culture survives perhaps the most dangerous environment on the Material Plane thanks to their cunning and ingenuity. I used the amazing resources at Hero Forge to put this image together in just a few minutes with full color. I couldn’t resist the funky combination of bright day-glo colors since those in who dwell in darkness and rely on darkvision can’t see color. There’s so much you can do with Hero Forge! Check it out for yourself here.

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