Dueling Cape

Ultimate Equipment Guide II

Author Greg Lynch, J. C. Alvarez

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2005

Though it is not uncommon for people to go armed at all times, carrying about armour or a shield is a different story. For the individual who wants an alternative to his trusty shield, there is the dueling cape. Constructed of heavy velvet and shot through with hundreds of metal threads, the dueling cape is a stouter garment than it seems. It drapes from the neck of the wearer, hanging down his back. Generally, the left side of a dueling cape is longer than the right, hanging all the way to the level of the wearer’s knees, while the right side drapes only to his waist (on a left-handed wearer, this is reversed). If the wearer of the dueling cape finds himself in combat, he may, as a move action, grab the lower corner of his cape and wrap the slack around his arm. The heavy material of the cape acts as an impromptu buckler, increasing the armour class of the wearer by one for as long as the cape holds out. As sturdy as the cape’s construction is, it is not truly armour and will almost surely be destroyed
in a protracted battle.

Any blow that strikes the dueling cape (that is, any blow that would have hit the cape’s wearer if not for the cape) deals its damage directly to the cape itself. A dueling cape has a hardness of 5 and 5 hit points. Once the cape’s hit points are gone, it is too badly damaged to continue functioning as a buckler. Though the dueling cape can be repaired with a needle and thread, it is impossible to repair the damage of a fight without the repairs being obvious, unless magic is used. For that reason, many people prefer to simply buy a new cape.

Dueling Cape: 45 gp; 4 lb.