Rosewood Armor
Rosewood armor is a leather suit bound in living, thorn-bearing rose vines. In Pathfinder 1e, the vines act as armour spikes, turning a defensive garment into a weapon at close quarters. They also need a gallon of water every day, a serious consideration far from streams and wells.
Rosewood Armor at a Glance
- What it is: leather armour entwined with special rose vines.
- Pathfinder protection: +2 armour bonus, maximum Dexterity +6, 15 lb., costing 50 gp.
- Thorns: function as armour spikes, including the edition’s normal grapple and weapon rules.
- Daily care: at least one gallon of water; neglect leaves ordinary leather armour.
- Best suited to: travellers who can keep the vines alive and fighters expecting close physical struggle.
Rosewood Armor Rules by Edition
A living suit with a simple bargain: feed the roses with water, and their thorns protect the wearer in a close fight.
D&D 2024 — Rosewood Armor
Rosewood Armor (campaign equipment)
| Armor | Armor Class (AC) | Strength | Stealth | Weight | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosewood Armor | 11 + Dex modifier | — | — | 15 lb. | 50 GP |
Light Armor Training. The suit bears living rose vines with hard thorns. Thorn attack: you can attack with the thorns as a Martial Melee weapon when taking the Attack action, dealing 1d4 + your Strength modifier Piercing damage on a hit.
Grappling: once on each of your turns, when a creature fails its saving throw against the Grapple option of your Unarmed Strike, the thorns deal 1d4 Piercing damage without another action. A free hand is still required for the Grapple. The thorns grant no bonus to AC or extra attack.
Keep the vines alive: give them at least 1 gallon of water every day. If neglected, they wither, and the suit becomes ordinary Leather Armor (AC 11 + Dex modifier; 10 lb.) without thorn attacks. Donning or doffing takes 1 minute.
D&D 2014 — Rosewood Armor
Rosewood Armor (campaign equipment)
| Armor Name | Cost | Armor Class (AC) | Strength | Stealth | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosewood armor | 50 gp | 11 + Dex modifier | — | — | 15 lb. |
Light armour proficiency. Thorn attack: make one attack with the living thorns in place of a melee weapon attack when taking the Attack action. The thorns are a martial melee weapon, dealing 1d4 + Strength modifier Piercing damage on a hit.
Grappling: once on your turn, when you successfully grapple a creature with a Strength (Athletics) check contested by its Athletics or Acrobatics, the thorns deal 1d4 Piercing damage, without another action. A free hand is still required. The thorns grant neither a bonus to AC nor an extra attack.
Water: the vines require at least 1 gallon each day. Without it they die, leaving ordinary Leather Armor (AC 11 + Dex modifier; 10 lb.) with no thorn attack. Donning or doffing takes 1 minute.
Pathfinder 1e — Rosewood Armor
Rosewood armor statistics
| Armor | Cost | Armor/Shield Bonus | Maximum Dex Bonus | Armor Check Penalty | Arcane Spell Failure Chance | Speed (30 ft.) | Speed (20 ft.) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosewood armor | 50 gp | +2 | +6 | 0 | 10% | 30 ft. | 20 ft. | 15 lb. |
Vines and thorns: This suit counts as leather armor fitted with armor spikes. Use Pathfinder 1e’s normal rules for armour spikes, including their weapon proficiency, attacks and grapple interactions; Medium spikes deal 1d6 piercing damage and Small spikes deal 1d4.
Water each day: The vines need at least 1 gallon of water daily. If not watered, they wither and die, leaving ordinary leather armor. The lost vines no longer provide the spiked-armour benefit; do not invent regeneration or magical healing for them.
It is light armour: +2 armour bonus to AC, maximum Dex +6, armour check penalty 0, 10% arcane spell-failure chance where applicable, and normal Pathfinder light-armour donning rules. Source: Archives of Nethys, Rosewood armor (Adventurer’s Armory p. 18).
D&D 3.5e — Rosewood Armor
Rosewood Armor (campaign equipment)
| Armor | Cost | Armor/Shield Bonus | Maximum Dex Bonus | Armor Check Penalty | Arcane Spell Failure Chance | Speed (30 ft.) | Speed (20 ft.) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosewood armor | 50 gp | +2 | +6 | 0 | 10% | 30 ft. | 20 ft. | 15 lb. |
Living thorns: treat the vine growth as armor spikes: a martial light piercing weapon dealing 1d4 damage for Small creatures or 1d6 for Medium, ×2 critical. It can be used in a permitted melee/off-hand attack or grapple under the 3.5e rules; a character without martial weapon proficiency takes −4 on grapple checks made to use the spikes. The armor’s enhancement bonus does not enhance the thorns as a weapon.
Water: the vines require at least 1 gallon a day. When they wither, the suit becomes ordinary leather armor and loses its spike attacks. Dead vines must be replaced with living growth.
Rosewood Armor in Play
At the river crossing. A watch patrol corners a vine-armoured traveller at a narrow ford. The traveller can defend herself with a dagger and use the living thorns under Pathfinder’s armour-spike rules when an enemy grabs her. The spikes do not grant a free automatic attack whenever someone brushes against the suit; use the edition’s actual combat actions.
On a dry road. A fighter heading into hot, dusty country must set aside a gallon of clean or otherwise usable water for the vines each day, as well as the party’s own drinking supply. Travellers can keep the suit wet at a river camp, but an ill-supplied desert crossing makes the armour’s special advantage difficult to maintain.
Keeping the Armour Alive
Rosewood armour has two distinct parts: a conventional protective leather suit and the cultivated rose growth surrounding it. The leather must still be inspected for tears, seams and damaged straps; the vines need daily water. When neglected, the vines die and the suit becomes ordinary leather armour. New living growth is needed to restore the thorns.
The distinction matters when buying or trading the suit. A customer can inspect sound leather and vigorous thorns, and should ask how the vines were cultivated and kept alive during transport. It is an unusual adventurer’s tool, not a substitute for a garden, nor an automatic source of poisons or spells.
Related Armour and Sources
See Leather Armor, Armor Spikes and the Armour & Shields catalogue.
Rules sources: Pathfinder 1e Archives of Nethys — Rosewood armor, Pathfinder Core Rulebook — armor spikes, D&D 2024 Equipment, D&D 2014 Equipment, D&D 3.5e SRD Armor. Pathfinder rosewood statistics from Adventurer’s Armory, Paizo Publishing. The original illustration attribution is retained above.
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