Outfits – simple system
Автор: Алексей Живцов aka HellFell
Design Goals
- Provide structure to the gameplay elements assosiated with clothes.
- Retain the design phylosophy of 5e by making the rules simple and easy to use.
- Make the rules streamlined in order to easily implement them in any campaign and reduce the bookkeeping to a minimum.
- Make the rules modular and adjustable so that DMs and Players can easily come up with new outfits on the fly.
What is an outfit?
An outfit is a set of clothes that a creature wears at any given time. You don’t track each individual article of clothing on your person just like you don’t track elements of your armor. You can wear only one outfit at a time.
Each outfit has a number of properties that distinguish it from other outfits. There are three mandatory properties: Size, Lifestyle and Culture. Also, an outfit may have unlimited number of optional properties, which may have gameplay effects.
Mandatory Properties
Size
The size of an outfit can be tiny, small, medium, huge or gargantuan. A creature of one size can not wear the outfit designed for a creature of another size. For example, a warrior’s outfit made for a medium sized human will not fit a small halfling. This property affect the base price of the outfit as shown in the table
Outfit prices per size
tiny – 1/2 of the base price small – 1x of the base price medium – 1x of the base price large – 2x of the base price huge – 4x of the base price gargantuan – 8x of the base price
Optional Rule. Outfit sizes within the same category.
Outfit sizes within the same category. When adventurers find clothing, they might need to visit a tailor, leatherworker, or similar expert to make the outfit wearable. The cost for such work varies from 10 to 40 percent of the market price of the item. The DM can either roll 1d4 × 10 or determine the increase in cost based on the extent of the alterations required. Otherwise, a creature can wear the outfit but it will have disadvantage on Dexterity checks and Saving Throws.
Lifestyle
People will be judged and appreciated by what they wear so dressing according to one’s lifestyle can facilitate communication depending on what your goals are.
An outfit can be wretched, squalid, poor, modest, comfortable, wealthy or aristocratic. This property determines the base cost of an outfit as shown in the table Base Costs of Outfits.
Wretched. This outfit is ruined and serves only to cover nakedness. Slaves, poorest beggars and creatures who disregard their clothes wear wretched outfits.
Squalid. This outfit could feature cheap second-hand garments and well-worn footwear. People on the brink of poverty, prisoners, beggars wear squalid outfits.
Poor. This outfit could feature simple and homemade items such as roughspun shirts, trousers and skirts. Pilgrims, landless peasants, unskilled workers wear poor outfits.
Modest. This outfit could include adequately designed garments made of materials easily available in the area. Peasants, servants, militia soldiers, lower clergymen, ordinary workers, craftsmen wear modest outfits.
Comfortable. This outfit could feature well-designed pieces of clothing made of good quality local materials with decorative parts made of expensive materials such as silk or animal fur. Generally speaking, this outfit gives its wearer the impression of a well-off person. Professionals, artisans, scholars, owners of small businesses, clergymen and many adventurers wear comfortable outfits.
Wealthy. This outfit could feature richly decorated items of clothing made from good quality material designed for higher social stratas. Successful merchants, high clergymen, guild masters, prosperous artisans, knights in service of a wealthy master and lesser nobles wear wealthy outfits.
Aristocratic. This outfit usually includes several items made from rare and exotic materials and accompanied by a good amount of high quality jewelry. Nobles, royal families, heads of states and the wealthiest members of a society wear aristocratic outfits.
Base cost of an outfit associated with a specific lifestyle
| Lifestyle | Outfit cost, gp |
| Wretched | 0 |
| Squalid | 1 |
| Poor | 2 |
| Modest | 9 |
| Comfortable | 18 |
| Wealthy | 36 |
| Aristocratic | 90 |
Culture
An outfit almost always represents a culture in which it was designed. A waterdhavian noble finery is very different from an elven noble outfit of Evereska. A character may choose to dress appropriately depending on where the character is. This property may increase the base cost of an outfit by 2-4 times if its culture property is different from the culture of the place where this outfit was aquired. This represents the cost of import/export and rarity of such outifts in the market.
Sample Cultures: Sword Coast, Waterdeep, Evereska, Uthgardt, Northern Dwarven, Calishite, Moonshae, Halruua, Wood Elves of the High Forest, Orcs of Many-Arrows.
Optional properties
Faction
An outfit can represent its wearer as part of a faction. It can be a uniform or an outfit with distinguishing features that members of that faction recognize. A person wearing a faction outfit may pass as a member of that faction. This property doesn’t affect the base cost of an outfit.
Weather
An outfit can be made specifically for wearing it during certain weather conditions. It is usually cold weather resistant or hot weather resistant but a DM can create or improvise outfits designed against other weather conditions, be they natural or not. This property increases the base outfit cost by 3 times representing rare designs or amount of materials needed to make it.
Armor padding
This outfit is suited for wearing it with metallic medium and heavy armor. The outfit must be assosiated with poor lifestyle or higher to benefit from the armor padding property. This property increases the base cost of an outfit by 2 times and represents the amount of materials used to make it.
Sex
An outfit can be designed for a male, female or both. A person wearing an outfit that is clearly designed for a different sex may be uncomfortable to wear or attract unwanted attention depending on the social norms in the area. If no property is mentioned, the outfit is assumed to be suited for all sexes. This property doesn’t affect the base cost of an outift.
Unconventional
This outfit consists of pieces of clothing that challenge the social norms of a society, or is designed to attract attention for one purpose or another. Performers, street magicians, people with rebellious tendencies usually wear unconventional outfits.
Mixed and Matched
This outfit consits of pieces of clothing assosiated with different social classes and styles which makes it difficult to predict what class the wearer belongs to.
Creating optional properties
It is easy to create new optional properties for an outfit. Think about what make a certain outfit special, assign a name for this property and give a quick description.
Gameplay effects of properties
Benefits or penalties of properties can be assigned by a DM on individual basis. Think about what seems appropriate to the situation and assign benefits or penalties accordingly. For example, wearing an Aristocratic Calishite Unconventional outfit in the slums of Waterdeep may attract attention of local thiefs and thugs who might try to rob the character. Wearing beggar’s rugs will insure that you won’t get access to an aristocratic tavern. Wearing an outfit adorned with goblin heads and skulls may grant advantage to intimidation checks against them. Determine the mechanical benefits or penalties by talking to your players or making a desicion on your own.
Wearing armor and outfits.
You can wear wear one outfit and one set of armor at a time. If you wear a set of armor without an outfit you suffer the penalties as if you were not proficient with the armor due to lack of comfort.
If you wear armor that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells.
Selling outfits
Selling clothing follows the same rules as other mundane equipment. If it was not worn or used, it can be sold for 50% of its cost. In other cases it may be too damaged or worn to sell unless the DM rules otherwise.
Outfit formatting
Name [Size] [Lifestyle] Outfit: [culture property]; [optional properties]. [price]
[Description text]
Sample outfits
City Watch Seargant Uniform Medium Modest Outfit: Waterdeep; City Watch, Seargant; Armor Padding. 18 gp
This outfit consists of a padded coat and trousers dyed in gold-green in line with the City Watch colors, as well as sturdy leather boots and gloves. There is a distinguishing mark on the left shoulder of the coat which mark its wearer as a seargant of the City Watch.
Seven Casks Waitress Outfit Medium Modest Outfit: Baldur’s Gate; Seven Casks Inn Staff, Waitress, Female. 9 gp
This outfit consists of a corset, white cotton blouse, leather belt, dark skirt and ankle-high leather shoes. It is worn by waitresses of the Seven Casks Inn and is distinguished by a belt bucket in the form of a bronze beer cask.
Red Tiger Tribal Garb Medium Poor outfit: Uthgardt; Red Tiger Tribe; cold weather resistant; armor padding. 12 gp
This outfit consists of a warm coat, trousers, fur boots and gloves roughly sewn from animal pelts and hides.
Cloud Giant Royal Robes Huge Aristocratic outfit: Cloud Giant; Skyreach Castle. 360 gp
This outfit features a huge flowing robe made of golden silk, sandals made of supple leather and a flamboyant blue sash.
Sakkara’s oufit (player’s character) Medium comfortable outfit: Calishite; Hot weather resistant. 54 gp
Sakkara is a ranger from Calimshan working in Anauroch Desert. She wears free flowing robes and wide trousers and her outfit is adorned with multiple sashes. It also features a mask and a special headgear against the sun.
