Totte - combat

Introduction

Combat is not uncommon in fantasy game settings that are the target of Totte. Monsters try to eat player characters, player characters try to rob monsters from treasure and often the pen is not yet mightier than the sword. While the aim of the game is not to have the players themselves hammering away, their characters can. Combat can provide interesting game play if it tasks the players with the tactics and leaves the actual skullduggery to the characters. But Totte is primarily a roleplaying game, not a combat game. Therefore it offers a combat system that is centered around its concept of feats. Standard feats provide a basis, but can be extended with improvisations that make use of the environment and also the creativity of the players.

Flow

Rounds

To keep things simple, Totte divides combat into rounds that are approximately 20 seconds long. During each round, each participant in combat may attempt one feat. 20 seconds may seem somewhat long for simple feats, but remember that nothing is simple in the chaos of combat. Threats, feints, other distractions and maneuvering take up most of time, often far more than the actual feat. Combat rounds keep succeeding each other until the combat ends because the losing side has been defeated, makes a run for it, surrenders or otherwise stops fighting.

Missile rate of fire

Like hand weapon fighters, missile weapon users can often fire multiple missiles in one round. But to make sure that they hit, they have to aim carefully, limiting their rate of fire to one missile per round. Some missile weapons are so slow to reload that they cannot even achieve that rate. Their users must spend one or even multiple rounds loading, before they can take a shot. These rates of fire are listed in the missile weapon table.

Initiative

In combat, attacks and counterattacks alternate. Each round a fighter may make an attack and his opponent also. Totte sticks to a random order that is determined by the roll of a 20-sided die. The dice are rolled and feats are attempted in the order of the die roll results, from low to high. Each fighter must state his attempted feat (or none, if he wants to wait and see) at the start of each round, before the die rolls.
The GM may allow players to change their feat before it is attempted, if the new feat is compatible with the former, or needs very little preparation. If a character is incapacitated before attempting his feat, then the attempt is aborted. If initiative is equal, attacks occur simultaneously and effects, if they succeed, also. In dire situations, this might result in a 'mutual kill', where two fighters incapacitate each other at the same time.

Example

Four little hobbits, Adam, Bud, Chris and Danny, are attacking an ogre. All state that they try to hit the enemy with a normal melee attack; the ogre picks Adam as a target. At the start of the round, initiative is rolled and comes up with 10 for Adam, 3 for Bud, 8 for Chris, 19 for Danny and 8 for the ogre.
Bud attacks first. He tries to jab his sword into the foot of the ogre and succeeds. The ogre yowls in pain and starts hopping on one foot.
Chris and the ogre are next, at the same time. Chris hits too, wounding the ogre so much that the brute gets a penalty to attack and defense. However this is not applied immediately, only after the ogre has completed his own attack, as it is simultaneous. The ogre smacks his club against Adam's head, knocking him senseless.
Adam would be next, but he is out cold and so cannot do anything.
Finally it is Danny's turn. His player states that he intends to zip out a healing potion from his bag and pour the contents down Adam's throat. The GM rules that this requires too much time and must wait until the next combat round. Grumbling, the player states that instead he will try to cut the ogre's belt, so that his trousers will drop down to his ankles. As this involves mostly the same maneuvering as a normal melee attack, the GM approves this right away. The ogre now gets a penalty to defense, increasing Danny's chances, but the attempt still fails. In the next round his player can decide to try again, try to apply the healing potion, or do something else.

Attack and defense

Combat is struggle and thus almost all feats in it meet opposition. To make a successful attack, the first thing to do is to break through the defense of the opponent. This requires threats, feints and finally a real attack. Though base difficulty for an attack feat is just zero, the ability of the defender serves as difficulty for the attacker, possibly raising the bar a lot. Attack-defense feat checks are highly random, i.e. a result of 1, 2 or 3 on the d8 random die roll lowers the result and a 6, 7 or 8 raises it.

Totte discerns three styles of fighting:

Melee

Melee is hand-to-hand combat, where two or more fighters engage each other at fairly close range. Ability for both attacker and defender is the sum of dexterity talent, melee skill and the melee factor of the weapon that is wielded. The defender gets a bonus from using a shield, if he wields one.

Example

Bloody Bert the barbarian engages Hans the farmer in melee. Bert has a high dexterity, is an expert melee fighter and wields a battle axe. He has an ability of dexterity 5 + melee skill 4 + battle axe melee 2 = 11. Hans tries to protect his family. He has an above average dexterity, is only a student of melee and wields a pitchfork. The GM assigns him a bonus of 1 point because he is desperately fighting for the lives of his family as well as his own. This comes down to a total ability of dexterity 4 + melee skill 2 + pitch fork melee 3 + desperation bonus 1 = 10.
If Bert attacks Hans, his feat score is 11 - 10 = 1. If Hans attacks Bert his feat score is 10 - 11 = -1, which means he needs at least one lucky random die roll to succeed.

Formation

Formations are generally broad groups of fighters lined up in one or more rows. There is very little room for maneuver; the reach of the weapons is much more important. In formation fighting, formation skill is used instead of melee skill and weapon formation factor instead of melee factor. The shield bonus for the defender is doubled.
If a group of fighters adopts a melee formation, enemies who want to fight hand-to-hand are forced into formation combat too, whether they have the appropriate skills and weapons or not. Formation fighting is always forward. If enemies manage to outflank the formation or attack from the rear, then it is the other way around, with the formation fighters being forced into melee combat. Therefore formations are usually wide, to prevent this. The situation can favor formation fighting, for instance when a small number or possibly even a single fighter is defending a narrow recess. Another possibility is the charge with lance of a knight from horseback, which ensures that at least the first attack will be a formation attack.

Example

Hans from the previous example has managed to retreat to the door opening of his barn, where he is joined by Johan, his twin brother who has same stats and weapon. Together they form a small formation against Bert. Both the barbarian and the farmers are less skilled in formation fighting than in melee, though Bert still outranks his opponents.
Because the combat is now a formation fight, Bert's ability is dexterity 5 + formation skill 2 + battle axe formation 0 = 7. Hans and Johan both have an ability of dexterity 4 + formation skill 1 + pitch fork formation 3 + desperation bonus 1 = 9.
If Bert attacks Hans or Johan, his feat score is 7 - 9 = -2. Hans and Johan may both get an attack at Bert with a feat score of 9 - 7 = 2.
The odds for attack and defense have shifted in favor of the farmers, though Bert is still superior when dealing damage. If he manages to cut down either Hans or Johan, the combat will become a melee once more, as the barn door is too wide to by defended by a single fighter.

Missile

In missile combat fighters throw or shoot missiles at each other. Ability for the attacker is the sum of dexterity, shooting skill and weapon missile factor. Difficulty by the defender is dexterity minus body size plus a triple shield bonus, so with one reversed factor.
Again missile fighters may force others into missile combat by engaging them from a distance. If the fighters armed with hand weapons can close that distance without being shot down, the combat will turn into melee or a formation fight.
Missile attacks are affected by several environmental factors. For details, see the skill list. Unlike melee and formation attacks, they are not affected by encumbrance.

Example

Harefoot the warrior is shooting at Clubfoot, who is charging at him with a club. Harefoot has above average dexterity, is an expert archer and wields a hunting bow. His ability is dexterity 4 + missile skill 4 + hunting bow 1 = 9. Clubfoot has average dexterity and protects himself with a small shield. He provides a difficulty of dexterity 3 -body size 0 + 3 * shield 1 = 6, so Harefoots feat score is 9 - 6 = 3.
However, being afraid of the club he engages Clubfoot from 180 meters, which is long range for his hunting bow. He receives a -3 penalty to his attack feat and if he manages to hit, a -2 penalty to the damage feat.
He misses and notches another arrow. By the time he is ready to shoot again, Clubfoot has closed the distance to 120 meters, medium range. Harefoots attack penalty becomes -2 and his damage penalty -1.

Dealing damage

If an attacker manages to break through the defense of an opponent, she can do damage. Again this a contested feat, though it takes negligible time and is not counted for the one-feat-per-round rule; it is attempted immediately after a successful attack feat. Combat damage feats, unlike other damage feats, have normal randomness, so a 1 or 2 on the d8 die roll lowers the result and a 7 or 8 raises it.

There are different types of attack:

Wounding

Is an attempt to wound and possibly kill an opponent. The factors for ability are the strength of the attacker, a fixed -3 penalty and the wound score of his weapon. An exception are crossbows; these use twice the body size instead of strength. The factors for difficulty are two times the body size of the defender and the protection score of his armor. Though physical, wounding feats are not affected by encumbrance penalties.

Example

Bloody Bert from the previous example has managed to break through the defense of Hans. Now his great strength and his somewhat clumsy battle axe will show their power. His ability is strength 5 - fixed penalty 3 + battle axe 5 = 7. Hans is of course human-sized; he wears no armor. He provides a difficulty of 2 * body size 0 + armor 0 = 0. So the feat score is a terrifying 7 - 0 = 7.
If Hans manages to break through Bert's defense, his ability is strength 4 - fixed penalty 3 + fork 2 = 3. Bert is also human-sized and wears a suit of mail and an open helmet. He provides a difficulty of 2 * body size 0 + armor 2 = 2, so Hans' feat score is 3 - 2 = 1.

Wound damage inflicts penalties to physical feats, including combat feats like melee, formation or missile attacks. It also applies to dealing or receiving damage itself, though at a halved rate (rounded down). The defender may neither counter combat wound damage with dexterity (as this already plays a part during the attack), nor with health (as body size and armor take over that role).

Example

Bloody Bert grazes Hans' arm for 0 points of wound damage. The random die roll yields a 4, meaning no change. Technically this is a wound and Hans suffers some pain, but not enough to inflict any penalty.
But next Bert hits him again, this time for 2 pain points. Hans rolls a 2 on the random die roll and then a 4, so the damage is lowered to 1. This gives him a -1 penalty to physical feats.
Now Bert has a little less trouble hitting him and breaks through Hans' defense once more. The damage is 1 point, unchanged by the random die roll. Because the second wound hampers Hans, he cannot evade as much damage as he normally would. The damage is increased by total penalty 1 / 2 = ½, rounded down to 0, so it remains 1 point. Phew! This third wound gives Bert another -1 penalty, which is cumulative with the first for a total of -2.
Finally Bert strikes for the fourth time, dealing 2 more points of health damage. Again randomness brings no adjustment, but previous wounds increase it by total penalty 2 / 2 = 1 point to 3 pain points. This is a serious wound that gives a -4 penalty to physical feats, raising Hans' total penalty to -6.
Bert now has an easy time hitting Hans, who finds it nearly impossible to break to Bert's defense. The physical penalty would increase the damage of another hit by 3 points, very possibly killing him. Hans falls to his knees and begs for mercy.

Pummeling

Tries to inflict concussion damage, rather than bleeding wounds. As for weapons, their pummel score is used instead of their wound score. This causes closed wounds instead of open wounds, which are not progressive because they cause but little bleeding. See the section on unhealth for details. Like wounding feats, pummeling feats, though physical, are not affected by encumbrance penalties.

Grappling

Aims to pin the opponent down. Ability score for both attacker and defender is strength, dexterity and the grapple score of the weapon used. Grappling does not inflict pain points but grip points. These inflict the same physical penalties as pain points do, but can be 'healed' much more quickly, simply by releasing or breaking the grip. A 'lethal' wound of 5 grip points immobilizes the defender; a 'devastating' wound of 6 or more points is a choking hold that will kill him in a minute or so.
Grappling is unique in that the attacker is penalized as well as the defender, though only half as much (rounded down). Also, the defender may launch counter-grappling attacks, either to grapple the attacker in turn, or to break out of a grip. Unlike wounding and pummeling, grappling feats are affected by encumbrance.

Example

Mongo the wrestler attacks Langy the snakeman, using grappling. His damage feat ability is strength 6 + dexterity 3 + bare hands 5 = 14. Langy is smaller but nimble; his damage ability is strength 3 + dexterity 4 + bare hands 5 = 12.
Mongo makes the first successful attack. His feat score is 14 - 12 = 2. He rolls a 2 on the random d8 for a -1 penalty, then a 4 for no further modification. The final damage is 1 grip point. This gives Langy a -1 penalty to physical feats; Mongos own penalty is 1 / 2 = ½, rounded down to 0.
Later Mongo makes another successful attack. Now he is more lucky on the random die rolls, which increase the damage from 2 to 3 grip points, serious damage. The random die roll does not modify it. Langy gets an second penalty of 4 points, bringing his total to 5; Mongo gets a 2 point penalty because his maneuverability is limited too.
Langy sees that he is at a disadvantage, so instead of trying to get a grip of his own, he tries to break loose. Despite his -5 penalty, he manages to make a counterattack. His damage feat score is 12 -14 = -2. The gods favor him and he rolls an 8 three times in a row, increasing the damage to 1 grip point. This offsets part of his penalty, bringing it back to -4. Should he manage to pull this off some more times, he can break free and try to make a run for it.

Non-standard feats

Only dull fighters stick to the routine of attacking, defending and dealing damage in the standard ways. Smart warriors use tactics, psychology and the environment to their advantage. They may bluff others into defeat, disarm them or push them off cliffs; duck behind tavern tables or swing by chandeliers; cut the heads off spears, try to stab an opponent in the arse; and so on - anything goes. This usually translates into non-standard feats, for which ability and difficulty have to be established by the GM on the spot.

Example

Francois the mercenary is trying to convince a merchant to hire his services, but previous attempts using charisma have failed. He decides to impress the merchant with his fighting ability and states to the GM that he suddenly whips out his dagger and swipes the merchant's hat from his head, then catches it with the dagger and presents it back with a flourish.
The GM decides that, as the merchant does not expect something like this at all, this comes down to a double melee attack, the first the knock the hat off and the second to catch it. The merchant will not use his melee skill (which is low anyway), but may use his dexterity to wince away from the first attack. The second feat gets a fixed difficulty of 10 because the flying hat is a small, fast moving target. Both feats are set as highly random. Damage rolls will not be made.
The ability for both attacks is determined at dexterity 4 + melee skill 3 + dagger 2 = 9. The difficulty for the first feat is dexterity 3 + no skill allowed 0 + unarmed 0 = 3, so the first feat score is 9 - 3 = 6. Francois' player rolls 2 on the random d8 for a -1 penalty, then a 4 for no further modification. The first feat ends up at 6 - 1 = 5, a clear success. For the second feat the score is 9 - 10 = -1. Luckily, the player rolls an 8 on on the random d8 for a +1 bonus, then a 3, so the feat ends up at -1 + 1 = 0, just enough.
The merchant gets his hat back but is shocked and somewhat frightened by the maneuver. He quickly hurries off and leaves Francois still without an employer.

Group fights

The simplest form of a fight is a duel: one fighter against one other. At other times multiple combatants can participate, possibly on both sides. The GM will split large fights up into smaller ones, to create groups that are as small as possible. For example a combat of two against two can be split into two separate duels.
Even with large fights broken up, a single fighter may still find himself pitted against multiple opponents. In a melee, the larger party should try to surround the loner. Each fighter beyond the first gets a cumulative +1 bonus to attack feats, as the loner has a hard time defending against attacks from all directions. If the fighters are of (roughly) equal size, an effective maximum number of 6 can surround the loner and attack her. A fighter who is outnumbered should try to find something to cover his back and possibly sides too.

Example

Rollo the hero has opportunistically charged into a group of enemy soldiers. At first he faces opposition by three enemies. They roll initiative; one enemy precedes Rollo; two follow afterward. The first soldier attacks normally; Rollo counterattacks normally; the second soldier gets a +1 bonus; the third soldier a +2. Meanwhile the others move to surround Rollo, who starts to realize his mistake.
In the second combat round he is attacked by six enemies, with bonuses ranging from +0 to +5. Rollo comes fourth in the initiative queue and survives the first three attacks. At his own turn he manages to brush one of his opponents aside and break out to the relative safety of a nearby wall. He survives the other three attacks too.
In round three Rollo fights with his back to the wall. He now has to face four opponents, two in front of him and one on each side. They receive bonuses ranging from +0 to +3.

When two formations line up against each other, each fighter usually attacks the enemy in right front of him. If there are fewer opponents, multiple formation fighters can attack them, receiving bonuses just like in melee. But because they must keep formation, the number of attackers is limited to three: the fighter directly opposite to the loner plus her immediate neighbors to the left and right.

Example

Robin Hood and Will Scarlet are fighting against four soldiers of the sheriff of Nottingham, who are armed with spears and have the sense to fight side by side. All soldiers want to claim the reward for taking Robin down and try to do so, but only the leftmost three can reach him as Robin is to the right of Will's sword arm. The fourth soldier attacks Will because he has no other choice. Robin can counterattack the man on the left side of the group of soldiers or the two in the center; Will can face the man on the right side or also the two center soldiers.

Armor and weapons

In the tables below, weights are in kilograms and lengths in meters. The number of H's denotes the number of hands needed to wield the weapon properly.

Melee weapons

				Attack and defense			Damage
Type	Weight	Length	Hands	Melee	Formation	Missile	Wound	Pummel	Grapple
hand weapons
unarmed	0	0	H	0	0	0	0	0	5
knuckles	0.2	0	H	0	0	0	1	1	4
swords
dagger	0.6	0.35	H	2	0	0	2	0	0
short sword	1.2	0.60	H	3	0	0	2	0	0
medium sword	1.4	0.80	H	4	0	0	3	1	0
fencing sword	1.0	1.35	H	6	1	0	2	0	0
battle sword	1.5	1.05	H	4	1	0	4	2	0
long sword	1.6	1.35	HH	4	1	0	5	3	0
two-hander	2.8	1.60	HH	3	1	0	6	4	0
axes
hand axe	1.3	0.55	H	1	0	0	3	1	2
battle axe	2.0	1.05	HH	2	0	0	5	3	1
great axe	2.6	1.60	HH	1	0	0	6	4	0
clubs
light club	0.9	0.55	H	2	0	0	1	2	0
heavy club	2.1	1.00	HH	2	0	0	3	4	0
morning star	2.5	1.50	HH	1	0	0	5	6	0
maces
light mace	1.5	0.55	H	2	0	0	2	3	0
heavy mace	1.8	1.00	HH	2	0	0	4	5	0
picks
light pick	1.2	0.55	H	2	0	0	2	0	1
heavy pick	1.9	1.00	HH	2	0	0	4	2	1
trashing weapons
sap	0.7	0.30	H	0	0	0	1	2	0
nunchaku	0.8	0.75	H	1	0	0	1	2	1
chain	1.5	1.20	H	1	0	0	1	2	2
flail	2.5	0.95	H	1	0	0	2	3	2
scourge	0.8	0.90	H	0	0	0	1	0	2
whip	2.3	2.15	H	1	0	0	1	0	2
staffs
half staff	0.5	0.60	H	3	0	0	1	1	0
short staff	1.5	1.30	HH	5	1	0	1	2	0
long staff	4.0	2.00	HH	4	2	0	2	3	0
lances
light lance	3.5	3.00	H	0	4	0	2	0	0
medium lance	4.5	3.50	H	0	5	0	2	0	0
heavy lance	5.2	4.00	H	0	6	0	2	0	0
spears
javelin	0.9	1.20	H	2	0	0	2	0	0
short spear	1.5	2.00	H	2	2	0	2	0	0
medium spear	2.7	3.50	HH	0	4	0	2	0	0
pike	4.0	5.00	HH	0	6	0	2	0	0
polearms
harpoon	1.5	1.60	H	2	1	0	2	0	1
winged spear	2.6	2.80	HH	1	4	0	2	0	2
halberd	3.2	2.90	HH	1	3	0	5	3	2

Missile weapons

The ranges listed in the table below are maximum effective a.k.a. 'long' ranges. Missile weapons can be thrown / fired up to 1½x further a.k.a. 'extreme' range, though at greatly reduced accuracy.

						Attack and defense			Damage
Type	Weight	Length	Hands	Fire rate	Range	Melee	Formation	Missile	Wound	Pummel	Grapple
thrown spears
dart	0.4	0.45	H	1	75	0	0	3	2	0	0
javelin	0.9	1.20	H	1	50	0	0	3	3	0	0
rotators
shuriken	0.1	0.10	H	1	15	0	0	0	1	0	0
dagger	0.6	0.35	H	1	20	0	0	0	2	0	0
hand axe	1.3	0.55	H	1	25	0	0	0	3	1	0
boomerangs
boomerang	0.2	0.6	H	1	100	0	0	1	2	3	0
hand bows
shortbow	0.4	1.10	HH	1	100	0	0	1	0	0	0
hunting bow	0.6	1.65	HH	1	200	0	0	1	1	0	0
longbow	0.8	1.80	HH	1	250	0	0	1	2	0	0
composite bow	0.7	1.10	HH	1	300	0	0	1	2	0	0
crossbows
wooden crossbow	2.8	0.85	HH	1	180	0	0	4	1	0	0
eighth crossbow	2.5	0.80	HH	1	200	0	0	4	2	0	0
quarter crossbow	3.0	0.85	HH	1/2	250	0	0	4	2	0	0
cavalry crossbow	5.0	0.70	HH	1/2	300	0	0	4	3	0	0
infantry crossbow	7.0	0.75	HH	1/3	350	0	0	4	4	0	0
siege crossbow	8.0	0.95	HH	1/3	400	0	0	4	5	0	0
slings
sling	0.1	0.80	H	1	300	0	0	1	2	3	0
staff sling	0.5	1.20	HH	1	200	0	0	2	3	4	0
entanglers
net	1.5	2.00	HH	1	10	0	0	1	0	0	6
chain	1.5	1.20	HH	1	10	0	0	1	1	2	3
rope	1.2	5.00	HH	1	15	0	0	1	0	0	4
bolas	1.0	0.60	H	1	50	0	0	1	1	2	3
blowguns
hunting blowgun	0.6	2.50	HH	1	150	0	0	1	0	0	0
war blowgun	0.4	1.50	HH	1	75	0	0	1	1	0	0
catapult
slingshot	0.2	0.40	HH	1	100	0	0	2	1	1	0

Artillery

Ballistas and catapults use torsion to build up energy; traction trebuchets (perriers) use human weight and muscle power to hoist a projectile up; counterweight trebuchets store energy in lifting a counterweight that can be 100x heavier than the projectile. Ballistas fire in a shallow ballistic trajectory; catapults at a medium one; trebuchets lob at a high arc. Most ballistas shoot large bolts, some fire stones instead. Catapults and trebuchets fire stones, flaming pots, bombs, offal, dead animals or even prisoners. Just as siege engines can fire multiple types of ammunition, it can handle not just a single caliber, but a range of sizes and weights. Thus artillerists can use light ammunition for high range with relatively low damage, or heavy ammunition for shorter range but more damage. At maximum, artillery can fire missiles about 3 times heavier than the average listed in the table below. Like with hand held missile weapons, ranges listed are 'long'. All artillery suffers from slacking fibers in wet weather and from significant wear and tear in use, catapults the most because of their heavy backlash.

Type	Weight	Height	Crew	Fire rate	Range	Ammunition	Attack
light ballista		1	4	1/3	350	3½	3
medium ballista			6	1/3	325	10	3
heavy ballista		3½	8	1/4	300	25	3
light catapult				1/4	400	10	1
medium catapult				1/6	300	30	1
heavy catapult				slow	200	80	1
light traction trebuchet		4	20	1	130	2	2
medium traction trebuchet			50	1	120	6	2
heavy traction trebuchet			150	1	100	20	2
light counterweight trebuchet	5,000		20	slow	200	40	3
medium counterweight trebuchet	10,000		35	slow	180	80	3
heavy counterweight trebuchet	22,000	18	60	slow	160	160	3

Shields

Shields are normally wielded if the "off" hand, next to a weapon in the "main" hand.

Type	Weight	hands	Defense
cavalry	4	H	+1
medium	7	H	+2
body	10	H	+3
pavise	12	HH	+4

Armor and helmets

Armor and helmets are important in keeping a character from being wounded in combat. But they come with a range of disadvantages, like hampering movement, the senses, and making noise. Wearing armor the whole day long is exhausting and sleeping in it will prevent proper resting. Lastly they tend to acquire damage, rust and filth, so need frequent maintenance.
In Totte armor and helmets are classified by cover and construction.

Cover

Helmets cover the head and neck; armor the body, to varying degrees. Three categories of body cover are discerned, each covering more than the succeeding ones.

Helm: head, neck
Cuirass: torso, shoulders
Coat: torso, shoulders, upper arms, upper legs
Full suit: torso, shoulders, arms, hands, legs, feet

The GM may introduce other categories. For example in antiquity it was common to supplement a cuirass with greaves, i.e. shin protectors, while leaving the upper legs mostly unprotected. One historical example is included in the armor suits table ahead: the haubergeon, which is halfway between a byrnie and a hauberk.

Construction

Armor can be constructed in several ways. Not all construction types can be used on all parts of the body. Helmets are almost always of plate construction.

Construction	Description	Breathing	Cleaning	Repair
Cloth	Multiple layers of quilted cloth	bad	difficult	moderate
Scale	Small overlapping scales attached to an undercoat	good	difficult	hard
Lamellar	Small metal lamellae attached to each other	bad	average	easy
Coat of plates	Medium plates of metal sewn into an undercoat	bad	average	moderate
Brigandine, splint	Strips of metal riveted into an undercoat	bad	average	moderate
Laminar	Large overlapping bands	moderate	difficult	moderate
Mail	Interlocking rings, preferably riveted together	good	easy	hard
Plated mail	Mix between mail and plate	moderate	difficult	hard
Plate	Large plates, linked together by rivets and straps	bad	difficult	very hard

Armor that 'breathes' well has a better internal airflow. This is less exhausting in high temperatures, though more chilly in the cold.
Cleaning mail armor is as easy as putting it in a sack with sand and rolling it over to scrub it clean. Other types of armor require manual washing and scrubbing, sometimes even partial disassembly and re-assembly.
Basic repairs to counter wear and tear require a cloth working / leather working / metalsmithing feat (whichever is applicable). The feat difficulty is 3 for easy maintainability; 6 for moderate; 9 for hard; 12 for very hard.

Helmets and armor suits

Cover combined with construction determines most attributes of armor and helmets. The table below lists common armor types together with attributes. The list is by no means complete; many variations are possible (see below).

Armor	Construction	Cover	Weight	Perception	Acrobatics	Stealth	Protection
Skullcap	plate	helm	1½	0	0	0	0.3
Open helm	plate	helm	2	-1	0	0	0.6
Half open helm	plate	helm	3	-2	0	0	0.9
Closed helm	plate	helm	3½	-3	0	0	1.2
Small gambeson	cloth	cuirass	4	0	0	0	0.6
Large gambeson	cloth	coat	7	0	0	0	1.0
Scale cuirass	scale	cuirass	6	0	-1	-4	1.0
Scale coat	scale	coat	11½	0	-2	-6	1.8
Brigandine	brigandine	cuirass	10	0	-2	-2	1.8
Brigandine coat	brigandine & splint	coat	17	0	-3	-3	3.1
Lamellar cuirass	lamellar	cuirass	10½	0	-2	-3	2.0
Lamellar coat	lamellar	coat	20	0	-4	-4	3.8
Laminar armor	laminar	cuirass	8	0	-2	-4	1.5
Byrnie	mail	cuirass	7½	0	0	-3	1.3
Haubergeon	mail	short coat	11½	0	0	-4	2.0
Hauberk	mail	coat	14	0	-1	-4	2.4
Plated mail cuirass	plated mail	cuirass	9	0	-1	-4	1.7
Plated mail coat	plated mail	coat	16½	0	-2	-7	3.1
Plated mail suit	plated mail	full suit	22	0	-3	-10	4.2
Plate cuirass	plate	cuirass	9½	0	-2	-4	1.9
Half plate	plate	coat	18	0	-4	-7	3.5
Full plate	plate	full suit	24	0	-6	-12	4.8

The perception penalty is applied to feats that require intensive use of the senses, which are muffled by helmets.
The acrobatics penalty applies to many feats that involve acrobatics skills. For feats that require less but still significant litheness, like hiking skills, penalties may be halved. Note that combat itself is excluded from this list, though encumbrance penalties resulting from insufficient strength do apply there.
The stealth penalty is applied to feats that require a character to move silently.
To get a final protection score, add the scores from the helm and armor up and round down to the nearest whole number.

Stacked armor

Armor can be combined by wearing a cuirass under or over a coat, suit or another cuirass. For example a lamellar cuirass can be worn over a hauberk, or a byrnie with a hauberk to create a 'double mail' armor. Coats and suits themselves are too bulky to be combined with themselves or each other. A cuirass and one other armor piece is the maximum; a triple stack is also too bulky. The protection score of the stacked armor is the sum of that of the parts; the weight and cost too. Acrobatics and stealth penalties are not cumulative; here the maximum penalty is taken, though a fixed -1 penalty is added to the acrobatics score.

Examples

Poor Tom can only afford cheap armor, but wants at least 1 point of protection. He opts for a large gambeson, nothing else.
This set weighs 7 kilograms and offers 1.0 protection. His perception penalty is 0, acrobatics 0 and stealth 0. The cost is 15 shude.
Skinny Markus wants the best armor for the lowest price. He wears a large gambeson with a smaller one over it, so he looks a lot fatter than he is. On his head he puts an open helm.
This set weighs 7 + 4 + 2 = 13 kilograms and offers 1.0 + 0.6 + 0.6 = 2.2 protection, rounded down to 2. His perception penalty is -1, acrobatics -1 and stealth 0. The cost is 15 + 8 + 18 = 41 shude.
Ragnar the viking jumps from his longship clad in a hauberk, peering through the sockets in his spangenhelm (an open helmet).
This set weighs 14 + 2 = 16 kilograms and offers 2.4 + 0.6 = 3.0 protection. His perception penalty is -1, acrobatics -1 and stealth -4. The cost is 70 + 18 = 88 shude.
Francois the crusader wants protection from those nasty Arab arrows. He wears a byrnie and a hauberk, topped off with an open helm.
This set weighs 7.5 + 14 + 2 = 23.5 kilograms and offers 1.3 + 2.4 + 1.2 = 4.3 protection, rounded down to 4. His perception penalty is -1, acrobatics -2 and stealth -4. The cost is 35 + 70 + 18 = 123 shude.
Gabriele the mercenary captain wants good armor that allows some mobility; he is quite rich from various plunderings. He settles for a half plate with a barbute (a half open helmet) on top.
This set weighs 18 + 3 = 21 kilograms and offers 3.5 + 0.9 = 4.4 protection, rounded down to 4. His perception penalty is -2, acrobatics -4 and stealth -7. The cost is 180 + 22 = 202 shude.
Boyar Boris wears a traditional plated mail suit with a half open helmet.
This set weighs 22 + 3 = 25 kilograms and offers 4.2 + 0.9 = 5.1 protection, rounded down to 5. His perception penalty is -2, acrobatics -3 and stealth -10. The cost is 175 + 22 = 197 shude.
Baron Von Schwein needs the best armor available, which is a full suit of plate armor plus a bascinet (a closed helmet).
This set weighs 24 + 3½ = 27½ kilograms and offers 4.8 + 1.2 = 6.0 protection. His perception penalty is -3, acrobatics -6 and stealth -12. The cost is 240 + 25 = 265 shude.

Non-average equipment

The stats in the table above are for armor and helmets constructed of mild steel, of average thickness, size and quality. Larger or smaller armor costs more or less respectively, almost proportionally so, penalizing giants but benefiting halflings. Thicker, denser or more overlapping armor increases weight, protection value and cost proportionally. Likewise thinner or sparser armor decreases those properties. Use of better materials like modern hard steel instead of mild steel, or better craftsmanship in the form of more smoothly interlocking parts, lacquering and the like can give either decrease the weight, increase the protection score, improve durability or combination of these. Its cost will be higher too, usually rising faster than the effective quality. Of course poorer equipment is either heavier, weaker or both, though for a lower price. Penalties to perception, acrobatics and stealth are seldom affected by quality.

Extra armor

Optionally, standard armors may be supplemented by extras. Examples are loose gauntlets and greaves to protect some of the body parts that are left exposed by a coat, or high boots to add both combat protection and fancy looks. Because of the myriad possibilities, Totte offers no guidelines here. GMs who are willing to detail armor into its individual components will establish lists of equipment parts and values for their attributes.

Combat stats calculator

If you are unaccostumed to Totte combat, calculating effective combat stats can be confusing. To help you out, a calculator is available on this website. Vary the input parameters based on your characters and situation, then have the software do the math for you.