Bone SDC?

[Gulzhad]

What would the SDC of bone be? I want my main villain to have a bone helmet. I'm thinking the SDC should be between 15-20 as bone is fairly brittle when it gets old.

[Nightmask]

Closer to 5-10 SDC, as bone just wasn't made to take impacts. Even your skull cracks pretty easily when hit, as bones are generally build to bear the stresses along the length (which is why a leg bone could potentially support an engine block when situated lengthwise but easily crush it when pushing across the cross-section) and have all that flesh that acts as a buffer to reduce the chances of it breaking from an impact.

[Gulzhad]

Okay, thank you!

[Nightmask]

Okay, thank you!

You're welcome. It'd be some odd bone that'd be gifted with a fair amount of SDC.

[Noon]

The angle of impact is one of those 'abstracted' things. People have been hit in the skull by bullets, but because the angle was more to the side basically the bullet ricocheted off (though leaving a massive gouge in the skin).

[The Dark Elf]

For striking bone with metal weapons PFRPG gives them no SDC just an AR of 9. A called shot over nine and the bone shatters.

It is written for bone weapons vs metal weapons but would be a good sarting point for your ruling.

[Gulzhad]

I could of course give it a slightly better SDC than clothe armor, but make the AR like a five...

[Gulzhad]

The guy already died, we might have another bone wearing guy though.

[JuliusCreed]

If memory serves correctly there's info in the Yin-Sloth Jungles book about using bone for weapons and armor... I remember weapons at the very least. perhaps something can be extrapolated from that for making armor as well.

[Nightmask]

You could always have it enchanted so it works better if its supposed to be frightening or somthing

I can't imagine much reason beyond decorative uses you'd be using bone for myself, unless you had it enchanted to be more useful or were like a Necromancer and could somehow gain powers from it.

[azazel1024]

Closer to 5-10 SDC, as bone just wasn't made to take impacts. Even your skull cracks pretty easily when hit, as bones are generally build to bear the stresses along the length (which is why a leg bone could potentially support an engine block when situated lengthwise but easily crush it when pushing across the cross-section) and have all that flesh that acts as a buffer to reduce the chances of it breaking from an impact.

Must be a big engine block. My entire engine with accessories only weighs about 300lbs and I can tell you from experience my femur wouldn't crack supporting that weight down through the radius. Might not be pleasant, but it won't break. Of course longitudinally it can support well over 1000lbs compared to maybe 300-400lbs through the radius. The longitutidnal maximum is more a function of the ball of the femur probably breaking off or breaking the hip socket than it is the main structure of the femur breaking though.

For a skull helmet, I'd simply give it an AR of 9 like Yin-Sloth has. Any attack that hits that penetrates the AR causes the helmet to shatter and be worthless. If it is a particularly massive skull, like a small dragon skull or something that is supernaturally or magically tough, I'd give it a higher AR, like maybe 10 or higher up to the AR of the creature it came off maybe minus a point or two (assuming the skin, scales, hide provided a bit of the AR) of with an SDC equal to about 1/20th the SDC of the original creature (so if it was a dragon with 1,000SDC and an AR of 14 or 15 I'd give the Dragon helm an SDC of 100 and an AR of 16).

Human and mortal creatures, short of a really impressive animal that would have a very thick skull, just use AR of 9 and no SDC (again any hit over 9 shatters it).

[azazel1024]

It might help, but even fresh bone tends to shatter when it is stressed beyond its breaking point. Its a lot like ceramic. You tend not to be able to have functional but damage ceramic. It is either just fine and intact, or else it is shattered. Pretty much the same way with bone. I'll grant you that you can damage bone without shattering it, but you have to pretty much carve it carefully. Smack it hard and it'll just shatter (either with a blunt instrument or a bladed weapon).