What type of armor are the Bracers? Can Wizard/Warlock use?

[CavemanLogic]

I'm using the HQ 2021 game.

Question regarding the Bracers... What can they be combined with? I guess that depends on what kind of Armor they are. Here is the card text:

BRACERS: "Armor - These hardened leather bracers give you 1 extra Defend die. May be combined with the helmet and/or shield. 550 gold coins."

There seems to be two classifications of armor: Body Armor (Chain, Plate, Borin's Armor, etc), and "Accessories" (for lack of a better word) such as the Helmet and Shield. The main question is where to classify Bracers.

1) Looking at the Bracers, they more closely resemble Accessory Armor items (which cover your appendages), and can stack their defense with the Body Armor Items (which actually cover your core body). So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Accessory Armor.

2) But Bracers include the text "May be combined with the helmet and/or shield" which is also found on *all* of the Body Armor items and *none* of the Accessory Armor items. So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Body Armor.

3) The image on the Chain Mail card shows a Hero wearing Chain Mail along with what look like Bracers. Worth noting that the Chain Mail shown does *not* cover the arms at all, just the Hero's core body. So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Accessory Armor.

4) The Plate Mail image, unlike the Chain Mail, shows Plate Mail providing protection for the core body as well as full arm protection. Wearing Bracers under (or over) Plate Mail arm protection shouldn't offer any additional protection. So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Body Armor.

5) But If Bracers exist as Body Armor, then there is little reason for Chain Mail to exist. Chain Mail is 50 gold cheaper, but Bracers offer more protection from the Pit of Darkness trap in Against the Ogre Horde. So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Accessory Armor.

6) So, if Bracers are Accessory Armor, and can be combined with Chain Mail, then there is no reason for Plate Mail to exist. Plate Mail already includes arm protection which would presumably *not* stack with the Bracers. Chain Mail + Bracers costs 1,050 gold (200 more than Plate Mail's 850 gold), but then you are not slowed to half speed like you are with the Plate Mail. So, +1 for calling Bracers a form of Body Armor.

Hmmm, tied 3-3. I don't know. But seeing as how the Heroes get overpowered fairly easily in the game, I'm assigning the most weight to item #2 in the list above, and will simply call them Body Armor henceforth. It just simplifies things that way. The Bracers card says "they may be combined with the Helmet and/or Shield," so that is *all* they can be combined with. And that text being present on the card indicates that they are another form of Body Armor.

Anyone care to change my mind?



And a related question: can the Wizard/Warlock use Bracers? The evidence:

1) The Bracers card does *not* include the text "May not be used by the Wizard" or "May not be worn by the Wizard." The Chain Mail, Plate Mail, Borin's Armor, Helmet, and Shield cards all contain one of those two sentences. So, barring a typo, that seems to indicate that the Wizard is allowed to use Bracers.

2) The back of the Wizard's Hero card includes the text "however, you cannot wear armor or use large weapons." The Bracers card clearly states (in bold) that it is "Armor." The back of the Warlock's Hero card includes "Counts as wizard hero in terms of which weapons, artifacts, and equipment they can use." The Bracers card has an "Equipment" card back.

Personally, I allow the Wizard/Warlock to use Bracers, but was wondering how you guys rule it.

Cheers!

[HispaZargon]

Hi. Zargon twitter account already confirmed the Bracers may not be combined with Chain Mail, so I think officially the Bracers should be considered as a Body Armor type, which may be used by the Wizard since the opposite is not declared anywhere and its higher gold cost than Chain Mail could be then justified. In my understanding, I prefer considering the Bracers as a Leather Armor or Leather Reinforcements which may be used by the Wizard instead of just a couple of brazalets.

[lestodante]

Original version of BRACERS (UK 1990) "May only be used by Wizard" but were not available in the US Game-System.
I guess they tried to insert them back again in the new release but did a lot of mistakes with the translation or mixing the rules of both US and UK versions.

[wallydubbs]

Yes, originally the Bracers we're only available in the European version on the game, it was only designed for the Wizard as an extra form of defense along with Cloak of Protection, which was irrelevant in the North American version due to the inception of the Wizard's Cloak. For whatever reason the original North American version didn't carry over this form of equipment....
Until now.

In recreating the game much of the quest maps and notes were left as in... But when it came to cards Hasbro made a few extra steps, bringing back equipment and potions that had previously only existed in the European version. The reinvented Bracers we're made for any character, but not compatible with chainmail. They intentionally did this because of the new characters (Warlock, Druid, Bard and Rogue), they couldn't just single out the Wizard anymore and therefore upped the price, making it more expensive then chainmail because all these other "heroes" can't even wear a helmet, so they have less to spend their gold on and can save up on this item. I believe this to be the reason it was brought back.
So yes, all heroes, including the new ones may wear this piece of armor.

[Kurgan]

Yeah I take it as Bracers are just more expensive armor for the Wizard, and combined with the Wizard's Cloak make him a little more durable than he was in the classic NA edition (though still far weaker than he could be in the EU 2nd edition). The Warlock has the same armor rules as the Wizard so if she's playing, same thing.

The Bracers take the place of body armor, I suppose, and once purchased, there's nothing that says another hero couldn't use them instead of selling them back to the Armory for half price value if the original owner dies or no longer wants them for some reason.

I would have preferred that the remake editions preserved the old rule sets from the various localized editions from the classic era but I also appreciate that in deciding to universalize the NA rules of 1990 they also sought to include at least some unique elements from the other editions into the "new" ruleset, trying to give us a "best of."