I didn't want to hijack the other thread on Elder Scrolls and D&D, so I am creating this new thread.
Elder Scrolls armor class rules are interesting, and allow the player to consider armor as a set of components rather than as a suit or armor. D&D (5e) has a simple rule that treats your armor as a set and computes probabilities for hits based on the one number. Because of this, items like helmets, greaves, bracers, faulds don't have any mechanics that would make a player pleased they obtained a better item, unless the DM just gives the item a +1 or other bonus.
How could we create a system that would make items of armor significant, rather than just brush the whole thing saying you have a chest plate so your AC is this. What about the rest of your armor?
Or is this just too crazy and more trouble than it is worth? After all, when computers are programmed to handle all the things "UNDER THE HOOD" you can do some things you just don't want to tackle on "pen and paper."
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Armour seems to fall into 2 distinct categories (which coincidentally work with elder scrolls); light armour and heavy armour. Light armour relies on your ability to dodge most hits and offers extra protection if you do get hit (hence adding dexterity) and heavy armour relies on just taking the hit.
The concerns then with having multiple parts of armour is that it will allow mixing and matching, at which point you have to think of how to make these work when one group adds dex and the other doesn't.
One potential solution is to give a "Dexterity modifier" for armour which only affects the dexterity added to the saves. At that point, heavy armour can have -1 (minimum 1) and light armour can have 0, and each piece of armour also has an AC which is added to the base of 10.
I'd go for body, legs and arms as the 3 sections for ease - whilst boots & helmets are cool, I feel boots can roll into the lower armour and helmets should be their own thing anyway.
so studded leather is 12+dex, so you need +1AC for body, +1/2AC for legs and +1/2AC for arms, with no dexterity limit as they are light armour.
Plate armour is AC18 so you're looking at +4AC for body, +2AC for legs and +2AC for arms. The arms & legs offer -1 to dex each, and the body gives -1 to dex, totaling -4dex. This means that if your dex modifier is +4 or less, it can't be added, and +5 becomes +1.
Now to combine - plate arms & legs and leather body - you get +1AC for body, +4AC for legs & arms, -2 dex for arms & legs, meaning you have AC 15 + (dex - 2). so if dexterity is +4, you get AC 17.
I didn't want to hijack the other thread on Elder Scrolls and D&D, so I am creating this new thread.
Elder Scrolls armor class rules are interesting, and allow the player to consider armor as a set of components rather than as a suit or armor. D&D (5e) has a simple rule that treats your armor as a set and computes probabilities for hits based on the one number. Because of this, items like helmets, greaves, bracers, faulds don't have any mechanics that would make a player pleased they obtained a better item, unless the DM just gives the item a +1 or other bonus.
How could we create a system that would make items of armor significant, rather than just brush the whole thing saying you have a chest plate so your AC is this. What about the rest of your armor?
Or is this just too crazy and more trouble than it is worth? After all, when computers are programmed to handle all the things "UNDER THE HOOD" you can do some things you just don't want to tackle on "pen and paper."
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Armour seems to fall into 2 distinct categories (which coincidentally work with elder scrolls); light armour and heavy armour. Light armour relies on your ability to dodge most hits and offers extra protection if you do get hit (hence adding dexterity) and heavy armour relies on just taking the hit.
The concerns then with having multiple parts of armour is that it will allow mixing and matching, at which point you have to think of how to make these work when one group adds dex and the other doesn't.
One potential solution is to give a "Dexterity modifier" for armour which only affects the dexterity added to the saves. At that point, heavy armour can have -1 (minimum 1) and light armour can have 0, and each piece of armour also has an AC which is added to the base of 10.
I'd go for body, legs and arms as the 3 sections for ease - whilst boots & helmets are cool, I feel boots can roll into the lower armour and helmets should be their own thing anyway.
so studded leather is 12+dex, so you need +1AC for body, +1/2AC for legs and +1/2AC for arms, with no dexterity limit as they are light armour.
Plate armour is AC18 so you're looking at +4AC for body, +2AC for legs and +2AC for arms. The arms & legs offer -1 to dex each, and the body gives -1 to dex, totaling -4dex. This means that if your dex modifier is +4 or less, it can't be added, and +5 becomes +1.
Now to combine - plate arms & legs and leather body - you get +1AC for body, +4AC for legs & arms, -2 dex for arms & legs, meaning you have AC 15 + (dex - 2). so if dexterity is +4, you get AC 17.
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