tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post3850193928529450766..comments2024-03-14T10:32:29.233-05:00Comments on Blood of Prokopius: Holmes & Cook: Armor ClassFrDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-10133658379478642242011-06-13T13:38:04.865-05:002011-06-13T13:38:04.865-05:00Why should I wear Plate when I can carry more gold...<i>Why should I wear Plate when I can carry more gold out of the dungeon by wearing Leather?</i><br /><br />I don't think equal, but certainly pros vs. cons. While Leather lets you move faster, Plate is more durable*:<br /><br />WEAPON (DR VS. LEATHER/CHAIN/PLATE)<br />Blunt (DR 0/1/2)<br />Sharp (DR 1/0/2)<br />Pointy (DR 0/2/1)<br /><br />Second, I'll improve the performance of heavier armour vs. non-weapon damage (e.g., fire, acid, green slime) by either reducing overall damage by the above, by limiting the number of such attacks the armour is useful against, or by applying the DR to the wearer's save**.<br /><br />I think you can smooth out any min/maxing by providing an opportunity for players to think strategically about armour. Leather lets you move faster, but after 1 fire attack, it's useless. Plate slows you down, but fast and dead is still dead. <br /><br />_______________<br />* A revision of my earlier table, starting with a minimum DR 0 instead of DR 1<br />** Though this could be reversed against electric attacksErin Smalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085303583608172242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-7904075616107089142011-06-10T11:49:07.879-05:002011-06-10T11:49:07.879-05:00@Clovis
I'd be very interested to see how this...@Clovis<br />I'd be very interested to see how this compares with Erin's suggestion of armor being a DR...I see some play testing in my near future...<br /><br />@Paul @ Zenopus<br />Thanks for the references! This is what I love about our little corner of the blogosphere...<br /><br />@Erin<br />I am very intrigued (as I am ever interested in weapon vs. AC charts); however, I wonder if this set-up doesn't essentially make all armor equal. Why should I wear Plate when I can carry more gold out of the dungeon by wearing Leather?FrDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-58796664237539551472011-06-10T08:41:44.742-05:002011-06-10T08:41:44.742-05:00What kind of DR would you give various kinds of ar...<i>What kind of DR would you give various kinds of armor (given d6 universal damage vs variable weapon damage)?</i><br /><br />I'd base DR on weapon type against the armour worn (especially if you're using d6 for all damage).<br /><br />Categorize each weapon as blunt, sharp, or pointy; you might have something like:<br /><br />WEAPON (DR VS. LEATHER/CHAIN/PLATE)<br />Blunt (DR 1/2/3)<br />Sharp (DR 2/1/2)<br />Pointy (DR 3/2/1)<br /><br />Not playtested, but I think this might actually enhance the universal d6 damage approach by lending just a smidge of differentiation to each arm.Erin Smalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085303583608172242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-13322797999066167662011-06-09T23:08:07.087-05:002011-06-09T23:08:07.087-05:00Holmes page 20 has:
"Magic armor and shields ...Holmes page 20 has:<br />"Magic armor and shields subtract from the the combat die roll of anyone striking at them, and the armor and shield bonuses are simply added together to determine the subtraction".<br />(Same type of rule Paul pointed out).<br /><br />By the time of B2, Gygax had gone the other way, and details AC of less than 2 (pg 3, 1st print) for the Holmes ruleset.Zenopus Archiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069501995927451558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-82722676573100938862011-06-09T18:40:38.141-05:002011-06-09T18:40:38.141-05:00I say this because, what does one do with the bonu...<i>I say this because, what does one do with the bonuses of magical armor? If the lowest AC found in the game is AC 2 and one is armored with a +1 shield and plate +1, what good does all that magic do?</i><br /><br />Gary must have recognized this problem early, because <i>Monsters & Treasure</i> specifically dictates that magic armor be treated as a penalty to the attacker's ability to hit.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12096724870715714696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-82611781582258933292011-06-08T19:49:17.829-05:002011-06-08T19:49:17.829-05:00Shields
A house rule I used in my DnD days is to ...Shields<br /><br />A house rule I used in my DnD days is to have shields reduce damage from successful hits with results less then -1- being treated as one <br /><br />Damage reduction was based upon shield construction<br /><br />1 point for light wood or wicker<br />2 points for timber or reinforced wood/ buckler<br />3 points for iron, acrylic or reinforced timber<br /><br />Magic bonus would apply to damage reduction;<br />Therefore, <br />a +2 iron shield reduces damage 5 points; however,<br /><br />a small shield only applies against one attack,, <br />a medium shield only applies against two attacks, and <br />a large shield only applies against three attacks per combat roundClovis Cithoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18208194219083373456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-76619798882012969292011-06-08T16:56:11.580-05:002011-06-08T16:56:11.580-05:00@Erin
What kind of DR would you give various kinds...@Erin<br />What kind of DR would you give various kinds of armor (given d6 universal damage vs variable weapon damage)?FrDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-51546634039378885552011-06-08T16:12:21.072-05:002011-06-08T16:12:21.072-05:00There are lots of possibilities once you decouple ...There are lots of possibilities once you decouple shield from AC. Given the lack of bonuses in Holmes, I'd favour a system whereby all attacks are made against No Armour, with an attack penalty equal to the DB, and damage reduction based on the armour worn.<br /><br />Magical plusses for armour increase the DB (shields) or damage reduction (armour). Magical plusses for weapons simply add to the attack roll.<br /><br />I think this would also scale well to Cook, even with the STR and DEX bonuses (i.e., STR increases melee "to-hit" and damage, while DEX increases missile "to-hit" and DB).<br /><br />It also gets rid of the "plusses are good, even though you want a low AC" thing, which has upset my sense of order since 1981. ;)Erin Smalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085303583608172242noreply@blogger.com