tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038639802473593786.post1138566502283104008..comments2023-04-18T05:14:17.524-07:00Comments on Runeward Games: Armor as DR--what it means for the gameAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367813349077594896noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038639802473593786.post-67245095088620777622011-06-21T22:03:44.440-07:002011-06-21T22:03:44.440-07:00I like the idea but I want to push back on the imp...I like the idea but I want to push back on the importance of having at least a -1 defense penalty because I think it is an important distinction.<br /><br />If the defense penalty ever goes to 0, then the character is always better off in the armor (particularly if it has magical effects). I guess this is ignoring things like skill or movement penalties, but let's set that aside for the moment and consider light armor.<br /><br />As soon as something always becomes the better choice, and particularly when we are dealing with equipment which varies from DM to DM, it starts to become boring and exploitable. It was like in 3e when Mage Armor died because Eldritch Mithril Chainshirts (or whatever they were) could be acquired for all of 2k. It stops being a decision and becomes obvious. At that point, character archetypes that don't fit become obsolete.<br /><br />Having the penalty, though, lets it be a strong strategy across levels, but still occasionally be worse. Even against a specific foe, depending on how the dice fall, it could be for boon or bane. That is neat.<br /><br />It also leads to neat moments and a variety of strategies. Imagine a scenario where a monster hits on an 18+ but a hit kills. The only tactic is to dodge. If the armor provides a penalty, then the smart move is to take it off and that will *feel* different (even if it is basically cosmetic). If armor provides no penalty, then nothing changes.<br /><br />So it isn't that shifting the tradeoff into feats is "boring" and it is also fair to say that we still made it cost something. But without an actual penalty to defense, once they paid that cost, it stops being an interesting tradeoff and becomes an obvious, ongoing build.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10367813349077594896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038639802473593786.post-69674839612443883772011-06-21T07:08:25.111-07:002011-06-21T07:08:25.111-07:00While I definitely feel your analysis of Armor as ...While I definitely feel your analysis of Armor as DR is helpful (as I'm considering using a similar system in my own game design), I feel like you're dismissing the feat approach too readily. If you allow a Feat to remove some of the drawbacks of armor, you're still creating a tradeoff but one of resource management rather than a "fluid" tradeoff. <br /><br />Now to address your concern of such a feat being boring. By itself, a feat that simply eliminates a penalty doesn't have all that much pizazz. But what if you made all forms of armor equal out of the box, up to and including the power of the magical enhancements available to them, and created feats that allow a character to specialize in a particular armor type? <br /><br />That way you could have something like this: <br /><br />Armor Training<br />Description: You have trained long and hard in a particular type of armor, and wear it like a second skin. <br />Benefit: Reduce the Defense penalty for one category of armor by -1, and gain a benefit based on the type of armor you selected:<br /><br />Light Armor Mobility: While wearing light armor, you may shift as a minor action 1/round. <br /><br />Medium Armor Versatility: While wearing Medium armor, you may increase the DR granted by your armor by 2 if you increase the Defense penalty by 1 or may reduce your defense penalty by 1 if you reduce your DR by 2. <br /><br />Heavy Armor Juggernaut: While wearing Heavy Armor, your Damage reduction increases by 2 until the end of your next turn if you charge, run, or otherwise move more squares than your base speed.Veritomancerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02857489427498076287noreply@blogger.com