Armor on, all day long? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Armor on, all day long? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
jorgediz
09-20-06, 09:04 AM How long is able a character to wear his armor without any penalty? I guess there has to be any, you can't wake up in the morning, stuff yourself in full plate and walk around for 14 hours smashing people, dodging attacks and jumping lava pits without becoming exhausted or something. But both the PHB and DMG say nothing at all about this.
runestar
09-20-06, 09:07 AM I don't think there is a penalty for wearing it for too long a period, but there are drawbacks to sleeping with your armour on, which means that at the end of the day, you still have to remove it.:)
BW0222
09-20-06, 10:09 AM jorgediz,

Until an activity is strenuous and normal folks would need to start making constitution checks to avoid fatique... there is nothing specific to heavy armors except for the armor check penalties, weight, and the fact that you can't sleep in it.

However, once an activity is strenuous... then the DM can impose penalties on the checks.

Examples... swimming long distances, moving long distances in hot conditions through rough terrain, force marches, etc. should all trigger making a fortitude check to avoid fatique and/or exhastion. Failures start subdual damage and other nasty things.

However, most normal activity... walking down a road or combat are either not strenuous or too short in duration. In your examples, 14 hours of walking is a forced march (more than 8 hours of movement per day). Jumping lava pits is only an issue if they have been doing it for say an hour -- or it is so hot that everyone is affected by heat just standing still. Dodging attacks is combat and rarely does it exceed 10 or 20 6 second rounds (1 or 2 minutes) that fatigue is not an issue.
jorgediz
09-20-06, 10:25 AM Haven't found yet if WotC has any official rules for this, a friend and me cooked up a recipe to calculate how many hours can a character wear on his armor:

20 + Con mod. - (armor check penalty) = number of hours

We decided to use Con, logically, and the ACP, as to also take account of the load carried. Some examples:

14 Con, tower shield, full plate, medium load:

20 + 2 - 16 = 6 hours

12 Con, buckler, studded leather, medium load:

20 + 1 - 2 = 19 hours

12 Con, no shield, breastplate, medium load:

20 + 1 - 3 = 18 hours

12 Con, tower shield, studded leather, medium load:

20 + 1 - 11 = 10 hours

After the number of hours established, the character becomes fatigued (-2 Str & Dex, no running, no charging). After double the hours, the character becomes exahsuted (-6 Str & Dex, half speed, no running or charging either).

An exhausted character must rest completely for an hour to become fatigued. A fatigued character must sleep 8 hours to be normal again. (These is the official ruling). A character who puts away his armor before the deadline must expend the next hour with an ACP under 5 (i.e., -4, -3) to rest and be able to carry his armor again for the number of hours allowed.

PEACH is very welcome.
jorgediz
09-20-06, 10:33 AM BW0222,

Well, upon reading you, I'm not so sure there has to be a drawback. As you say, combat and hard activities are very casual and last hardly some minutes. Carried load, ACP and forced march penalties seem enough for me, then.

But my friend (who was the one who brought up the question in the first place) insists on ruling this, so I still appreciate comments about the houserule.
Garonak
09-20-06, 12:03 PM When did Armorcheck penalty from armor begin to stack with penalty from hauling goods?

Fullplate + tower shield + medium load = -16, not 19.
jorgediz
09-20-06, 08:20 PM When did Armorcheck penalty from armor begin to stack with penalty from hauling goods?

Fullplate + tower shield + medium load = -16, not 19.

Wow, my mistake, didn't know that. You're right. Data corrected.
Loki5654
09-21-06, 01:58 AM Sleeping in Armor:
A character who sleeps in medium or heavy armor is automatically fatigued the next day. He or she takes a -2 penalty on Strength and Dexterity and can’t charge or run. Sleeping in light armor does not cause fatigue.
So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep.
Salla
09-21-06, 03:16 AM So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep.

And make sure you pack a Chain Shirt to sleep in, just for those nocturnal predators. ;)
VulcanStormwrath
09-21-06, 03:29 AM So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep.

Of course the charisma based check penalties for smelling like week-old sweaty armor are another story:yuck:
AkaKageWarrior
09-21-06, 03:32 AM And make sure you pack a Chain Shirt to sleep in, just for those nocturnal predators. ;)

:D

you mean the comfortable mithril chain shirt pyjama ?
a must for the stylish and careful adventurer!

AKW
SamiPeikko
09-21-06, 05:20 AM On topic: The game assumes adventurers to wear their armor in all adventures. One good reason for this is simplicity, as it is enough for each character to have at most 2 sets of armor including the pyjamas. It is consistent with the heroic feel of the game and saves time on the gaming table. You do not seriously expect that I would walk the streets not wearing my moonstone mask either, do you?

For the times when DM wants the PC:s to have less armor on to feel vulnerable, there are nights and those cities or occasions where wearing heavy armor is forbidden. These should be exeption, not the rule, because the system makes PC:s very dependent of their equipment.

Off topic I remember when we found Elven Chain +2 once. No-one wanted it, so I bought it as pyjamas for my Full Plate using Cleric.
Garonak
09-21-06, 05:33 AM Just a note: On a normal non-city adevnturing day, you don't stroll around for 12-14 hours. As the phb states, normal travel time for a day is 8 hours. The rest of the time goes to: 9 hours sleep (that's total for the group, including watches), 1-2 hours of spell memorizing/meditation/praying, 1 hour of breaking camp (we do clean up after ourselves, right? Good boys and girls), 1-2 hours of random encounters/rest during traveling and the rest of the time goes to setting up camp, eating and arguing why the Protectar in the group should take ALL the watches during the night just because he doesn't need any sleep.

As for nighties, std leather is alot cheaper than a mithral shirt. Especially in a campaign where my 8th lvl fighter has 20gp (and has not found/received any gold for about three sessions).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jorgediz 09-20-06, 09:04 AM	How long is able a character to wear his armor without any penalty? I guess there has to be any, you can't wake up in the morning, stuff yourself in full plate and walk around for 14 hours smashing people, dodging attacks and jumping lava pits without becoming exhausted or something. But both the PHB and DMG say nothing at all about this.
runestar 09-20-06, 09:07 AM	I don't think there is a penalty for wearing it for too long a period, but there are drawbacks to sleeping with your armour on, which means that at the end of the day, you still have to remove it.:)
BW0222 09-20-06, 10:09 AM	jorgediz, Until an activity is strenuous and normal folks would need to start making constitution checks to avoid fatique... there is nothing specific to heavy armors except for the armor check penalties, weight, and the fact that you can't sleep in it. However, once an activity is strenuous... then the DM can impose penalties on the checks. Examples... swimming long distances, moving long distances in hot conditions through rough terrain, force marches, etc. should all trigger making a fortitude check to avoid fatique and/or exhastion. Failures start subdual damage and other nasty things. However, most normal activity... walking down a road or combat are either not strenuous or too short in duration. In your examples, 14 hours of walking is a forced march (more than 8 hours of movement per day). Jumping lava pits is only an issue if they have been doing it for say an hour -- or it is so hot that everyone is affected by heat just standing still. Dodging attacks is combat and rarely does it exceed 10 or 20 6 second rounds (1 or 2 minutes) that fatigue is not an issue.
jorgediz 09-20-06, 10:25 AM	Haven't found yet if WotC has any official rules for this, a friend and me cooked up a recipe to calculate how many hours can a character wear on his armor: 20 + Con mod. - (armor check penalty) = number of hours We decided to use Con, logically, and the ACP, as to also take account of the load carried. Some examples: 14 Con, tower shield, full plate, medium load: 20 + 2 - 16 = 6 hours 12 Con, buckler, studded leather, medium load: 20 + 1 - 2 = 19 hours 12 Con, no shield, breastplate, medium load: 20 + 1 - 3 = 18 hours 12 Con, tower shield, studded leather, medium load: 20 + 1 - 11 = 10 hours After the number of hours established, the character becomes fatigued (-2 Str & Dex, no running, no charging). After double the hours, the character becomes exahsuted (-6 Str & Dex, half speed, no running or charging either). An exhausted character must rest completely for an hour to become fatigued. A fatigued character must sleep 8 hours to be normal again. (These is the official ruling). A character who puts away his armor before the deadline must expend the next hour with an ACP under 5 (i.e., -4, -3) to rest and be able to carry his armor again for the number of hours allowed. PEACH is very welcome.
jorgediz 09-20-06, 10:33 AM	BW0222, Well, upon reading you, I'm not so sure there has to be a drawback. As you say, combat and hard activities are very casual and last hardly some minutes. Carried load, ACP and forced march penalties seem enough for me, then. But my friend (who was the one who brought up the question in the first place) insists on ruling this, so I still appreciate comments about the houserule.
Garonak 09-20-06, 12:03 PM	When did Armorcheck penalty from armor begin to stack with penalty from hauling goods? Fullplate + tower shield + medium load = -16, not 19.
jorgediz 09-20-06, 08:20 PM	When did Armorcheck penalty from armor begin to stack with penalty from hauling goods? Fullplate + tower shield + medium load = -16, not 19. Wow, my mistake, didn't know that. You're right. Data corrected.
Loki5654 09-21-06, 01:58 AM	Sleeping in Armor: A character who sleeps in medium or heavy armor is automatically fatigued the next day. He or she takes a -2 penalty on Strength and Dexterity and can’t charge or run. Sleeping in light armor does not cause fatigue. So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep.
Salla 09-21-06, 03:16 AM	So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep. And make sure you pack a Chain Shirt to sleep in, just for those nocturnal predators. ;)
VulcanStormwrath 09-21-06, 03:29 AM	So you can wear your armor at all times, as long as you don't sleep. Of course the charisma based check penalties for smelling like week-old sweaty armor are another story:yuck:
AkaKageWarrior 09-21-06, 03:32 AM	And make sure you pack a Chain Shirt to sleep in, just for those nocturnal predators. ;) :D you mean the comfortable mithril chain shirt pyjama ? a must for the stylish and careful adventurer! AKW
SamiPeikko 09-21-06, 05:20 AM	On topic: The game assumes adventurers to wear their armor in all adventures. One good reason for this is simplicity, as it is enough for each character to have at most 2 sets of armor including the pyjamas. It is consistent with the heroic feel of the game and saves time on the gaming table. You do not seriously expect that I would walk the streets not wearing my moonstone mask either, do you? For the times when DM wants the PC:s to have less armor on to feel vulnerable, there are nights and those cities or occasions where wearing heavy armor is forbidden. These should be exeption, not the rule, because the system makes PC:s very dependent of their equipment. Off topic I remember when we found Elven Chain +2 once. No-one wanted it, so I bought it as pyjamas for my Full Plate using Cleric.
Garonak 09-21-06, 05:33 AM	Just a note: On a normal non-city adevnturing day, you don't stroll around for 12-14 hours. As the phb states, normal travel time for a day is 8 hours. The rest of the time goes to: 9 hours sleep (that's total for the group, including watches), 1-2 hours of spell memorizing/meditation/praying, 1 hour of breaking camp (we do clean up after ourselves, right? Good boys and girls), 1-2 hours of random encounters/rest during traveling and the rest of the time goes to setting up camp, eating and arguing why the Protectar in the group should take ALL the watches during the night just because he doesn't need any sleep. As for nighties, std leather is alot cheaper than a mithral shirt. Especially in a campaign where my 8th lvl fighter has 20gp (and has not found/received any gold for about three sessions).