Armor as Dmg res? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Armor as Dmg res? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
khalual
03-02-07, 04:24 PM Anyone have a house rule that converts armor to damage resistance only? I know that the UA has one that cuts back the AC bonus of the armor and adds some damage resistance but what would you do to make armor only a damage resistance?
gorckat
03-02-07, 04:51 PM http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=792411

That's a recent thread on the subject.
The_Levitator
03-03-07, 12:30 AM As an update (I was pretty involved in the other thread), we've run 2 sessions with all of the new rules in place and the players and I are having a blast with it. I don't know how just adding Armor as DR only would affect someone else's game because everyone's world is different. Just to give you an idea of a world in which it's currently working pretty well:

We play diceless. I use a program called DM Genie that has an autoroll feature. our group loves the incredible speed that we resolve combat, and it makes combat feel more like roleplaying, because talking numbers in the game breaks the suspension of disbelief for us. By doing away with the dice and letting DM Genie handle the mechanics, we are freed up to focus on description and decision making. Also, my players say that it makes combat feel much more dangerous, like a real combat because you can't sit and calculate every little thing. This is the hands-down favorite house rule of the group.

High magic(power-wise)/low availability. I don't really offer up mundane magical items. In other words, I don't really have just +1 longswords. Any magical weapons in our world are either at least +2 or +1 with a special ability. I also have a magic system that makes it risky to carry too many magical items. Every magical item has a sort of "signature" of its owner, and since over the history of the world, so many different people have crafted so many items, there's a chance that some items won't play nice with others. When you possess an item, it bonds you to The Weave. Every item has a 20% of having an interaction with another item. If there is a chance of interaction, 1 of 3 things can happen: 1. item found simply releases its energy back to The Weave, rendering it non-magical. 2. Item explodes doing 1d6/2000gp value of the item. 3. One of your existing items drains the power of the new item, rendering it non-magical but making itself more powerful. Any spellcaster can make simple Spellcraft checks to see if 2 items get along or not. I made it low so that even a 1st level wizard can spot trouble before it comes so that people don't get screwed. It's really just designed to keep players from turning into 2-legged magic shops.

No instantaneous healing potions. My group dislikes the image of the potion chugging meat shield. They felt it was too videogamish. Healing spells are still spontaneous, as they are much more limited than potions.

Armor As Dr. Using the full DR as discussed in the other thread. I'm also using a custom script in DM Genie that automatically tracks the physical damage to armor and shields. (finally, a reason for players to spend money on maintenance or at least get a rank in Armorer :) )

Class Defense Bonus. Bonus=BAB and stacks with armor (pre Solaris' suggestion).

Opposed Defense Roll (DMG)

Clobbered Variant (DMG)

Facing Variant (UA)

Death at -10-CON. This gives the players a big cushion between dying and dead. With the low availability of healing potions and magic in general, I wanted to make sure players had ample time to stabilize. I also did away with char. automatically falling unconscious at -1 or lower. Instead, we make a FORT save = 10 + negative HP level. For example, if a character gets taken to -5 on a single hit, they can make a FORT save = 15 to remain conscious. They are still dying and losing 1HP/rd until healed or stabilized (healing potions heal 1 pt. immediately, then varying amounts of pts/rd depending on the strength of the potion). The players have already enjoyed watching their barbarian drop his orc foe while bleeding to death. The player thought it was very heroic.

I don't use HP or any numbers to describe combat during the fight. We use Maptools as a Virtual Tabletop. It has the ability to add a colored halo around the creature tokens. We use a Relative Health System to give players an idea of the health of everyone on the battlefield. Green=healthy, Yellow=75& of total HP, Orange=50% of total HP, Red=25% of total HP, and Black=down (dead, dying, unconscious, sleeping, faking, or otherwise lying on the ground out of the fight). In addition, my players dislike the idea that a 100HP fighter fights just as well at 1HP as he does at full strength. They are long time gamers and understand the abstract nature of HP, but feel that combat becomes boring to describe after a while with "nick, nick, nick, nick, nick, DEAD!". So I created something called Battle Fatigue that corresponds with the Relative Health Indicator we use with Maptools. Yellow=Light Battle Fatigue (-1STR, -1DEX), Orange=Moderate Battle Fatigue (-2STR, -2DEX), and Red=Heavy Battle Fatigue (-4STR, -4DEX). It's one of the players favorite houserules next to playing diceless.

So far, the players have been really happy with the way the battles are unfolding. There are more hits, but less damage, making for more exciting combat. With the combat being more deadly, any big hits are even more exciting. We've only had a couple sessions with a new campaign (technically started at 2nd level, I ran 1st level as solo campaigns before we started the group campaign), but so far, nobody's noticed anything glaringly broken.

My only advice is just take what everyone says is the "right thing to do" (including me:D ) with a grain of salt and just see for yourself. It's just as easy to undo a rule as it is to make it. Nobody knows the best way for your group to game but your group. Another thing I learned along the way is to include your group in the decisions that are made on how the mechanics work in your world. Don't just start changing things and treating your group like guinnea pigs. Besides, if you include them in deciding how everything works, then they can't complain when they buy the farm. :schemes:

Lastly, I believe that the ONLY rules, houserules, variants, etc. that are broken are the ones that don't work for your group. I believe that a good DM owes it to their group to do everything in their power to give the players the kind of experience they are looking for. Roleplaying is NOT an exact science, replicating reality in a fantastic sense is guesswork at best, so don't be afraid to tweak things to allow you to paint the best pictures you can for your group. That's what it's really all about, right? :D
Ranger REG
03-03-07, 01:58 AM Anyone have a house rule that converts armor to damage resistance only? I know that the UA has one that cuts back the AC bonus of the armor and adds some damage resistance but what would you do to make armor only a damage resistance?
After you split the values between DR and AC bonus (as instructed in Unearthed Arcana), ignore bonus to AC. If DR value is 0, give it a 1. Simple as that.
JohnSnow
03-06-07, 06:40 PM The variant player's handbook Iron Heroes uses armor as DR and class defense bonuses.

In brief, armor gets a variable DR based on its type. Basically, if the armor grants AC bonus X, it grants DR 1dX. Iron Heroes does simplify the armor list slightly, so as to eliminate the 1d5 problem. In addition, there are feats available that can increase the DR granted by the armor.

Shields still provide a defense bonus. There are also feats that increase the defense bonus provided by your shield.

It's a nice system. It's very fun in play, still allows for the possibility of damaging a well-armored character with a knife, and doesn't really slow combat down at all.

But then, IMO there's LOTS of good stuff in Iron Heroes.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
khalual 03-02-07, 04:24 PM	Anyone have a house rule that converts armor to damage resistance only? I know that the UA has one that cuts back the AC bonus of the armor and adds some damage resistance but what would you do to make armor only a damage resistance?
gorckat 03-02-07, 04:51 PM	http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=792411 That's a recent thread on the subject.
The_Levitator 03-03-07, 12:30 AM	As an update (I was pretty involved in the other thread), we've run 2 sessions with all of the new rules in place and the players and I are having a blast with it. I don't know how just adding Armor as DR only would affect someone else's game because everyone's world is different. Just to give you an idea of a world in which it's currently working pretty well: We play diceless. I use a program called DM Genie that has an autoroll feature. our group loves the incredible speed that we resolve combat, and it makes combat feel more like roleplaying, because talking numbers in the game breaks the suspension of disbelief for us. By doing away with the dice and letting DM Genie handle the mechanics, we are freed up to focus on description and decision making. Also, my players say that it makes combat feel much more dangerous, like a real combat because you can't sit and calculate every little thing. This is the hands-down favorite house rule of the group. High magic(power-wise)/low availability. I don't really offer up mundane magical items. In other words, I don't really have just +1 longswords. Any magical weapons in our world are either at least +2 or +1 with a special ability. I also have a magic system that makes it risky to carry too many magical items. Every magical item has a sort of "signature" of its owner, and since over the history of the world, so many different people have crafted so many items, there's a chance that some items won't play nice with others. When you possess an item, it bonds you to The Weave. Every item has a 20% of having an interaction with another item. If there is a chance of interaction, 1 of 3 things can happen: 1. item found simply releases its energy back to The Weave, rendering it non-magical. 2. Item explodes doing 1d6/2000gp value of the item. 3. One of your existing items drains the power of the new item, rendering it non-magical but making itself more powerful. Any spellcaster can make simple Spellcraft checks to see if 2 items get along or not. I made it low so that even a 1st level wizard can spot trouble before it comes so that people don't get screwed. It's really just designed to keep players from turning into 2-legged magic shops. No instantaneous healing potions. My group dislikes the image of the potion chugging meat shield. They felt it was too videogamish. Healing spells are still spontaneous, as they are much more limited than potions. Armor As Dr. Using the full DR as discussed in the other thread. I'm also using a custom script in DM Genie that automatically tracks the physical damage to armor and shields. (finally, a reason for players to spend money on maintenance or at least get a rank in Armorer :) ) Class Defense Bonus. Bonus=BAB and stacks with armor (pre Solaris' suggestion). Opposed Defense Roll (DMG) Clobbered Variant (DMG) Facing Variant (UA) Death at -10-CON. This gives the players a big cushion between dying and dead. With the low availability of healing potions and magic in general, I wanted to make sure players had ample time to stabilize. I also did away with char. automatically falling unconscious at -1 or lower. Instead, we make a FORT save = 10 + negative HP level. For example, if a character gets taken to -5 on a single hit, they can make a FORT save = 15 to remain conscious. They are still dying and losing 1HP/rd until healed or stabilized (healing potions heal 1 pt. immediately, then varying amounts of pts/rd depending on the strength of the potion). The players have already enjoyed watching their barbarian drop his orc foe while bleeding to death. The player thought it was very heroic. I don't use HP or any numbers to describe combat during the fight. We use Maptools as a Virtual Tabletop. It has the ability to add a colored halo around the creature tokens. We use a Relative Health System to give players an idea of the health of everyone on the battlefield. Green=healthy, Yellow=75& of total HP, Orange=50% of total HP, Red=25% of total HP, and Black=down (dead, dying, unconscious, sleeping, faking, or otherwise lying on the ground out of the fight). In addition, my players dislike the idea that a 100HP fighter fights just as well at 1HP as he does at full strength. They are long time gamers and understand the abstract nature of HP, but feel that combat becomes boring to describe after a while with "nick, nick, nick, nick, nick, DEAD!". So I created something called Battle Fatigue that corresponds with the Relative Health Indicator we use with Maptools. Yellow=Light Battle Fatigue (-1STR, -1DEX), Orange=Moderate Battle Fatigue (-2STR, -2DEX), and Red=Heavy Battle Fatigue (-4STR, -4DEX). It's one of the players favorite houserules next to playing diceless. So far, the players have been really happy with the way the battles are unfolding. There are more hits, but less damage, making for more exciting combat. With the combat being more deadly, any big hits are even more exciting. We've only had a couple sessions with a new campaign (technically started at 2nd level, I ran 1st level as solo campaigns before we started the group campaign), but so far, nobody's noticed anything glaringly broken. My only advice is just take what everyone says is the "right thing to do" (including me:D ) with a grain of salt and just see for yourself. It's just as easy to undo a rule as it is to make it. Nobody knows the best way for your group to game but your group. Another thing I learned along the way is to include your group in the decisions that are made on how the mechanics work in your world. Don't just start changing things and treating your group like guinnea pigs. Besides, if you include them in deciding how everything works, then they can't complain when they buy the farm. :schemes: Lastly, I believe that the ONLY rules, houserules, variants, etc. that are broken are the ones that don't work for your group. I believe that a good DM owes it to their group to do everything in their power to give the players the kind of experience they are looking for. Roleplaying is NOT an exact science, replicating reality in a fantastic sense is guesswork at best, so don't be afraid to tweak things to allow you to paint the best pictures you can for your group. That's what it's really all about, right? :D
Ranger REG 03-03-07, 01:58 AM	Anyone have a house rule that converts armor to damage resistance only? I know that the UA has one that cuts back the AC bonus of the armor and adds some damage resistance but what would you do to make armor only a damage resistance? After you split the values between DR and AC bonus (as instructed in Unearthed Arcana), ignore bonus to AC. If DR value is 0, give it a 1. Simple as that.
JohnSnow 03-06-07, 06:40 PM	The variant player's handbook Iron Heroes uses armor as DR and class defense bonuses. In brief, armor gets a variable DR based on its type. Basically, if the armor grants AC bonus X, it grants DR 1dX. Iron Heroes does simplify the armor list slightly, so as to eliminate the 1d5 problem. In addition, there are feats available that can increase the DR granted by the armor. Shields still provide a defense bonus. There are also feats that increase the defense bonus provided by your shield. It's a nice system. It's very fun in play, still allows for the possibility of damaging a well-armored character with a knife, and doesn't really slow combat down at all. But then, IMO there's LOTS of good stuff in Iron Heroes.