Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jagggar 01-14-05, 09:31 PM	I'm trying to combine D&D and D20 Modern/Future. One of the features that either has to be reworked or cut is Defense bonus. Modern has defense bonus and armor bonus stack. My solution is to use the higher bonus as UA presents, but friend of mine says that that's still unbalanced and that the Modern classes should only get their defence bonus when unarmored and unencumbered (we're not sure about getting the group to use defense). In comparing the defense bonus rules, I saw that D&D classes had a bigger bonus at lower levels. Hence the remodeling of the chart: Defense Bonus Level A B C D 1 +0 +1 +2 +3 2 +1 +2 +2 +4 3 +1 +2 +3 +4 4 +1 +3 +3 +5 5 +2 +3 +4 +5 6 +2 +3 +4 +6 7 +2 +4 +5 +6 8 +3 +4 +5 +7 9 +3 +5 +6 +7 10 +3 +5 +6 +8 11 +4 +6 +7 +8 12 +4 +6 +7 +9 13 +4 +6 +8 +9 14 +5 +7 +8 +10 15 +5 +7 +9 +10 16 +5 +8 +9 +11 17 +6 +8 +10 +11 18 +6 +9 +10 +12 19 +6 +9 +11 +12 20 +7 +9 +11 +13Column A Use for monk, sorcerer, or wizard. B Use for bard, ranger, or rogue. C Use for barbarian or druid. D Use for cleric, fighter, or paladin. Defense bonus and armor bonus do not stack as in UA. When a character multiclasses, he does not use the better defense, but adds the two defense bonuses together. For example, a second-level fighter has a defense bonus of +4. If the character gains a level of barbarian (becoming a 2nd-level fighter/1st-level barbarian), his defense bonus would become +6 (+4 from being a 2nd-level fighter, +2 from being a 1st-level barbarian). Modern classes use the defense bonus provided in their respective tables.
Razoreface 01-14-05, 10:06 PM	D&D's bigger bonuses at lower levels is odd, I think it's somehow supposed to compensate for magic but you're still screwed if you could have bought decent medium armor instead. Modern's only stacks because of the general lack of magic, and people not walking around with shields, I think they just didn't realize it could be a big problem in Urban Arcana campaigns. In a game with magic and where armor is common (in Modern, no armor feats are free, so stacking with armor is also quite a bit rarer), they really really shouldn't stack.
Ranger REG 01-15-05, 02:57 AM	Meh. I'd rather stack them anyway. I just use the UA "Armor as DR" rule.
jagggar 01-18-05, 12:15 AM	Would it be wrong to go with non-stacking and not give the D&D characters any defence bonus?
FineasBoggs 01-18-05, 12:40 AM	The whole combat system breaks down at a certain point as to hit bonuses progress much faster than AC does and it takes more and more magic to compensate for the higher attack bonuses. Implementing the DB and stacking is a step in the right direction towards having meaningful combat at mid to high levels games. If that is the direction you are going, then stack them, otherwise you end up with the opposite of high AC and low to hit bonuses.