Defense Bonus and Natural Armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Defense Bonus and Natural Armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ao
10-25-04, 06:39 PM Both the Unearthed Arcana and the Wheel of Time setting have class based defense bonuses. In each of these systems armor bonuses do not stack with a character's defense bonus, however both systems allow for natural armor to be stacked with defense. Does anyone have any insight as to why this is so? I can't seem to rationalize the reason for this.
Greyman
10-26-04, 05:48 AM 1. A Natural Armor Bonus always stacks with and Armor Bonus. Likewise a Shield Bonus, a Dodge Bonus, et cetera, stack with an Armor Bonus. Bonuses with different names always stack.

2. Exception! The Defense Bonus system (in UA) is meant to maintain game balance of in campaigns where actually wearing armor is not common, so that characters built to relly heavily on their armor proficiencies (your meat tank) aren't disadvantaged. Since it takes the place of armor, it doesn't and shouldn't stack with an Armor Bonus, otherwise those characters would gain an unfair advantage.

3. See point 1, but substitute "Defense Bonus" for plain "Armor Bonus". There's no reason Defense Bonus shouldn't stack with everything else that stacks with Armor Bonus, even though it should not stack with Armor Bonus itself (see point 2).

In effect Defense Bonus is virtually an Armor Bonus.
Dungeon Master
10-30-04, 06:11 PM I thought that in WoT an armor bonus does stack with a defense bonus if you play an armsman? :confused:

I don't have the book on me so I'll leave it up to someone else to verify.
Ranger REG
10-31-04, 01:32 AM In d20 Modern (or Modern SRD), armor's equipment bonus to Defense stack with Class Defense Bonus for the character's Defense score.
Trombone4Hire
11-28-04, 05:11 PM I like the idea of having class-based AC bonuses that don't stack with armor AC bonuses, but I also like the idea of armor as DR. What if you could use the better bonus between your class bonus or armor bonus after dividing by 2 to determine AC and DR? This would give higher level PCs a reason to continue wearing armor to benefit from the DR, but may turn characters into tanks, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you use the vitality/wound option so they are still threatened by every dagger jabbed their way. Any thoughts?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ao 10-25-04, 06:39 PM	Both the Unearthed Arcana and the Wheel of Time setting have class based defense bonuses. In each of these systems armor bonuses do not stack with a character's defense bonus, however both systems allow for natural armor to be stacked with defense. Does anyone have any insight as to why this is so? I can't seem to rationalize the reason for this.
Greyman 10-26-04, 05:48 AM	1. A Natural Armor Bonus always stacks with and Armor Bonus. Likewise a Shield Bonus, a Dodge Bonus, et cetera, stack with an Armor Bonus. Bonuses with different names always stack. 2. Exception! The Defense Bonus system (in UA) is meant to maintain game balance of in campaigns where actually wearing armor is not common, so that characters built to relly heavily on their armor proficiencies (your meat tank) aren't disadvantaged. Since it takes the place of armor, it doesn't and shouldn't stack with an Armor Bonus, otherwise those characters would gain an unfair advantage. 3. See point 1, but substitute "Defense Bonus" for plain "Armor Bonus". There's no reason Defense Bonus shouldn't stack with everything else that stacks with Armor Bonus, even though it should not stack with Armor Bonus itself (see point 2). In effect Defense Bonus is virtually an Armor Bonus.
Dungeon Master 10-30-04, 06:11 PM	I thought that in WoT an armor bonus does stack with a defense bonus if you play an armsman? :confused: I don't have the book on me so I'll leave it up to someone else to verify.
Ranger REG 10-31-04, 01:32 AM	In d20 Modern (or Modern SRD), armor's equipment bonus to Defense stack with Class Defense Bonus for the character's Defense score.
Trombone4Hire 11-28-04, 05:11 PM	I like the idea of having class-based AC bonuses that don't stack with armor AC bonuses, but I also like the idea of armor as DR. What if you could use the better bonus between your class bonus or armor bonus after dividing by 2 to determine AC and DR? This would give higher level PCs a reason to continue wearing armor to benefit from the DR, but may turn characters into tanks, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you use the vitality/wound option so they are still threatened by every dagger jabbed their way. Any thoughts?