A dark fantasy using the dice rank system

[Ar Kayon]

Armor
When you get struck in combat, an armor check is made using the appropriate dice rank.  There are two main attributes of armor - strength and coverage - which directly affect the success of your armor check and are based upon the overall protection of your entire body.  The coverage attribute affects how likely it is that you will be protected at all.  Thus, the better your armor's coverage, the lower the dice rank you roll.  The strength attribute affects the quality of protection you receive within the success range.  There are three possible degrees of protection from any given integer within the success range: critical (3 points), moderate (2 points), and minor (1 point).  If the degree of success from the opponent's attack is greater than the degree of protection offered by your armor check, then you subtract the point value of your armor check (listed above) from your opponent's attack to determine the actual effect of the attack.

For example, let's say your opponent's attack is a critical success.  You roll your armor check, which comes out to a 3 (the attributes of your armor determine that this is a moderate success).  Subtracting the value of your armor's success (2) from your opponent's attack (3) means that the actual effect of the attack is 1, which results in a minor success for the attacker.

To account for all possible combinations of armor (and thus, adhering to design criteria demanding mechanical fluidity), the system uses a formula for determining the exact range of coverage and strength.


Determining Coverage
Your overall coverage value will start at a base of 0, which represents dice rank 0 and the maximum amount of coverage possible.  Coverage does not consider individual armor types (plate/mail/leather, etc.); if the body is covered by some type of valid armor type, then it counts for consideration.
1.  Add 1 dice rank for each half of torso area unprotected (2 increments of coverage). 
2.  Add 1 dice rank for each half of total leg area (with both legs in consideration) unprotected (2 increments of coverage). 
3.  Add 1 dice rank if less than 2/3 of the total arm area (with both arms in consideration) are unprotected (1 increment of coverage).
4.  Add 1 dice rank for each half of head coverage unprotected (+1 for open-faced helms or if the visor of a full coverage helmet is raised) (2 increments of coverage).

Formulas will be pre-calculated for common armor combinations to minimize effort. 
Examples:
Tournament Armor / Gothic Armor / Maximilian Armor - DR 0
Three-quarters Plate - DR 1 (1d4)
Reduced Plate (helm and cuirass) - DR 4 (1d10)


Determining Strength
Each armor type (padded, leather, studded, jack of plate, mail, plate, tournament / heavy plate) has a base value of protection per increment of coverage.  Add up the values of each increment to determine your overall armor strength.

Overall Armor Strength - Lists the degrees of protection, or success, for the given number rolled for your armor check.

Very Poor
1 = Minor
2 = Minor
3 = Minor

Poor 
1 = Moderate
2 = Minor
3 = Minor

Moderate
1 = Moderate
2 = Moderate
3 = Minor

Good
1 = Critical
2 = Moderate
3 = Minor

Very Good
1 = Critical
2 = Moderate
3 = Moderate

Excellent
1 = Critical
2 = Critical
3 = Moderate

Maximum
1 = Critical
2 = Critical
3 = Critical

Formulas will be pre-calculated for common armor combinations to minimize effort. 
Examples:
Gothic / Maximilian Armor - Excellent
Tournament Armor - Maximum (Note: combined with 0 DR from the armor's overall coverage value means that every hit that isn't precisely aimed at a vulnerable area or doesn't have an armor penetration value will not harm the combatant.)

In my next post, I'll discuss other aspects of armor.

[Ar Kayon]

...the helmet in particular.  To draw similarities from my own experiences, even boxing headgear can be quite cumbersome if you have not spent many good training hours getting accustomed to it.  The models with heavier padding tend to restrict your vision, and models that don't fit properly move too much and distract you.  Thus, I've actually taken a preference for the lightest headgear, and despite the reduced degree of protection, I'm actually protected better because I am able to focus on what's going on.  I can only imagine knights felt the same way about their helmets, often choosing to sacrifice protection for less cumbrance. 

From what I've read of helmets of the day, and from what I couldn't logically assume otherwise, they severely restricted vision and were extremely stifling.  By bridging my own experiences with my research, I would have to extrapolate that helmets, especially ones with closed visors, presented many tangible hindrances to accompany its protective benefits.  I intend to model these factors within the system.  (Note: because of the high granularity, and because game masters are likely to overlook them, these rules will probably be listed as optional, or I may simplify them in another way).

1.  Severe loss of vision - This means that the combatant has a lower range of awareness.  Also, opponents that are able to flank the combatant will get a -2 DR bonus instead of just -1.

2.  Difficulty breathing - This means that the combatant is likely to tire quickly (does not affect open-faced helmets or helmets with the visor raised).  If the combatant suffers any form of attack (even a minor success) or a critical miss, he must check his athletics passive skill or become fatigued as a result of the great effort required to recover.

3.  Lack of experience using the equipment - This means that you get distracted while wearing the helmet, and you suffer -1 to any skill while wearing it.  Helmets that don't fit well or are badly damaged will also cause this effect, which does not stack with the experience factor; -1 is the maximum penalty.


Next post: alternative (simplified) armor rules for possible revision of the previous post.

[Ar Kayon]

Alternative Armor Rules
Whenever I say "simplified" in reference to mechanics, I never mean "dumbed down to make it easier to calculate".  I mean that the mechanics are more elegant from an aesthetic and practical point of view.  So yes, it is easier to comprehend, but the rule itself has not been rendered abstract.

Furthermore, the alternative rules are completely consistent with the core logic of the system.  In comparison, the original post implemented special rules, which was why it was revised so quickly.

The new method is to add up points allocated by coverage and strength to determine your overall protective value.  From there, the dice rank of your armor check will be determined.  There are 12 total areas of coverage: 2 for the torso (point values are tripled for each area), 2 for the head/face (point values are doubled for each area), and 2 for each limb (upper and lower limb).  Armor type gives a point value for each coverage area: 1 for padded, 2 for leather, 3 for studded, 4 for brigandine/jack of plate, 5 for mail, 6 for plate armor, 7 for tournament armor / other (magical, etc.)

DR 0 (1d4-1): 100 (full plate armor)
DR 1 (1d4): 84 (reduced plate)
DR 2 (1d6): 60 (cuirass and helmet)
DR 3 (1d8): 36 (cuirass, or jack of plate and helmet)
DR 4 (1d10): 18
DR 5 (1d12): 12
DR 6 (2d8): 10

Areas unaccounted for: hands, feet, neck, groin, underarms.  Coverage of these areas does not improve overall protection value, but does protect the wearer from aimed attacks.