Armor rating

[realms_creator]

I would like to have some imput on the armor system for our game setting. Please post only honest replies.

Thanks

Protection Type   Armor Rating   Armor Points
Leather Armor      30% Armor Rating   30
Padded Leather Armor   35% Armor Rating   35
Studded Leather Armor  40% Armor Rating   40
Chain Mail Armor      50% Armor Rating   50
Plate Mail Armor      60% Armor Rating   60
Field Plate Armor      70% Armor Rating   70

In the Realms of Adventuring game setting. Each player will have a base armor rating of 25% plus their agility bonus. In the Realms game setting at times a player will choose to be fitted for armor. If the player chooses to wear armor this will improve his or hers armor rating (AR) based on the type of armor they choose best for their character. Each armor type has armor points. When the character is attacked with a melee weapon the armor will sustain the first amount of damage. Once the armor has lost all armor points the character will start to lose his/her life points.

Below are some of examples of the different type of armor in the Realms.

Types of Armor

Leather

•   Leather armor-This armor is made of leather that is attached with straps and buckles to keep the armor upon the player. This armor has an armor rating of 30% and has 30 armor points.
•   Padded Leather Armor-This armor is designed just as leather armor with some extra padding to reinforce blows that may inflect damage upon a player character. The armor rating for this type of is 35% and has 35 armor points.
•   Studded leather armor-This armor is designed in the same form of the above leather types with the exception of small metal studs that are attached to the leather. This armor has an armor rating (AR) of 40% and carriers 40 armor points.
Metal
•   Chain mail-This armor is flexible armor of interlinked metal rings. This armor type has an armor rating (AR) of 50% and has 50 armor points.
•   Plate mail-Armor made of rigid plates. This armor has a based armor rating (AR) 60% and has a total of 60 armor points.
•   Field plate-Field plate armor dispenses with the chain backing of plate mail to save weight. This armor has an armor rating (AR) of 70% and 70 armor points.

In some cases a shop might house different type of armor made out of different types of creatures. These types of armor can be purchased if the armor is allowed by the game judge.



Shields

For more protection a player may choose to fit a shield to their character. Listed below are a few types of shields and their armor rating (AR) and armor points.

Shield Type   Shield Rating   Shield Points
Wood/Metal
Small Buckler Shield   5%  Rating   5/10
Middle Buckler Shield   10% Rating   10/20
Large Buckler Shield   15% Rating   15/30

There are different types of shields in the Realms they can range from small to large. They are all made of either wood or metal or any other kind of matter that the game judge seems fit. Shields add armor protection and armor points. Below are standard shields that are used in the Realms. If the judge seems fit to add his own armor or armor from the Realms of adventuring book of magic items he can do so.

•   Small Buckler- This shield is about two feet wide and has an armor rating (AR) 5% and carriers 5 armor points for wood and 10 armor points for metal.
•   Middle Buckler-This shield is about three feet round and an armor rating (AR) of 10% and has 10 armor points for wood and 20 for metal.
•   Large Buckler-This shield is about four foot around and has an armor rating (AR) of 15% and has 15 armor points for wood and 30 armor points for metal.

Below is an example of how armor points are assigned.

Vong the fighter has a based armor 25%. His agility score is 10 which give him a 15% agility armor bonus. He has chosen to wear chain mail which has an armor rating of 50% which has 50 armor points and a middle metal buckler 15% that has 30 armor points. You start by adding the base with the bonus to the armor type worn and shield type to come up with the armor rating and armor points for Vong.

25+15=40+50=90% armor rating.

50+30=80 armor points.

[Andrew Martin]

I would like to have some imput on the armor system for our game setting. Please post only honest replies.

Do you have any questions?

Would your system be able to handle a giant that makes a shield out of granite, say 6" to 12" thick, and hangs it around his left shoulder using thick ropes?

Would your system also be able to handle movable fixed shields as used in the middle-ages to allow crossbowmen to get close enough to shoot at the defenders in a castle?

Some of my player characters managed to kill a dragon in a fantasy campaign. As one of them was a dwarf skilled in armour making, they wanted to turn the dragonskin into armour and shields. Would your system allow this?

[Calithena]

What does 'armor rating' mean? How does this fit into your combat system as a whole?

Maybe there's some way to split damage between armor and life points from the beginning, rather than just having your armor 'ablate' and disappear?

[Jack Aidley]

What do the % values do?

[realms_creator]

Yes there are larger armor types for giants. The are address by the judge in the game world. If he/she would like to have a giant to have armor he/she would set aside the armor rating for that type of creature.

What is armor rating?

Armor rating is the amount of protection that one has.

Armor rating(%) The percent is how much protection a player has. So if they choose to wear no armor they only have an 25% armor rating. And the foe would need to roll 25% or above in order to hit the player. With the increase of armor they are better protected then without.

Each set of armor has points they range from 30 to 60. Each player starts off with a set amount of life points as well. The first amount of damage is done to the armor. Once the armor has 0 points they start to take damage to their body.

[Gordon C. Landis]

In general outline - looks like a fairly standard RPG approach to armor, as found in many computer "RPGs" as well as pen-and-paper games.  As it stands, it looks like everyone is going to want the most/best armor they can get - no tradeoffs of any kind are mentioned here.  Which is OK, depending on what the "point" of the armor system in your game is.

Which is maybe a good question - what purpose within your game is the armor system supposed to serve?  Minor detail that you just don't want people to get annoyed with?  Important tactical/strategic component?  Key "realistic" touchpoint?

If you're going for the first, it looks fine.  If you want something else - to my eye, you need more (complexity, or true tactical opportunity, or period-appropriate terminolgy - something).

Best of luck with the design,

Gordon

[Drifter Bob]

I would like to have some imput on the armor system for our game setting. Please post only honest replies.

•   Padded Leather Armor-This armor is designed just as leather armor with some extra padding to reinforce blows that may inflect damage upon a player character. The armor rating for this type of is 35% and has 35 armor points.
•   Studded leather armor-This armor is designed in the same form of the above leather types with the exception of small metal studs that are attached to the leather. This armor has an armor rating (AR) of 40% and carriers 40 armor points.
Metal

I don't know if you care about any historical connection to your armor types, but for what it's worth:

Padded armor is probably distinct from leather.  Padded armor was very common historically.  Historical types of padded armor included such items as an "arming jack" (also called a Jupon, Aketon) whic was a padded vest or short coat made of quilted padding material.  The material itself was made with usually a wool, felt or buckram stuffing, and silk or linen outer material.  Longer coats reaching to the knee, now commonly called "Gambesons" were also popular through the middle ages.  Both kinds were used all over the world (in colder climates) both as stand alone armor and as added protection under mail.

I haven't heard of padded leather amor though there is no reason why it couldn't have existed.

Leather armor would probably come in two forms, boiled leather (or cuir bolli) which is hard and bulky like metal plate armor, though not as tough and much lighter (and interestingly, it floats!) and untreated leather which would have to be pretty thick (more than 3-5 mm) and therefore potentially bulky to offer really any protection.

"Studded leather armor" is a misrepresentation of Brigantine, an old mistake made by EGG when D&D first came out which has been repeated endlessly be RPG's since then.  It didn't exist as such.

You may want to add Brigantine for that matter (iron plates affixed under a cloth or leather vest) as well as other common types such as Lamellar (small iron plates linked together) and Scale.

I don't understand the assumption that one type of armor covers more of the body than another, or that the type of armor prevents you from being hit like a shield does.  This is another mistake left over from D&D.  If you have damage absorption for your armor, then you might as well seperate that from the 'To Hit' roll.

You might also want to think of how some armor is more or less effective against some attack types.  Padded armor for example would be better than leather against bludgeoning weapons, but inferior against many cutting weapons.

JR

There were

[Dr. Velocity]

Depends on the complexity of the system. The description given marks this system as fairly simple, which is why I think the way you're using the armor is perhaps not the best approach.

Setting aside the argument about "types" of attacks vs. armor types (slashing, crushing, etc), the overall idea is armor is to protect you. Sometimes it does its job, sometimes it doesn't. It gets crushed or impaled and the impact or weapon strikes true - that doesn't destroy the armor, and I feel thats the most important tactical or 'useful' aspect of armor, overall.

To simply put 'soak' pts in armor and use them up BEFORE any real damage is done, I dunno, I think it would be easier to have armor absorb a certain number of points each time, and perhaps each armor would have a % of being 'ruined' with each hit, so a hit that does double or more the armor's normal absorption would call for a 'stress' check, a % roll - if it fails, the armor is worthless. No keeping track of % or pts, etc.