Changes to Armor, the whole Armor as DR thing.

[Cheomesh]

I am aiming to make shields a more important device than body armor because it fits with the general age of my campaign setting.  Subsequently, I have taken a few tips from other players, who have done similar things.  In Ouroboros, you normally only get a few armor proficiencies if you're a mainline combat class.

Here are some constants:  All "Light Armor" grants +1 AC.  All "Medium Armor" grants +2 AC.  Heavy armor should grant +3, but nothing present is "heavy armor".  I might take a page out of the Conan D20 and make "layered" defenses heavy armor.

Each armor (gambeson, light maille, hauberk, etc) has a DR value against the 3 attack types:  Piercing, slashing and bludgeoning.  It follows the usual, when you're struck you reduce the total damage you take by the DR vs that attack type, etc.  Critical hits reduce the DR by half, and a second "20" will negate it completely.  Unlike the concept presented in Conan, I have not made use of the "Armor Piercing" concept, in lieu of specific DR's.  This may have been a bad idea.

Additionally, shields got a boost.  There are three types:  The buckler, the small round shield and the large round shield.  They grant +1, +2 and +4 AC respectively.  Bucklers do not grant AC against missile attacks.  Bucklers can have their AC sacrificed until your next turn to add +1 to your weapon's reach, to a max of 4.  I might bump the AC of the latter up to +3 and +5.  Shields really *should* be a primary defense, followed by a helmet.  I've considered using a "parry" system but I'm unsure if I want to go forward with that.

M.

[LordVreeg]

shields are given the shaft by most systems.  Though I give players an advantage for using a weapon 2 handed, most combat PC's use a shield.
A lot of my players are weapon historians, and so for us, a PC with a long kite shield has the same protection (DR)as they would in studded hardened leather.
I look forward to seeing more with this.

[Cheomesh]

Everyone is assumed to have a base DR of 0 against everything.  What you wear increases your DR vs certain attack types.

Light Armors only grant an AC of 1.

Gambeson
+1 AC, +1 DR vs Piercing, +2 DR vs Slashing, +4 DR vs Bludgeoning.
Max dex of +7, Penalty of 0, Spell Failure 35%, 5 pounds.


Maille  Shirt, light   
+1 AC, +2 DR vs P, +2 DR vs S, +0 DR vs B.
Max dex of +4, Penalty of -2, Spell Failure 80%, 19 pounds.  Can be worn over a gambeson.

                              
Medium Armors grant an AC of +3.

Hauberk
+3 AC, +3 DR vs P, +2 DR v S, +0 DR v B.
Max dex of +5, Penalty of -4, Spell Failure 80%, 25' maximum speed, 30 lbs.  Can be worn over a gambeson.


Brigandine
+3 AC, +3 DR v P, +3 DR v S, +2 DR v B.
Max dex of +5, Penalty of -3, Spell Failure 70%, 25'maximum speed, 15 lbs.  Can be worn over a gambeson.

Helmets do not have DR, but they do make you harder to "hit"

Spangen
AC +2, Spell Failure 80%, 9 pounds.  Counts as AC +3 vs Crit Confirm (makes you slightly harder to crit).

Raised Nasal
AC +2, Spell Failure 80%, 8 pounds.  Counts as AC +3 vs Crit Confirm (makes you slightly harder to crit).

Shields are cheap and effective defenses, but require a hand to hold.

Buckler
+1 AC, Penalty of -1, Spell Failure 50%, 2 lbs; Center Grip, No AC vs Ranged.

Small Targe
+3 AC, Penalty of -2, Spell Failure 50%, 8 lbs; Enarmes.

Large Round
+5 AC, Penalty of -3, Spell Failure 50%, 12 lbs; Center Grip.  -5' land speed.


No parry abilities, but they are good AC, and cheap to boot; the most expensive shield is only a little more than the cheapest armor.


A fully decked out warrior on foot would have an max AC bonus of +11 (Brig, Helm, Shield and Gambeson), a DR of 4 vs Piercing attacks, 5 vs Slashing attacks, and 6 vs Bludgeoning attacks.  He has a speed of 20', and is probably a very dangerous opponent.

M.

[LordVreeg]

WHAT KIND OF HP
 AND WEAPON DAMAGE AMOUNTS ARE YOU THINKING?

this figures heavily into the equation.

[Cheomesh]

Ah hell I totally forgot about this thread :S

Well Vreeg, currently I have three "Categories" of hit die (as I evolve from DnD 3.5 stuff).  You gain a full hit die plus your con at first level, and every other level from there (1, 3, 5).  You gain just your con mod worth of HP every other level (2, 4, 6).  If you take my toughness feat, which is a must for combat characters, you automatically gain half your hit die plus con at even levels.  It also grants 2 HP right away.

Basically, a fighter with a d8 hit die and +2 con mod has 10 HP at level 1, 12 at level 2, and 14 + d8 at 3.  Had he taken toughness at level 1, he would have 12 HP at level 1, 18 at level 2, etc.

The d4 is the lowest hit die, and is reserved for classes that are not toughened by combat training.  This includes a regular human being who does not get constant training, mages who do not spend their time toughening up, etc.

The d6 is reserved for people who do rougher things, but are not exactly up to the rigors of regular battle.  These include the roguish back stabber types, sorcerers, scouts, and thief-likes.

The d8 is used for your usual warrior types.  Fighter, bediensteter (a not yet updated class I should wiki post), warrior, etc.

Weapon damage is currently either a general range (1d6 for example) or a base line plus a range (3 + 1d3 for example).  I'm still sticking with the weapon range thing that grants Attacks of Opportunities to those with longer weapons, so long as they are not flanked or otherwise faked out.

The most directly powerful weapon is the battle axe (which is supposed to represent an axe like Kull uses), which deals 2d6 damage.  The most consistent weapon is probably the short sword, which is a 3 + 1d3 weapon (I need to find a d4 that goes from 0-3, I really do :S).

Another thing I've considered lately is the concept of intrinsic defense.  Essentially, I keep the DR and AC based on protection level (light being +1, etc), but assign each class a bonus to their AC (or not) much like a reflex save or a fortitude save.

M.