Source
r/rpg•
Eviledy

Warrior Rogue and Mage Alternate armor system

So looking over WR&M and I was thinking i would like to use the alternative armor system where armor absorbs damage and not make you harder to hit. The problem is that someone in full plate and shield is virtually impossible to damage. Now this is not entirely true there are the dice explosions for damage, but with 9 AP that leaves only 3 weapons that can actually damage a character with natural rolls.

I was thinking along the lines of either making armor a variable damage resistance. Or changing the armor system so that different weapons do different damages and in turn armor is less or more effective against a different damage type.

So I was wondering does anyone have alternative armor systems from other games that might work with something like this?

Posted Jun 28, 2011, 1:51 AM UTC

24
Shattershift•

The problem is that someone in full plate and shield is virtually impossible to damage.

The problem is that while armor absorbs some damage, it should be mostly converting lethal (kills you) damage into non-lethal damage (incapacitates you).

Beat on a guy in full plate long enough and he either tires to where you can start doing actual lethal damage due to his weakening defense, or if it gets bad enough he becomes available for a coup-de-grace by sheer exhaustion.

1
EviledyOP•

Interesting idea, implementing a fatigue system might actually be easier than working through a whole armor system vs piercing, bludgeon, and slashing damage. Thanks for the input I will have to work on this idea a bit.

1
grnknightColorado Springs, CO, USA•

The trick with adding complexity (i.e. armor) is that it may get in the way of the simplicity of the system. One of the things I liked about RAG was how they added initiative - just as another generated characteristic.

How would this mechanic actually work in practice? Do you have an example?

1
EviledyOP•

Well there are some differences with the combat system from WR@M and RAG. In RAG they changed the damage system to a static damage for weapons with adds for every point rolled over the DL. That might be enough to make Armor less of an issue, mainly because there isn't any personal armor.

The issue with WR&M is if I implement the alternate armor rules #1 armor absorbs damage, then light plate +6 absorbs 6 points of damage leaving only 2h weapons and the guns able to penetrate armor, not including the exploding dice.

And only because I know my group well enough that after the first time playing they are going to min max me to death.

I had not read the information on RAG until you asked your question. But that gives me maybe something to work off of. One alternative to damage given was that you could use the difference between rolled dice and DL as an add upto the weapons max damage, but that still leaves you with the same problem of armor absorbing all the damage from daggers, swords, bows etc.

But If I allow the amount of adds from damage to exceed a weapons rolled damage that might actually be enough to allow a sword to damage a person wearing light plate and a shield. It could also just make the whole thing a lot more deadly for those in lighter armor, mages, and rogue types who are less reliant on armor.

1