Armor Check Penalties

[Hawken]

I've decided to implement the SW Saga rules for having Initiative as a skill for my D&D game and also made a few other skill related conversions (Spot and Listen into Perception, Hide and Move Silent into Stealth). I also decided to implement the rule in SWSE about how the ACP is a flat -2 for light armor, -5 for medium and -10 for heavy armors.

My players were ok with the rules up until the ACP. What gives? Are these really that excessive?

I like the base numbers and not having to look up the ACP for a specific armor, rather than just having to know if its -2, -5 or -10. That makes things hella convenient. Should I dump my preference and go with the players that are in an uproar? Or stick to my decision. It seems with the mithril special material and various enchantments that ACP could be mitigated to a point--but, especially for initiative, someone in plate armor shouldn't be moving faster than someone else (of equal level) unarmored without investing some decent cash or magic in that armor.

 

[Gloombunny]

I like the base numbers and not having to look up the ACP for a specific armor, rather than just having to know if its -2, -5 or -10. That makes things hella convenient.

You can have that convenience without doubling a player's penalty. I'm pretty sure that the sudden steep increase in penalties is the reason they're objecting, not the consistency part.

 

[Arkhandus]

Yeah, you're using a rather steep penalty. Remember that SW Saga uses many different rules, including different rules for skill totals and armor benefits and suchlike.

For D&D use, at least cut it down to -1 for light armor, -3 for medium, and -6 for heavy. That way only the one best or one worst armor of each category is worsened a bit, and not the whole darn batch of armors.

The ACP version you used basically makes ALL armors worse than they used to be, with the possible exception of maybe, just maybe, the one cruddiest armor in each category.

Armors have different ACP values because it's part of their balancing, along with AC Bonus and Max Dex Bonus and Speed Reduction and such.

And I don't know if imposing an ACP against Initiative is all that fair.

 

[Hawken]

You're right. I had forgotten how they tallied the skill modifiers in SWSE.

I was thinking of -1/-4/-7 for a set of flat modifiers.

As for it affecting Initiative, it definitely is fair. If anything, its as fair as the ACP affecting any other skills it affects. And someone in armor is just simply not going to be able to react and move as fast as someone not in armor (given all other equal variables; same level, same environmental conditions, etc.).

 

[Felnar]

if you dont want to look up on the table, just use your -1/-4/-7 or whatever,
but let the PCs use the table value (which they've recorded on their char sheet)

also, when adding new skills and combining others, some classes might be deserving of more points per level, while other classes should get fewer.