Do your characters wear their armor all day long?

[kenjib]

Hello everyone. The default assumption in D&D seems to be that people walk around in their armor all day long. Of course this only makes sense for the lighter armors, right? I've got a couple of questions.

1. Realistically, what kind of armor could you really wear for how long? Going about your business in a city? Standing at a guard post? Travelling on a road? Through wilderness?

2. Does anyone actually enforce the difficulty of walking around in full armor in their game? If so, how do you do this without hurting the fighter types too much? I'm thinking about what happens when you need to make an overland journey and have random-type encounters, or are doing a chase scene where an enemy is pursuing you overland for several days, harrassing you at every turn.

The heavier armors, like plate, have a chain hauberk or padded gambison underneath, no? Could the wearer use this lighter under-armor when they need to travel light, donning the heavy stuff when they know combat is coming?

Anyways, I am not too knowledgable about how armor really works and am interested in how people handle this, if anyone does.

 

[Maraxle]

I don't bother my players about wearing their armor all the time because, in my opinion, though it might depend on your gaming group, it doesn't add anything to the game. Sure, it's more realistic, but is it more fun? In my gaming group's case, no.

 

[kenjib]

That's kinda what I was wondering as well. Is it worth the bother?

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

I base it on the armor check penalty for wearing armor while sleeping:

-4 or better is okay to wear all the time.
-5 or worse and they start getting fatigue.

Not very realistic, but it works.

 

[GoldenEagle]

We use all the encum. and movement rules and I don't think it makes the game less fun. It is an important trade off when deciding what armor to buy etc. in this particualr game. I like moving at 30' as a wizard when a platemailed fighter can only move at 20'.

On longer journeys we just wear light armor while traveling and put the heavy stuff on pack animals or wagons.

I don't think this is the only way to play. I have played in other games where we don't track it as closely. Both are fun, but different.

 

[Maraxle]

My group uses the movement rules and a bastardized version of the encumbrance rules. Of course, we're pretty lenient in a lot of areas, as my group is more into it for the beer, pizza, and time away from their wives than the game itself.

 

[Xeriar]

Typically, you can't really sleep in armor, as it's too inflexible for your body to really get rest (cramps muscles, and things, or pinches, etc...) One of the magical enchantments in MotW allows one to sleep in armor, an armor with glamered and nimblenesss would probably be easier too. Or maybe a feat.

Walking in armor is a different matter entirely, as it really is designed to be worn that way Chain mail, at least, is pretty comfortable, and I'm told plate mail is doable too. Hot, humid days are gonna suck in any heavy armor, but that's about all I'd rule.

 

[Falcmir]

In general I'm not a stickler for realism when it comes to wearing armor, as long as it makes sense for them to have it on that's fine. Sleeping in armor is a no-no and if they are in a very secure area such as living in a kings castle then we assume no armor.

If the character is walking down the streets of a dangerous market place or even the main street of a rough city then armor is feasible.

 

[The Serge]

We follow the movement rules to the letter, but I tend not to worry too much about the encumbrance and fatigue... mostly because there are too many other things at the top of my mind.

However, I do think that having that information at hand (and in the back of your mind) can be helpful for future developments. For instance, if the PCs assault a stronghold at night, when the bulk of the defenders (who are very well hidden and don't expect an attack from a small group of infiltrators) are asleep, it's nice to know how long it will take them to throw on their armor, what penalties will be applied to ther AC for hasty dressing, and if they can do it at all. It works well in the reverse as well. If PCs are traveling across country, they have to be far more thoughtful about how much armor they are wearing because such a decision may affect their sleep and how quickly they can throw on armor in the even they're attacked.

Additionally, I do think the encumbrance rules are nice to have when PCs are trying to lug out a caravan-load of treasure. How much they can carry will impact how much they bring along to begin with. It can also open up new adventure opportunities if, upon returning a few days later to pick up the rest of the treasure after leaving a few henchmen to guard it, the treasure -- and the henchmen -- are missing.

 

[Prince Atom]

I wouldn't allow sleeping in anything other than padded armor. Leather has been boiled and is stiff; and studded leather, while technically flexible, has all these studs in it. It'd be like sleeping on a bed of nails -- sure, you could do it, but you couldn't turn very well.

My characters don't wear armor all the time. Some of my gaming buddies do have their characters wear armor every waking hour. I remember one time when the cleric and paladin of Bahamut were going to lay the smack down on some BBEG who might worship Tiamat or might not, and my fighter wasn't wearing any armor and tried to talk them down. It didn't work, but the BBEG was way ahead of us and no fighting ensued.

This paladin and cleric of Bahamut tend to play the game very gung-ho. If the paladin senses evil, he brooks no barrier to his attacking it, and any action is justified in punishing evildoers. This has led them to performing coup de graces on bugbears made helpless by our lucky psion's burning all of his points to Mind Blast them for 11 rounds.

Unbalanced? Maybe, but he only had 3 points left after that, and I'm more concerned about the paladin killing helpless victims of any alignment. My character wouldn't participate in this bloodthirsty massacre.

If they're trying to kill me, fair, but I won't attack unless they can defend themselves.


The DM awarded me 50 bonus XPs. I had to excuse myself briefly until the Smug Smile (TM) went away.

TWK