How well does Armor as Damage Reduction work?

[DrNilesCrane]

We're looking at implimenting this (as per Unearthed Arcana rules) for an upcoming campaign and I'm curious as to who has used this rule and what your experiences are with it. In addition to general feedback, did you find that at mid and higher levels the somewhat lower armor classes required something to offest them for balance (i.e. class defense bonus) or did it work itself out reasonably well?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Babylon Knight]

I love Frasier!

That being said, I tried this rule for fun with level 3 characters and it worked fairly well with those that had high Dex.

Those with normal dex (plate fighters) tended to get hit more often and take more damage, albeit lower.

Then we jumped ahead and tried it with level 11 characters in a Construct heavy campaign. At that point we earnestly wished for higher AC because DR 4/- just wasn't cutting it, we were getting hit more freqently, for less damage, but let me ask you this. Would you rather get hit once for 30 damage, or twice for 26 damage each?

 

[DrNilesCrane]

I love Frasier!

That being said, I tried this rule for fun with level 3 characters and it worked fairly well with those that had high Dex.

Those with normal dex (plate fighters) tended to get hit more often and take more damage, albeit lower.

Then we jumped ahead and tried it with level 11 characters in a Construct heavy campaign. At that point we earnestly wished for higher AC because DR 4/- just wasn't cutting it, we were getting hit more freqently, for less damage, but let me ask you this. Would you rather get hit once for 30 damage, or twice for 26 damage each?

Exactly my concern! Were you able to adjust to the change (i.e. different character builds, fighting defensively, etc.), or would have something like a class defense bonus helped? Was the loss of four points of AC (in the fighter with plate example) a critical difference?

(I like the way the AC+DR works but am not sure if I should add something else in to compensate for the loss of AC).

 

[Babylon Knight]

We played standard 3.5 rules, except replacing with the rule "Armor as DR", in the Forgotten Realms.

It was done "as is" to see just how effective it is, now, if that needed other such bonuses like those presented in UA or Iron Heroes, i'm not sure. A word of warning if you want to splice it in right away. Although, if you do strike a balance not too far from the standard AC system, and you don't see any potential for abuse, then stick with it if it more fits your ideal of what armor should provide.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I have not tried it, but thought you might find Sean K. Reynolds' rant on this topic of interest: Armor as DR Isn't Worth the Work. He doesn't say not to use it (and he hasn't read UA), but he does give some excellent points to consider.

 

[DrNilesCrane]

I have not tried it, but thought you might find Sean K. Reynolds' rant on this topic of interest: Armor as DR Isn't Worth the Work. He doesn't say not to use it (and he hasn't read UA), but he does give some excellent points to consider.

Thank you for the link! It's an interesting post, although I think a lot of his concerns are addressed by the UA system - at least they appear to be (i.e. especially the higher level of complexity SKR assumes is needed with the AC/DR system). It seems like a very good system and UA even warns that it turns against the PCs a bit at higher levels, although I suspect that as DM I could compensate for that (or encourage the PCs to compensate for that) via items (such as better Rings of Protection than the party might normally have based on their level and expected wealth), if necessary.

Hmmm...maybe I'm answering / addressing my own concerns! I wonder if anyone has tried this and doesn't like the system. Babylon Knight, I assume from your post you're still using this rule and it is working well in your FR campaign?

 

[Babylon Knight]

Lower levels: the campaign is still running

The level 11 campaign: we stopped

Another way you can go about this is finding ways to increase the inherent DR of the armors, wether or not that system has been devised, I don't know.

 

[Mortis]

IMHO it works very well in Mongoose's Conan game, but I don't think it would work as well in D&D - there's just too many variables.

Regards,
Mortis

 

[Oates]

I think that if you are going to use armor as DR then you should use the class defensive bonus (like the conan system). That would tend to give equal AC boni. Also as a side-along question. how does magic work with Armor DR???

 

[DrNilesCrane]

Also as a side-along question. how does magic work with Armor DR???

In the UA rules, enhancement bonuses to armor apply just to the AC, not DR. You could make the armor out of adamantine for additional DR (as per the DMG).