Super Simple Armor

[mrpopstar]

I would agree in general that heavy armor should be available for starting characters. If you want cost to be an issue, some form of masterwork is a better way to go IMO.

I agree that starting characters should have access.

 

[Yaarel]

@mrpopstar, I like your system here.

Some other thoughts when I think about it.

• Make naked human Base AC 8
• Helmet +2 AC ( → AC 10)

So a helmet works mechanically similar to a shield.

This is a simple method to account for the importance of a helmet in combat. So that, in reallife, even someone in ‘light armor’ like a cloth gambeson should be wearing a metal helmet.

 

[akr71]

Light Armor. If you wear light armor, you add your Dexterity modifier, to a maximum of +4, to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class.

Medium Armor. If you wear medium armor, you add your Dexterity modifier, to a maximum of +2, to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class. The weight of medium armor reduces the wearer’s speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than 13.

Heavy Armor. If you wear heavy armor, you do not add your Dexterity modifier to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class. The weight of heavy armor reduces the wearer’s speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than 15. The bulk of heavy armor also imposes disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

(Note: A dwarf's speed is not reduced by wearing medium or heavy armor.)[/SIZE][/indent]
Seeking thoughts on numbers, balance, crunch, etc. Have I broken anything? Fixed anything?



Design goal: A rich reductiveness.

• Material as an aesthetic choice (e.g. hide, mail, plate).
• Medium armor supportive of Strength-focused characters.
• Reel in Dexterity ever so slightly.

I foresee a lot of Rogues and Rangers taking a dip into Monk or Barbarian in your campaign.
Dump the armor & get Unarmored Defense and come out ahead.

 

[Horwath]

Or you could make medium armor 16+dex(max +1).

It would still make it 17 max, but it would not tax str characters on dex score too much.

Also I would use negative dex modifier for heavy armor AC calculation to punish dumping dex.

you could lower str req to 12 and 14. Odd ability scores just iritate people

 

[TwoSix]

I would agree in general that heavy armor should be available for starting characters. If you want cost to be an issue, some form of masterwork is a better way to go IMO.

Yea, just treat plate as a "common magic item" if there's a desire to make the plate image aspirational. Spend a bunch of gold, get a small mechanical benefit outside of the normal math. There's nothing wrong with basic "heavy armor" being a bunch of fur pelts sewn onto a suit of chain mail. I agree with the sentiment that every armor type should be available with level 1 funds.

Overall, I think this looks pretty great. Unarmored is a good choice if you have near inhuman agility and some kind of magical/preternatural protection. (Mage armor, Unarmored Defense, racial or class feature.) At high levels, mage armor is 2 points better than light armor, rather than 1 point, but it's still equivalent to plate, so that's fine. 16/17/18 progression means that Str and Dex are both viable for AC, but Str is actually a little better, which I like. (Dex user needs a source of Mage Armor to keep up, which is fine.)

Only change I would make is to medium armor, and make the Str requirement an 11. Medium armor wearers shouldn't have to divert a 13 and a 14 (2 of their 3 highest stats in standard array) into Str and Dex, since one of them is going to be a quaternary stat for pretty much every medium armor wearer except barbarian. (Main attack stat, spellcasting stat, Con are top 3.)

Random aside: What if medium armor was 15 + the lower of Str and Dex? The more strength you have to ignore the bulk of your armor, the more you can leverage your native agility? It would make high Str/high Dex builds more viable by putting them at the top of the AC pyramid, but not to the point of being better than a high level barbarian or monk.

 

[mrpopstar]

@mrpopstar, I like your system here.

Thank you!

Some other thoughts when I think about it.

• Make naked human Base AC 8
• Helmet +2 AC ( → AC 10)

So a helmet works mechanically similar to a shield.

This is a simple method to account for the importance of a helmet in combat. So that, in reallife, even someone in ‘light armor’ like a cloth gambeson should be wearing a metal helmet.

I like the idea of helmets, but that type of consideration starts moving towards a granularity that I'm seeking to move away from.

I foresee a lot of Rogues and Rangers taking a dip into Monk or Barbarian in your campaign.
Dump the armor & get Unarmored Defense and come out ahead.

Don't they come out ahead in the current rules if they dump armor and dip for Unarmored Defense?

Or you could make medium armor 16+dex(max +1).

It would still make it 17 max, but it would not tax str characters on dex score too much.

My proposal includes the best arrangement of medium armor qualities from the current rules (AC 15 + Dex max 2 no disadvantage on stealth). Do you feel that Strength-focused characters are taxed currently, or are you seeing a tax in my proposal?

Also I would use negative dex modifier for heavy armor AC calculation to punish dumping dex.

I think dumping Dexterity carries with it enough punishment.

you could lower str req to 12 and 14. Odd ability scores just iritate people

LOL I like the odd scores because they are rewarded so little in the current system.

Yea, just treat plate as a "common magic item" if there's a desire to make the plate image aspirational. Spend a bunch of gold, get a small mechanical benefit outside of the normal math. There's nothing wrong with basic "heavy armor" being a bunch of fur pelts sewn onto a suit of chain mail. I agree with the sentiment that every armor type should be available with level 1 funds.

Overall, I think this looks pretty great. Unarmored is a good choice if you have near inhuman agility and some kind of magical/preternatural protection. (Mage armor, Unarmored Defense, racial or class feature.) At high levels, mage armor is 2 points better than light armor, rather than 1 point, but it's still equivalent to plate, so that's fine. 16/17/18 progression means that Str and Dex are both viable for AC, but Str is actually a little better, which I like. (Dex user needs a source of Mage Armor to keep up, which is fine.)

Thank you!



And thank you for numbers and insight into your thinking.

Only change I would make is to medium armor, and make the Str requirement an 11. Medium armor wearers shouldn't have to divert a 13 and a 14 (2 of their 3 highest stats in standard array) into Str and Dex, since one of them is going to be a quaternary stat for pretty much every medium armor wearer except barbarian. (Main attack stat, spellcasting stat, Con are top 3.)

After racial ability score adjustment, I didn't think it would be too far out of reach for anyone who intended to be moderately armored.

Random aside: What if medium armor was 15 + the lower of Str and Dex? The more strength you have to ignore the bulk of your armor, the more you can leverage your native agility? It would make high Str/high Dex builds more viable by putting them at the top of the AC pyramid, but not to the point of being better than a high level barbarian or monk.

I like it, but that adds complexity.

 

[mrpopstar]

What if medium armor only slowed movement by 5 feet instead of 10 if you don't meet the Strength requirement?

 

[jaelis]

I have to say, every time I see this thread title I want it to be "Super Saiyan Armor."
Just so you know.

 

[GMMichael]

I don't see the point. 5e armour is already pretty simple.

This. But if not, then this:

From a purely mechanical perspective, how does this look?

Armor	Armor Class (AC)	Dex Save Penalty	Stealth
Light Armor	12	-1	--
Medium Armor	15	-2	--
Heavy Armor	18	-4	--
Shield	+2	--	--

​

​

Because 1) no one cares about weight.
2) Someone with Dex 18 is going to be harder to hit in heavy armor than someone with Dex 12 in heavy armor.
3) The DM should impose stealth penalties, not the rulebook. (Or better yet, the player.)
4) Dex save penalty compensates for the removal of Dex modifier.
5) It's super simple.

 

[Satyrn]

What if medium armor only slowed movement by 5 feet instead of 10 if you don't meet the Strength requirement?

I like that. Lowering the Str requirement from 13 would make the requirement's existence seem nearly pointless to me.