Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth (He/him)
A recent thread about medium armor got me thinking about armor proficiencies, and I would like to share my thoughts with the community.
First, I think it’s important to remember that the default way to calculate AC is 10 + DEX modifier. So given a PC typically has a DEX score between 8 and 17 at 1st level, unarmored ACs will be between 9 and 13. By 4th level, a PC could have a DEX score of 18 or 19 and an unarmored AC of 14, and by 6th level, a fighter could have DEX 20 and unarmored AC 15. Because AC is directly related to DEX, the only way to raise your AC without some other method of calculation is to increase your DEX.
Each type of armor provides a different (better) way to calculate AC. These types are grouped into the three blanket proficiencies, each of which gives access to a suite of options.
Light armor is an obvious improvement over no armor. It preserves the relationship between AC and DEX while increasing the base number of the calculation by as much as 2 (studded leather). This has synergy with DEX-primary characters like DEX fighters, rangers, and rogues who can start with AC 15 at 1st level, increase to AC 16 at 4th level, and max out at AC 17 at 6th level for fighters (8th level for everyone else) all by increasing DEX. So for the same investment in DEX, light armor provides +2 AC compared to no armor, which is just better.
Medium armor at 1st level provides as much as +3 AC over no armor for the same investment in DEX and +4 AC if you take disadvantage on Stealth, for a net +1/+2 over light armor, but only up to DEX 14. At DEX 16, light armor catches up to chainshirt, at DEX 18, it catches up to scalemail (with no disadvantage), and at DEX 20, it catches up to half plate (again with no disadvantage).
So theoretically, at 1st level, you could have AC 15 (16 with disadvantage) with DEX 14, matching the DEX-primary character’s AC with light armor and DEX 16. I say “theoretically”, however, because if you look at the classes that have medium armor proficiency, with the exception of a STR ranger, it’s unlikely that DEX will be better than a tertiary ability score, so I’d expect most medium armor wearers to start the game with a DEX 12 or 13 at best, yielding an AC one point lower than the DEX-primary light armor wearer’s AC unless the medium armor wearer accepts disadvantage on Stealth. All of this is with a much lower initial investment in DEX, so one less point of AC seems fair. At the same level of investment, for example, light armor only provides AC 13 compared to medium armor’s AC 14/15 (chainshirt/scalemail).
At 4th level, the medium armor wearer can increase its DEX to 14, keeping pace with light armor’s increase to 18, and at 6th level, breastplate and half plate become affordable, keeping pace with the DEX fighter’s increase to DEX 20. So for less than half the point buy/ASI investment in DEX, medium armor provides the same AC as light armor with disadvantage on Stealth and one point less without it. Again, medium armor is always better than no armor, but compared to light armor, it’s a wash.
Heavy armor, like medium armor, also requires only a moderate ability score investment, but in STR rather than DEX. It also completely negates the effect of DEX on your AC. So for the same point-buy investment at 1st level , heavy armor gives you +5 AC over no armor, +3 over light, and +2/+1 over medium. To get to AC 16 (chainmail), though, you need to invest in at least STR 13, rather than DEX 12. At 4th level, splint becomes affordable but requires a bump to STR 15 compared to DEX 14. At 6th level, plate becomes affordable, keeping heavy armor wearers one point ahead of similarly disadvantaged half plate wearers and studded leather wearers that have bumped their DEX to 20.
Conclusion: The three blanket armor proficiencies each provide a suite of options that are more or less attractive to different characters but which are all balanced, both within and between the proficiencies, by point-buy/ASI investment, expected ability score allocation by level, expected wealth by level, and the balancing factor of an additional point of armor class in exchange for disadvantage on Stealth checks. The heavier armor proficiencies aren’t improvements over the lighter armor proficiencies but merely expand the set of options that players have to choose from in creating more diverse characters.
One inconsistency with the tables is that padded armor probably shouldn’t require light armor proficiency, but rather should be its own proficiency that everyone gets. I don’t think such a change is anywhere near warranted, however.
The only addition to the tables for which there seems to be any room is an AC 15 heavy armor with a STR 11 requirement. Other than that, it looks like the designers covered everything.
First, I think it’s important to remember that the default way to calculate AC is 10 + DEX modifier. So given a PC typically has a DEX score between 8 and 17 at 1st level, unarmored ACs will be between 9 and 13. By 4th level, a PC could have a DEX score of 18 or 19 and an unarmored AC of 14, and by 6th level, a fighter could have DEX 20 and unarmored AC 15. Because AC is directly related to DEX, the only way to raise your AC without some other method of calculation is to increase your DEX.
Each type of armor provides a different (better) way to calculate AC. These types are grouped into the three blanket proficiencies, each of which gives access to a suite of options.
Light armor is an obvious improvement over no armor. It preserves the relationship between AC and DEX while increasing the base number of the calculation by as much as 2 (studded leather). This has synergy with DEX-primary characters like DEX fighters, rangers, and rogues who can start with AC 15 at 1st level, increase to AC 16 at 4th level, and max out at AC 17 at 6th level for fighters (8th level for everyone else) all by increasing DEX. So for the same investment in DEX, light armor provides +2 AC compared to no armor, which is just better.
Medium armor at 1st level provides as much as +3 AC over no armor for the same investment in DEX and +4 AC if you take disadvantage on Stealth, for a net +1/+2 over light armor, but only up to DEX 14. At DEX 16, light armor catches up to chainshirt, at DEX 18, it catches up to scalemail (with no disadvantage), and at DEX 20, it catches up to half plate (again with no disadvantage).
So theoretically, at 1st level, you could have AC 15 (16 with disadvantage) with DEX 14, matching the DEX-primary character’s AC with light armor and DEX 16. I say “theoretically”, however, because if you look at the classes that have medium armor proficiency, with the exception of a STR ranger, it’s unlikely that DEX will be better than a tertiary ability score, so I’d expect most medium armor wearers to start the game with a DEX 12 or 13 at best, yielding an AC one point lower than the DEX-primary light armor wearer’s AC unless the medium armor wearer accepts disadvantage on Stealth. All of this is with a much lower initial investment in DEX, so one less point of AC seems fair. At the same level of investment, for example, light armor only provides AC 13 compared to medium armor’s AC 14/15 (chainshirt/scalemail).
At 4th level, the medium armor wearer can increase its DEX to 14, keeping pace with light armor’s increase to 18, and at 6th level, breastplate and half plate become affordable, keeping pace with the DEX fighter’s increase to DEX 20. So for less than half the point buy/ASI investment in DEX, medium armor provides the same AC as light armor with disadvantage on Stealth and one point less without it. Again, medium armor is always better than no armor, but compared to light armor, it’s a wash.
Heavy armor, like medium armor, also requires only a moderate ability score investment, but in STR rather than DEX. It also completely negates the effect of DEX on your AC. So for the same point-buy investment at 1st level , heavy armor gives you +5 AC over no armor, +3 over light, and +2/+1 over medium. To get to AC 16 (chainmail), though, you need to invest in at least STR 13, rather than DEX 12. At 4th level, splint becomes affordable but requires a bump to STR 15 compared to DEX 14. At 6th level, plate becomes affordable, keeping heavy armor wearers one point ahead of similarly disadvantaged half plate wearers and studded leather wearers that have bumped their DEX to 20.
Conclusion: The three blanket armor proficiencies each provide a suite of options that are more or less attractive to different characters but which are all balanced, both within and between the proficiencies, by point-buy/ASI investment, expected ability score allocation by level, expected wealth by level, and the balancing factor of an additional point of armor class in exchange for disadvantage on Stealth checks. The heavier armor proficiencies aren’t improvements over the lighter armor proficiencies but merely expand the set of options that players have to choose from in creating more diverse characters.
One inconsistency with the tables is that padded armor probably shouldn’t require light armor proficiency, but rather should be its own proficiency that everyone gets. I don’t think such a change is anywhere near warranted, however.
The only addition to the tables for which there seems to be any room is an AC 15 heavy armor with a STR 11 requirement. Other than that, it looks like the designers covered everything.
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