D&D 5E Armor house rule

[Jd Smith1]

My players are very happy with 5e, but they are not pleased with the armor system. If you get hit, it doesn't matter at all whether you wear armor or not.

I was thinking of a house rule where heavy armor was fairly easy to hit (because the weight and reduced vision), but it soaks damage. Say AC 14-15.

Light armor would be harder to hit (the defender can feint, dodge, and maneuver) but it soaks very little. Say AC 20-22.

I'm still pondering shields. Historically, a medium shield was both a parrying device and a weapon.

 

[CleverNickName]

I remember reading about "Armor as Damage Reduction" a while ago. Let me see if I can find the link.

EDIT: Here's the link. It's not my cup of tea, but it might help you find some useful info and ideas.

 

[dave2008]

My players are very happy with 5e, but they are not pleased with the armor system. If you get hit, it doesn't matter at all whether you wear armor or not.

I was thinking of a house rule where heavy armor was fairly easy to hit (because the weight and reduced vision), but it soaks damage. Say AC 14-15.

Light armor would be harder to hit (the defender can feint, dodge, and maneuver) but it soaks very little. Say AC 20-22.

I'm still pondering shields. Historically, a medium shield was both a parrying device and a weapon.

The higher AC of armor reflects its ability to absorb damage. A 'miss' doesn't mean you were not hit, it just means the armor prevented you from taking damage. If your base AC is 10 and your wearing plate, any attack that would hit you at AC 10, but misses you at AC 18 is essentially your armor deflecting the damage. AC and HP are very abstract and work best when that is maintained IMO.

However, my group also has an issue with armor (and HP) and use armor as both AC and DR (damage reduction), but it is also tied to how we use hit points. Essentially, AC is treated normally; however Armor also provides DR = to the armor's AC-10. Thus, plate armor provides a DR of 8. However, for how we play this only comes into play when a creature is 'bloodied,' otherwise the DR has not effect as the HP up to that point is simple exhaustion, luck, and minor scratches and bruises. It is only when your down to your bloodied hp that you take DR off the damage before you subtract the damage from your bloodied HP (i.e. meat points).

 

[NotAYakk]

Heavy Armor:
All heavy armor grants resistance to all damage, except critical hits. While wearing Heavy Armor, your AC is 8.

Ring armor grants 2 temporary HP at the start of your turn, Chain grants 6 temporary HP at the start of your turn, Split 8, and Plate 10.

Each +1 of enchantment grants 1 additional AC and 2 temporary HP at the start of your turn.

Medium Armor:
All medium armor grants resistance to all damage, except critical hits. While wearing Medium Armor, your AC is 8 plus your dex bonus.

Each +1 of enchantment grants 1 additional AC.

Light Armor:
Unchanged.

 

[Oofta]

How would armor as DR not completely nullify monsters that only do small amounts of damage or favor single hit monsters vs multi-hit monsters of the same CR? There are times when I throw a lot of small combats at the party - no individual combat is overwhelming, no individual monster is all that tough. But when it's skirmish after skirmish with no chance to get a rest in it can be difficult and a fun change of pace.

Don't get me wrong. HP and AC are some of the worst possible rules ever. I think they're also better than most of the alternatives.

But try it. Let us know how it works. Personally I just accept that any game that doesn't require an AI to determine success in combat is going to be a bit wonky.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Heavy Armor:
All heavy armor grants resistance to all damage, except critical hits. While wearing Heavy Armor, your AC is 8.

Ring armor grants 2 temporary HP at the start of your turn, Chain grants 6 temporary HP at the start of your turn, Split 8, and Plate 10.

Each +1 of enchantment grants 1 additional AC and 2 temporary HP at the start of your turn.

Medium Armor:
All medium armor grants resistance to all damage, except critical hits. While wearing Medium Armor, your AC is 8 plus your dex bonus.

Each +1 of enchantment grants 1 additional AC.

Light Armor:
Unchanged.

I like your resistance rule, except I would remove blunt, because kinetic attacks were the bane of heavy armor.

So to be clear: the pool of armor-based HP refreshes at the start of each turn?

 

[GlassJaw]

Armor as DR works best in genres where wearing armor is rare, and there are mechanics to simulate unarmored combatants (defense, parry, etc). Wearing armor then gives you DR but hinders your ability to avoid getting hit.

Given D&D's abstraction of hit points and AC, I wouldn't layer DR on top of that.

 

[dave2008]

I remember reading about "Armor as Damage Reduction" a while ago. Let me see if I can find the link.

EDIT: Here's the link. It's not my cup of tea, but it might help you find some useful info and ideas.

Thank you for digging that up - I had forgotten how much we changed our approach to DR!

 

[NotAYakk]

I like your resistance rule, except I would remove blunt, because kinetic attacks were the bane of heavy armor.

I said all; fire, cold, acid, psychic.

So to be clear: the pool of armor-based HP refreshes at the start of each turn?

Yes, heavy armor gets temporary HP that refreshes at the start of the turn. That part even works against crits.

A low level soldier in plate armor becomes nearly undefeatable in one-on-one combat against equally low level foes unless you score critical hits.

Against more foes with bows or being swarmed, or at higher levels, less so.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I said all; fire, cold, acid, psychic.

I see. I would just make it Pierce and slash resistance, with Medium getting blunt and slash resistance.

Longbows and crossbows would be exempted from Heavy Armor resistance because both easily defeated heavy armor.

I'll have to ponder this.