Level Up (A5E) Adding narrative satisfaction to armor

[DeviousQuail]

Instead of DR you could do a bonus to a players HP. Sort of a roundabout way of achieving the same thing. Light armors get 2-3, medium armors get 4-7 and heavy armors get 7-10. Unarmored/natural defense could be worth +4 if you feel bad for your monk and barbarian players.

My group did a similar thing for my homebrew 5e scifi game. The extra HP was treated like temp HP and represented shielding.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

'Cause LevelUp players are looking for (and getting) increased complexity later this year. Seems as good a reason as any other to put something that strictly adds more complexity and levers here, rather than in 5e where people prefer the more streamlined version.

Ok, I have just seen this type of discussion over in that forum a few times.

 

[VanguardHero]

I like how PF2 did it, Leather, Composite, and Plate get small DR against a certain damage type if they're Medium or Heavy. Just a small thing to add weight to them, without overcomplicating things.

 

[Steampunkette]

Instead of DR you could do a bonus to a players HP. Sort of a roundabout way of achieving the same thing. Light armors get 2-3, medium armors get 4-7 and heavy armors get 7-10. Unarmored/natural defense could be worth +4 if you feel bad for your monk and barbarian players.

My group did a similar thing for my homebrew 5e scifi game. The extra HP was treated like temp HP and represented shielding.

Could work. Though Temp HP don't stack from multiple sources.

Instead of DR you could do a bonus to a players HP. Sort of a roundabout way of achieving the same thing. Light armors get 2-3, medium armors get 4-7 and heavy armors get 7-10. Unarmored/natural defense could be worth +4 if you feel bad for your monk and barbarian players.

My group did a similar thing for my homebrew 5e scifi game. The extra HP was treated like temp HP and represented shielding.

That makes sense. I just went with the Proficiency and AC bonus to go for an easy calculation with clearly escalating values on both sides.

Though having Adepts and Berserkers gain their Wisdom and Constitution modifiers as DR would also be super thematic. Adept wisely bending with the impact to reduce the harm, Berserker enduring it with sheer toughness.

I like how PF2 did it, Leather, Composite, and Plate get small DR against a certain damage type if they're Medium or Heavy. Just a small thing to add weight to them, without overcomplicating things.

Can you share the values and methods of application, HV? Also... are those the three types of armor that exist at the different tiers of AC or...?

 

[Steampunkette]

Hubby and I talked about this and his position is pretty much "Armor shouldn't really matter, the intent is to accomplish the same thing in different ways, not be better or worse." And he's kind of right? Adding "Realism" to armor, specifically heavier armors, in this way doesn't really help the gameplay at all.

Which I responded with "So why does heavy armor add stealth penalties and movement speed reduction?" and we bandied that back and forth a bit.

Ultimately I think this is a good option for making heavy armor feel "Good" rather than just "Heavy". But YMMV.

 

[DeviousQuail]

Could work. Though Temp HP don't stack from multiple sources.

I should have proofread my post. I meant to say "The extra HP was treated like a separate temp HP and represented shielding." So our characters had HP, temp HP, and shielding. But it could just as easily work for 5e by increasing a characters max HP. I could see that being less fiddly since the armor someone is wearing and their max HP rarely change during play.

 

[Steampunkette]

I should have proofread my post. I meant to say "The extra HP was treated like a separate temp HP and represented shielding." So our characters had HP, temp HP, and shielding. But it could just as easily work for 5e by increasing a characters max HP. I could see that being less fiddly since the armor someone is wearing and their max HP rarely change during play.

... oh... oh I do like that...

An Armor Bonus to max HP... Huh. That is super clever!

 

[DeviousQuail]

... oh... oh I do like that...

An Armor Bonus to max HP... Huh. That is super clever!

I'd love to take credit but I stole it from somewhere. I'd also like to give credit but I don't remember where I stole it from.

There are some interesting knock-on effects from this too. 1) A bonus of 5 to your max HP actually gives you somewhere between 5-15 extra HP depending on short rests and available healing throughout the day. That's useful at most levels. 2) Strength gets a nice boost as it would also indirectly add to your HP. 3) Level 1 and 2 characters get a bit of added staying power at a time when one-hit KOs are a very real concern. 4) Another way to customize armor is cool.

 

[RangerWickett]

'Cause LevelUp players are looking for (and getting) increased complexity later this year. Seems as good a reason as any other to put something that strictly adds more complexity and levers here, rather than in 5e where people prefer the more streamlined version.

Early in Level Up's design, I pitched an idea for armor and shields that would be sort of like how shields work in PF2. They provide a passive boost to defense, but also you could choose to 'break their aegis.' Light armor could turn a crit into a hit but you'd fall prone. Medium armor could turn a crit to a hit or a hit into a miss, but you'd fall prone. Heavy armor could do what medium does, without you falling prone. After breaking the aegis you would have to repair them during a short rest.

 

[Horwath]

I really like the idea of different types of armor working against different types of weapons in level of protection they provide.

But,
having 3 or 4 types of armor defending against 3 types of damage(not to mention adding elemental damage to it.) it just too much hassle at the table, and combat is slow enough already.

It works great in a CRPG(i.e. Pillars of Eternity) as it is all worked and calculated in the background instantly.

For tabletop, either go with harder to hit(all or nothing result) or reducing hit effect.