Level Up (A5E) Adding narrative satisfaction to armor

[Scars Unseen]

Hmm.. To keep things from slowing down at the table, rather than make it an automatic feature and one that applies all the time, why not make it a feature of a defense oriented feat(or class feature, depending on where A5E takes things), and make it more powerful, but applied situationally. Like, and I'm throwing this out there with no mind about balancing, make a feat or feature for heavy armor types that let's a player decide once per combat, after both the attack and damage rolls are made, to ignore that damage. Call it "glancing blow," or "armor mastery," or whatever. You could come up with something similar for lighter armors. If we're making it a class feature, you could come up with several somethings, making it possible to specialize in defensive play.

Just seems to me that having something the player can use to their advantage in specific points in the battle would be more narratively satisfying than a passive addition to the combat formula. Like, it would make for a much better story to talk about the time you parried the demon general's flaming sword with your armored fist before landing the decisive blow than to mention how your armor allowed you to take 10% less damage throughout the fight, letting you stand for a few rounds more until the fight was done.

 

[Steampunkette]

At this point I'm thinking "Armor Bonus to Max HP" would be pretty solid to carry the idea forward?

Particularly if it includes Magic Bonus from armor and shield, but not other sources. So you'd get a +3 max HP boost from a +2 Leather Armor, but not from Bracers of Armor +2, so there's a specific benefit to wearing armor rather than just getting AC Buffs.

Granted, at level 20 a +14 max HP Buff (+3 Plate, +3 Shield) isn't that big a benefit, but it can mean a lot in the right moment, and a +4 from Scale Armor at level 1 is actually pretty huge.

 

[dave2008]

At this point I'm thinking "Armor Bonus to Max HP" would be pretty solid to carry the idea forward?

Particularly if it includes Magic Bonus from armor and shield, but not other sources. So you'd get a +2 max HP boost from a +2 Leather Armor, but not from Bracers of Armor +2, so there's a specific benefit to wearing armor rather than just getting AC Buffs.

Granted, at level 20 a +14 max HP Buff (+3 Plate, +3 Shield) isn't that big a benefit, but it can mean a lot in the right moment, and a +4 from Scale Armor at level 1 is actually pretty huge.

Not how we roll, but I think that could work for some. Also, I bet you could figure out a way for the HP bonus of armor to scale if you want.

However, one issue with this idea is that I feel PCs have to much HP already. For my next game I am thinking of severely limiting HP (still determining how much) and this idea might help sell my PCs on it, but in a normal campaign past lvl 3 - I don't need more HP bloat.

 

[Steampunkette]

Not how we roll, but I think that could work for some. Also, I bet you could figure out a way for the HP bonus of armor to scale if you want.

However, one issue with this idea is that I feel PCs have to much HP already. For my next game I am thinking of severely limiting HP (still determining how much) and this idea might help sell my PCs on it, but in a normal campaign past lvl 3 - I don't need more HP bloat.

Oh... well. Inverse Dexterity?

Your Armor Type determines how many Bonus HP you can get per level from Constitution in the opposite way it limits your maximum Dexterity bonus to AC.

Heavy Armor? As much Constitution bonus to HP per level as you have.
Medium Armor? Maximum of +2 Constitution bonus to HP.
Light Armor? No HP Bonus from Dexterity.

... heck... that might work great in general, huh?

Let Berserkers gain full HP bonus 'cause they're using their Con Mod. Adepts get max +2 since they're using Wisdom?

 

[dave2008]

Oh... well. Inverse Dexterity?

Your Armor Type determines how many Bonus HP you can get per level from Constitution in the opposite way it limits your maximum Dexterity bonus to AC.

Heavy Armor? As much Constitution bonus to HP per level as you have.
Medium Armor? Maximum of +2 Constitution bonus to HP.
Light Armor? No HP Bonus from Dexterity.

... heck... that might work great in general, huh?

Let Berserkers gain full HP bonus 'cause they're using their Con Mod. Adepts get max +2 since they're using Wisdom?

I was just think of something simple like adding some additional HP pier tier or perhaps magic is worth 2 hp for each +1 (since that is roughly supposed to be per tier) or perhaps:

lvl 1-10: armor adds HP = AC-10
lvl 11-20 armor adds HP = (AC-10) x 2

 

[Steampunkette]

I was just think of something simple like adding some additional HP pier tier or perhaps magic is worth 2 hp for each +1 (since that is roughly supposed to be per tier) or perhaps:

lvl 1-10: armor adds HP = AC-10
lvl 11-20 armor adds HP = (AC-10) x 2

Oh, I get that? I just meant you were looking for a way to limit HP a bit, and that could be a good way to do it.

Particularly for light fighters and mage types.

 

[dave2008]

Oh, I get that? I just meant you were looking for a way to limit HP a bit, and that could be a good way to do it.

Particularly for light fighters and mage types.

Oh! I already have a plan for that I just haven't determined how much I want to limit HP. The plan is: up to some level (right now it I'm thinking level 10) HP is calculated normally. Then, after that level (lets say 11) you calculate the HP you get each level based on HD only, no Con bonus, as follows:

d6= 1 HP/ lvl
d8= 2 HP/ lvl
d10= 3 HP/ lvl
d12= 4 HP/ lvl

 

[DeviousQuail]

Oh! I already have a plan for that I just haven't determined how much I want to limit HP. The plan is: up to some level (right now it I'm thinking level 10) HP is calculated normally. Then, after that level (lets say 11) you calculate the HP you get each level based on HD only, no Con bonus, as follows:

d6= 1 HP/ lvl
d8= 2 HP/ lvl
d10= 3 HP/ lvl
d12= 4 HP/ lvl

Only Con mod (min 0 or 1) after level 10 would also work. Range is pretty much the same and is already part of the HP calculation method.

 

[ArmoredSaint77]

I support any change to the basic rules of The Game that represent armour as being more effective than it presently is. It should be more rewarding to wear armour, especially heavy armour.
Nothing is more frustrating than your knight in shining armour character wearing his gear and always getting hurt by lowly goblins, etc.

 

[Radaceus]

Awhile back I was retrofitting 5E to give it a 1E feel,

anywho,

one of my changes was to armor, I gave some armor types a resistance to damage types to keep it in 5E spectrum and not add to much math.

so for instance, Plate had resistance to Slashing, Chain had resistance to Piercing, Padded gave a resistance to Bludgeoning ( this was argued about quite a bit but it gave padded a purpose, so it stayed)

I also gave some weapons advantage against certain armor types. this change was possibly the most awkward with 5E, as it did tend to slow the flow more than just declaring resistance to an attack. and it was something i intended to tweak more, but we moved on to running a new campaign RAW.