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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 3834077" data-attributes="member: 4722">I never really thought about tweaking armor until I saw a thread on the Wizards boards where a few people were discussing it. After I started working on a new movement/encumbrance system, I had to adjust a few things armorwise, so I decided to go whole hog and redo the entire system.So, I incorporated changes from a couple different sources - that thread, a post by someone on the 4E boards (Dex penalty instead of Max Dex) - and added a few changes of my own.Since it's a big table and would look better in Word, I'll summarize the changes here:Max Dex was changed to a Dex penalty. This affects everyone more equally, and doesn't penalize those who use light armor as much.Arcane spell failure is gone. I've always thought that it was unfair that mages were penalized when it came to armor, but clerics/druids could wear it without penalty. Instead, I implemented a Concentration penalty - ALL spellcasters must make Concentration checks while wearing armor, but having the Armored Spellcaster feat (see the attached doc) reduces them slightly. The main problem I can see here is that high-level mages could take a couple feats and run around casting in plate mail with little or no problem, but I'm sure they've got better things to blow their feats on. I'm sure most would take AP Light at the least, simply because even a 1st-2nd level mage can wear padded or leather with a reasonable chance of casting spells.Speed was tweaked. Chain shirt and breastplate have been reduced slightly, and all Medium armors have also been reduced. This was done partly to tie into the encumbrance rules I’m working on, and partly to balance out the best armors in Light and Medium categories – they provide the best armor bonus for that class, but they’re also the heaviest (chain shirt is just as heavy as hide), so it’s logical for them to reduce the wearer’s speed slightly. This will, I think, prevent people from going for chain shirts and breastplate as soon as they can. Weights for chainmail and several of the shields were adjusted slightly in keeping with the above.Shields have also been adjusted. Steel shields, being heavier than wooden ones, have greater penalties to offset their greater strength and shield bonus. All shields have a Concentration penalty – having several pounds of wood or steel hanging off one arm tends to hamper spellcasting – as well as a (small) Dex penalty. Bucklers were also lightened up (and their prices reduced slightly), to make them more attractive than light shields.This is only a first version, so any comments/criticisms are welcome.</blockquote>

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