Are they fixing medium armor in the revision?
- Thread starter kenjib
- Start date
Nine Hands
Explorer
Its perfect for use with Mithril. For characters with a moderately good Dex, etc. What is lacking about it?
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Well, medium armor provides a nice range of gear that NPCs/ “monsters” can be outfitted in to reflect their background, financial resources, etc.
PCs, by contrast, always have one of, what, about 5 numbers as their AC? Pretty dull, but players generally seem to pick their armor by the numbers, not for any background or setting related reason. It is very nice, I think, to have the other types available to make the setting more diverse.
I don’t think the “none, leather or plate and shield” (to simplify a bit) situation with PCs will change.
PCs, by contrast, always have one of, what, about 5 numbers as their AC? Pretty dull, but players generally seem to pick their armor by the numbers, not for any background or setting related reason. It is very nice, I think, to have the other types available to make the setting more diverse.
I don’t think the “none, leather or plate and shield” (to simplify a bit) situation with PCs will change.
Nine Hands
Explorer
OK. I can agree with that. The numbers game does come up for certain players.
I just asked my wife about her character since she has a suit of chain mail. She wears it for 2 reasons, it bumps up her AC and it has the symbol of the noble house her husband is from.
I just asked my wife about her character since she has a suit of chain mail. She wears it for 2 reasons, it bumps up her AC and it has the symbol of the noble house her husband is from.
Anubis the Doomseer
First Post
I think part fo the problem is the chain shirt - reducing it's armor class protection would bump up the popularity of medium armor (since it would no longer sit in this mid-point).
Of course I play a paladin in scale mail so what do I know?
Of course I play a paladin in scale mail so what do I know?
I think the problem is that the AC isn't much better than light armor, but your speed drops to 20/15. It's a pretty hefty loss for the minor benefit, and at that point you might as well wear heavy armor. One solution I've heard suggested here for this was switching the move penalties for medium and heavy - i.e. you run at 3x wearing medium armor, and you drop to speed 20/15 with heavy.
Mercule
Adventurer
Dunno. I've never heard a complaint about medium armor before.
In fact, I think medium armor (particularly breast plate) is the most common armor in our games, for those not restricted, of course.
Rogues get leather. Always have, always will. Wealthy and burly rogues may pick up MW studded leather.
Poor (low level) fighters and war-priests (clerics) get leather. Maybe a chain shirt as they get a bit of money. When they get a bit more, they usually pick up chain mail or (more commonly) breat plate. In theory, really heavy hitters are going to upgrade to full plate or something similar.
I just haven't witnessed the last. Everyone seems to think that the trade-off of weight, expense, and dex penalty just isn't worth three points of armor.
In fact, I think medium armor (particularly breast plate) is the most common armor in our games, for those not restricted, of course.
Rogues get leather. Always have, always will. Wealthy and burly rogues may pick up MW studded leather.
Poor (low level) fighters and war-priests (clerics) get leather. Maybe a chain shirt as they get a bit of money. When they get a bit more, they usually pick up chain mail or (more commonly) breat plate. In theory, really heavy hitters are going to upgrade to full plate or something similar.
I just haven't witnessed the last. Everyone seems to think that the trade-off of weight, expense, and dex penalty just isn't worth three points of armor.
Basically there are only three types of armor that generally get worn just because they are optimal.
Chain Shirt +4 AC +4 Max Dex (light armor) -2 skill check
Breastplate +5 AC +3 Max Dex (Medium Armor) -3 Skill check
Full Plate +8 AC +1 Max Dex (Heavy Armor) -ungodly amount skill check
Basically these are the top of each catagory and these are what generally gets worn. I think they needed to spread out the armor table a bit more and increase the relative costs of some, but it's not going to happen in 3.5. Andy Collins said they didn't touch the armor table.
Shields are bad too. Basically you use either a Buckler or a Large Shield. The rest just seemed sub-optimal. The Buckler is just superior to the small shield and the Large Shield gives you the better AC. The tower shield was just sort of an inconvience and I think I've only ever seen one person use it.
I really would have liked to see these tables cleaned up in the new edition. Especially Chain shirt, it's just superior to other armors and Full Plate is the be all end all heavy tank fighter armor.
Delgar
Chain Shirt +4 AC +4 Max Dex (light armor) -2 skill check
Breastplate +5 AC +3 Max Dex (Medium Armor) -3 Skill check
Full Plate +8 AC +1 Max Dex (Heavy Armor) -ungodly amount skill check
Basically these are the top of each catagory and these are what generally gets worn. I think they needed to spread out the armor table a bit more and increase the relative costs of some, but it's not going to happen in 3.5. Andy Collins said they didn't touch the armor table.
Shields are bad too. Basically you use either a Buckler or a Large Shield. The rest just seemed sub-optimal. The Buckler is just superior to the small shield and the Large Shield gives you the better AC. The tower shield was just sort of an inconvience and I think I've only ever seen one person use it.
I really would have liked to see these tables cleaned up in the new edition. Especially Chain shirt, it's just superior to other armors and Full Plate is the be all end all heavy tank fighter armor.
Delgar
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