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<blockquote data-quote="GreatLemur" data-source="post: 3173526" data-attributes="member: 28553">Okay, here's a quick and dirty attempt to sort out armor types under the kind of system I was talking about (armor as DR and no AC, with a coverage rating to show how much higher than the wearer's AC you've gotta roll to bypass his DR).&nbsp; Instead of statting up existing armor types like &quot;chain shirt&quot; and &quot;splint mail&quot;, I just decided that each basic armor type has a particular level of DR, and the level of coverage (limited to increments of five, to keep things from being completely overcomplicated) obviously indicates how much armor the suit includes.&nbsp; The table below shows proposed armor types and armor check penalties for each DR/coverage combination.[code]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [b]coverage 5[/b]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [b]coverage 10[/b]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [b]coverage 15[/b]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; (chest)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; (partial)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; (full)[b]DR 1[/b] (leather?)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; light, 0&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; light, -2&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; light, -4[b]DR 2[/b] (chain?)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; light, -1&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; light, -3&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; medium, -5[b]DR 3[/b] (banded?)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; light, -2&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; medium, -4&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; medium, -6[b]DR 4[/b] (light plate?)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; medium, -3&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; medium, -5&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; heavy, -7[b]DR 5[/b] (heavy plate?)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; medium, -4&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; heavy, -6&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; heavy, -8[/code]I didn't really try to follow the PHB's numbers, here; instead going for a simple and hopefully logical progression, which rules more armor to be light than heavy, and gives much tougher armor check penalties for high coverage.I'm not really sure about max Dex bonuses.&nbsp; Maybe the armor check penalty should just be applied to the wearer's dodge bonus?&nbsp; I realize this would mean that heavy armor fighters would do better to strip down when fighting low BAB, high damage opponents, but I'm actually okay with that.&nbsp; I'm just not sure about the exact numbers.&nbsp; Maybe half armor check penalty, instead?Also, I didn't include arcane spell failure chances for several different reasons.&nbsp; First, I personally dislike percentile roles in d20.&nbsp; Second, I don't like that spell failure is just a flat rate, regardless of the caster's skill or the difficulty of the spell.&nbsp; Third, the whole &quot;it's tough to make magical gestures while wearing armor&quot; explanation never sounded quite perfect, to me (How restricting of your hand movements is a breastplate, anyway?).So, instead, I'd like to complicate things with this rule:&nbsp; In order to cast arcane spells while wearing armor, you need to make a caster level check vs. a DC of (spell level x 2) + armor coverage rating.&nbsp; The idea is that physical coverage of your skin by heavy (that is, DR-conferring) material blocks the free exchange of magical energy that's needed to cast spells (so full leather armor is actually worse than a breastplate . . . assuming the caster is actually proficient in both).I think this leads to much more harsh failure rates for a given caster's highest available spell level, while at higher levels, an armored caster can cast lower-level spells with ease.&nbsp; Alternatively, a Spellcraft or Concentration check might be used, if the caster level check is too harsh.&nbsp; And, obviously, various feats and circumstantial rules could be written to work with this idea.&nbsp; Since armor-as-DR generally makes armor weaker, it doesn't seem unreasonable to make armor more viable for spellcasters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GreatLemur, post: 3173526, member: 28553"] Okay, here's a quick and dirty attempt to sort out armor types under the kind of system I was talking about (armor as DR and no AC, with a coverage rating to show how much higher than the wearer's AC you've gotta roll to bypass his DR). Instead of statting up existing armor types like "chain shirt" and "splint mail", I just decided that each basic armor type has a particular level of DR, and the level of coverage (limited to increments of five, to keep things from being completely overcomplicated) obviously indicates how [i]much[/i] armor the suit includes. The table below shows proposed armor types and armor check penalties for each DR/coverage combination. [code] [b]coverage 5[/b] [b]coverage 10[/b] [b]coverage 15[/b] (chest) (partial) (full) [b]DR 1[/b] (leather?) light, 0 light, -2 light, -4 [b]DR 2[/b] (chain?) light, -1 light, -3 medium, -5 [b]DR 3[/b] (banded?) light, -2 medium, -4 medium, -6 [b]DR 4[/b] (light plate?) medium, -3 medium, -5 heavy, -7 [b]DR 5[/b] (heavy plate?) medium, -4 heavy, -6 heavy, -8[/code]I didn't really try to follow the PHB's numbers, here; instead going for a simple and hopefully logical progression, which rules more armor to be light than heavy, and gives much tougher armor check penalties for high coverage. I'm not really sure about max Dex bonuses. Maybe the armor check penalty should just be applied to the wearer's dodge bonus? I realize this would mean that heavy armor fighters would do better to strip down when fighting low BAB, high damage opponents, but I'm actually okay with that. I'm just not sure about the exact numbers. Maybe half armor check penalty, instead? Also, I didn't include arcane spell failure chances for several different reasons. First, I personally dislike percentile roles in d20. Second, I don't like that spell failure is just a flat rate, regardless of the caster's skill or the difficulty of the spell. Third, the whole "it's tough to make magical gestures while wearing armor" explanation never sounded quite perfect, to me (How restricting of your hand movements is a breastplate, anyway?). So, instead, I'd like to complicate things with this rule: In order to cast arcane spells while wearing armor, you need to make a caster level check vs. a DC of (spell level x 2) + armor coverage rating. The idea is that physical coverage of your skin by heavy (that is, DR-conferring) material blocks the free exchange of magical energy that's needed to cast spells (so full leather armor is actually worse than a breastplate . . . assuming the caster is actually proficient in both). I [i]think[/i] this leads to much more harsh failure rates for a given caster's highest available spell level, while at higher levels, an armored caster can cast lower-level spells with ease. Alternatively, a Spellcraft or Concentration check might be used, if the caster level check is too harsh. And, obviously, various feats and circumstantial rules could be written to work with this idea. Since armor-as-DR generally makes armor weaker, it doesn't seem unreasonable to make armor more viable for spellcasters. [/QUOTE]

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