D&D (2024) Armor as THP?

[mellored]

One of my biggest pet peves about D&D is rolling to hit and then rolling for damage. So what if Armor was just a form of THP?

All attacks always hit.
THP first, Armor Points Second, HP third
Armor points are (AC-10)* your level, regained after a long rest.
(Dis)advantage means rerolling damage twice.
Any AC boost (shield spell) is now damage reduction.

 

[cbwjm]

At one point I recall Matt Colville talking about doing this for draw steel, armour was effectively more hp. It was quite a while ago though and I haven't kept up with the game development so they may have gone in another direction.

I don't think it is a bad idea, but I'm not sure how well it would play in DnD, I'd expect there to be additional things to think about and you might find that damage numbers need tweaking.

 

[aco175]

I guess you roll only want to roll once, the d20 is your damage as well. If you hit, that number is the damage. Then you take the armor bonus off the damage.

If someone needs a 15 to-hit, and you take 10 off for platemail, you take 5 damage. If they need a 20 to-hit, then you take 10 damage, but get hit less often.

I do not know the math, just spitballing.

 

[AlViking]

Kind of sounds like the shields in a lot of video games. In many of those the shields recover quite quickly, which is the issue I see. So let's say you have Tam the tank. They're a front line fighter, they're going to burn through a lot of AP (armor points). But once the AP are gone, every single hit does HP damage. I'm not sure how well that's going to work.

There's a lot of variations on this theme of course. I'd say try, do a trial combat or two.

 

[Deset Gled]

Armor points are (AC-10)* your level, regained after a long rest.

Your armor heals as you sleep?

 

[Laurefindel]

I think armor-as-hit-points works best in systems where characters have relatively few hit points and do not gain any substantial amount over time.

In D&D it would be difficult to adjust armors that are not overpowered at low levels and irrelevant at higher levels, especially if hits are automatic.

 

[mellored]

I don't think it is a bad idea, but I'm not sure how well it would play in DnD, I'd expect there to be additional things to think about and you might find that damage numbers need tweaking.

I'm sure some features would need tweaks.
Defensive Duelist for instance.

Your armor heals as you sleep?

You repair it when you rest.
Think it should be short rest recharge?

I guess you roll only want to roll once, the d20 is your damage as well. If you hit, that number is the damage. Then you take the armor bonus off the damage.

Thought about that too, but that makes single big hits (rogue) better than a lot of small hits (dual wielding).

They're a front line fighter, they're going to burn through a lot of AP (armor points). But once the AP are gone, every single hit does HP damage. I'm not sure how well that's going to work.

The goal is that if they can take 10 attacks with AC, they can take 10 attacks with AP.


Though, it does nerf healing. Since that's no longer multiplied by hit chance.

 

[Deset Gled]

You repair it when you rest.
Think it should be short rest recharge?

I think that's stretching the concept of "rest" a bit too far for me. If anything, armor repair should be much longer.

This would, however, work for me as a magical class feature. Especially for an artificer or ranger, maybe as a feature of certain warlock patrons.

 

[WanderingMystic]

In Faresight, a 5e inspired space RPG, your armor is DR. You still roll to hit but that is what shields and dexterity improve while armor just makes you able to take a hit. They do use a low HP base like 10 + con then +1 per level

 

[R_J_K75]

One of my biggest pet peves about D&D is rolling to hit and then rolling for damage.

I think that one of the appeals and excitement when being a player (or a DM) is seeing if your attack roll is successful, and if it does, then rolling for damage. Take that away and I don't think the game would feel the same. Not to mention, if you eliminate attack rolls, how would determine critical hits or critical failures?

At one point I was following Nimble 5E a bit and I think that the system does this, but to what extent I'm not sure other than the attack roll has been eliminated. How armor, & HP work, IDK.