Armor -> bonus to MD treshold

[Shadowlord]

I playtested the rule, which works nice & easily except that the bonus shouldn't apply against attacks that ignore armor. Thus, here's the update:

- Armor increases the massive damage treshold depending on its type. You must be proficient in the armor worn to receive the listed bonus. Light armor increases the massive damage treshold by +0, medium armor by +2, and heavy armor by +4.
Armor cannot increase the massive damage treshold against attack forms that ignore armor, including (but not limited to) damage taken from touch attacks, falling, total immersion, poison, and anything inhaled or ingested.

 

[lmccauley]

Slightly off-topic...

I am planning on using D20M to run a technothriller game using the background in Millenium's end. As it is going to lean more towards realistic than heroic, I've also been thinking about how to make heavy armour more attractive to players when they know they're likely to end up in a tactical situation.

In real life, heavy, tactical armour usually has metal or ceramic plates covering vital areas. This got me thinking that a critical hit represents a shot to a vital area. I remembered a magical ability that armour can have in D&D - Fortification - which reduces the chance of a critical hit (either a 25%, 75% or 100% chance of negating a critical). I am going to give Medium armour light Fortification (25%) and Heavy armour moderate Fortification (75%), and see how that goes.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Mistwell]

I think that is a good idea. Makes sense.

 

[Shadowlord]

Yes it's a good idea, but I would give heavy armor only 50%.
I'm working on something else and this rule could be better than mine; I'll let you know when it's finished.

 

[Tellerve]

I like that idea lmccauley, and I wouldn't change it to 50% for heavy armors. Heavy armors are BIG suits of armor that deserve some serious coverage.

Are you doing anything else to the armors besides the fortification, like increases in Massive Damage?

Tellerve

 

[lmccauley]

I like that idea lmccauley, and I wouldn't change it to 50% for heavy armors. Heavy armors are BIG suits of armor that deserve some serious coverage.

Are you doing anything else to the armors besides the fortification, like increases in Massive Damage?

I hadn't planned on increasing MD. I probably will remove Armour Feats entirely, though. I haven't seen a convincing arguement to use them in a realistic game.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the Babylon5 rules, as the designers have said they plan to make combat realistically deadly.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Shadowlord]

I like that idea lmccauley, and I wouldn't change it to 50% for heavy armors. Heavy armors are BIG suits of armor that deserve some serious coverage.

If you keep heavy armor at 50%, you could give power armor 75%.

Are you doing anything else to the armors besides the fortification, like increases in Massive Damage?

Tellerve

No, it's one or the other, not both bonuses. I'll let you know when it's finished.

Oh, how do you plan to remove armor feats altogether?

 

[lmccauley]

Oh, how do you plan to remove armor feats altogether?

Just tell my players to ignore all references to armour feats and armour non-proficiency. Another way to look at it would be to say they have all armour feats for free.

Although, as you have probably seen on the other armour thread, Fellwind came up with the idea of non-proficiency with armour affecting skill penalties & speed. I quite like the sound of that, so I might keep armour feats in. However, I might limit the number of armour feats to one (i.e. "Armour" feat will cover "Light Armour", "Medium Armour" and "Heavy Armour").

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Shadowlord]

I had a question considering your free fortification rule: does the % chance to avoid crits apply when the attack roll wasn't done against the wearer's own Defense but against a fixed Def like from autofire? Equally, if you score a threat with autofire, do you confirm the crit against Def 10 or against the individual's Def ?
In that respect, I think a bonus to MAS due to armor is easier to introduce.

 

[lmccauley]

I had a question considering your free fortification rule: does the % chance to avoid crits apply when the attack roll wasn't done against the wearer's own Defense but against a fixed Def like from autofire? Equally, if you score a threat with autofire, do you confirm the crit against Def 10 or against the individual's Def ?
In that respect, I think a bonus to MAS due to armor is easier to introduce.

I don't have my rulebook in front of me, and I don't have access to the SRD from here, so apologies if I make a mistake.

Use whatever method is in the rules to confirm a critical. If a critical is confirmed, roll the percentage dice to see if it is overturned. OK, it's an extra roll, but it only occurs if a critical has been confirmed (and if it's your character, I'm sure you won't mind that extra roll to avoid double damage ).

To be honest, I think your MAS bonus is an equally valid way of modelling this.

Cheers,
Liam