Armor & Coins - please, No.

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Medium armor... thats the mithril full plate category right? Cus I sure as hell cant remember anyone in my game ever being dumb enough to actually don the rest of that stuff past level 2.

I'm glad for fantasy armor. You know... because there are these things called dwarves and elves that have been making it for far longer than it was made on earth, so you'd expect some kind of difference in what was available compared to midieval europe.

And people complain about the lack of verisimilitude... sheesh.

 

[Dragonblade]

I like the astral diamonds. Its a good way account for large amounts of currency. I'm surprised that none of you mentioned the change in the gold-platinum exchange rate. Now its 100 gp to 1 pp. I like that change too.

As far as armor goes, medium armor was worthless in 3e. All the drawbacks of heavy but few of the benefits. Beyond 1st level no PCs wore medium armor in 3e. Like the Dodge feat, it was an example of the designers building bad choices into the system to promote "system mastery". A ridiculously stupid idea that I'm glad is gone.

And I like the Int or Dex bonus to armor. It keeps Dex from being the uber stat it was in 3e.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

I gotta say, I like the alternate material armors. Always have and always will it seems. Gives some variety and that is always good.

 

[Dausuul]

The special armor names suck horribly. Other than that, this all looks pretty good to me.

Yeah, the 5 minutes thing isn't entirely realistic, but how often is that actually going to come up? Why waste player cognitive space on it? The important point is that you can't don armor in the middle of combat.

As for medium armor--good riddance. Except where mithral versions and 1st-level characters were concerned, medium armor was just wasted space in 3E, and I don't see the point in trying to fix it. Just let the light and heavy armors kill it and take its stuff.

 

[Gryffyn]

Yeah, I have to admit I rolled my eyes several times here. Leaving that aside, I see a few interesting things:

* "Masterwork" doesn't seem to mean what it meant in 3e.
* The value of a platinum piece is changing yet again this edition. Has it ever stayed the same from one edition to the next?
* Only six types of mundane armor listed. Probably the shortest list ever. As a kid, I learned a lot about medieval arms from the AD&D Players Handbook. Bit of a shame they've shortened the list so much, but from a strict game point of view, I understand it.
* I'm glad to see the remark about cattle being a common form of portable currency. Accurate and immersive -- more stuff like this, please.

 

[Azgulor]

You should demand a refund.

Why, because you didn't say it?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I see dragon scale mail is worn by dragonborne. That's like human-skin-leather being worn by humans.

Not really. Its sort of like if apes wore human armor.

Technically dragonskin armor is always a bit creepy. D&D dragons are a sentient race, so its about up there with an elf skin jerkin or a cloak made of ripped off fairy wings.

 

[Jack99]

Ah yes, the Int bonus to AC. Forgot about that little nugget. I'm guessing the classes are structured so that it's rare to have a character that lacks both an INT bonus and a DEX bonus. Whether it's to "keep the math in line" or to avoid the "unfun" that comes from missing out on a bonus, this one's a stinker also.

Yeah, those two possibilities are definitely the only two possible.

 

[EATherrian]

Astral pearls, their

No, let's not go there.

maybe their vitreous, to de-gutterfy it.

Astral Onyx is their bile. I actually like this idea.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

Not really. Its sort of like if apes wore human armor.

Technically dragonskin armor is always a bit creepy. D&D dragons are a sentient race, so its about up there with an elf skin jerkin or a cloak made of ripped off fairy wings.

Or feeding elf bacon to another PC..... what? It was a Ravenloft game!