Armor & Coins - please, No.

[hafrogman]

Maybe I'm misreading it, but it doesn't seem to say anything about masterwork itself, but rather that certain armors are always masterwork. Starweave and spiritmail and suchforth being the new equivalent of special materials, which (as in 3.X) are always masterwork.

 

[Nymrohd]

The different materials armors are made from are corny and completely uninspired (not to mention horribly repetitive). What happened to good old-fashioned mithril and adamantite?

 

[Woas]

What is medium armor anyways, ya know?

What upsets me... why does WotC have this fetish with 'lightning bolt' shape shields? Can't a feller just get a blue circular shield with a red yellow cross on it? Sheesh!

And intelligence to your AC? Whaaa? Are people dodging swords with their mind now?

 

[Azgulor]

Actually, it was the idea that everything falls into the mundane, cooler, roxxor categories that bothered me most.

I need Starleather armor! Oh, throw those regular diamonds away, only astral diamonds are worth anything.

Plus, the idea that astral diamonds are universal enough to be used as currency...bleh.

The armor donning times have been used in my games, on more than one occassion. Specific example - The PC's fortress is attacked in the dead of night. Can the defenders hold long enough for the PCs to don their armor or do they need to rush to the ramparts. I had a PC who favored plate armor quickly don a chain shirt so he could get to the fight sooner.

As I said, to each their own, but I and my group tend to prefer our fantasy to be less over-the-top or less cartoonish, however you wish to describe it.

When I mentioned these little gems to my gaming group some of the comments I got back included:
Do they come in different colors?
If I find the gold Astral Diamond do I get an extra life, I mean healing surge?
I would've thought those armors were cool...when I was 12.
Is that astral diamond or asstral diamond?

Sorry, sarcasm is the currency of the realm at times at our gaming table. If you love these ideas, more power to you. I didn't.

 

[ChaosShard]

Apologies if this was covered in another thread and I missed it.

I found the following on another forum. It's supposedly a screen shot of a section on 4e preview on armor and coinage. I can't verify that it is, but if it is - color me very unimpressed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benimoto/2307597095/sizes/o/

Medium armor - gone. Simpler isn't always better. This one's a minor issue, though.

Lack of medium armor isn't a huge deal. My group almost never uses medium armor except for mithril breastplate because it's technically light. I'm not crazy about the change but it doesn't really bug me, either.

All armor takes 5 minutes to put on. - So leather armor isn't any easier to put on that a chainmail suit, or plate mail? Simpler isn't always better. This one seems like simplicity for simplicity's sake. (And don't start with the "you can house rule it" stuff.)

It says all armors take at least 5 minutes to don. That doesn't mean that you'll see plate getting put back to the 15 minute time, but it doesn't mean that they're all the same.

Masterwork only as magic armor - unnecessary change.

Agreed, although this meshes wit the new design philosophy. I rather enjoy leaving MW gear in treasure piles for level 1-5 groups, so I'm not too crazy about this either.

Starleather, spiritmail, godplate - I'm not really digging these. For all the weak accusations of 4e being video-gamey, these names definitely make me think of a video game.

The descriptions read as though these are akin to the special material types of 3.X. The names are OK, but not great. Also, the godplate was something forged by Moradin and copied by the dwarves, so players would likely find warplate, instead. Still, I don't see a big problem with them, but I'm not in love, either.

But the prizewiiner = ASTRAL DIAMONDS! - WTF? Are you kidding me? I can see it now, perfectly cut diamonds scattered throughout the Astral Plane. How do you mine the Astral Plane, exactly?

To each their own, I guess, but I'm underwhelmed by these changes.

Well, the Astral Sea art from W&M shows Astral Domains (god-islands) floating about. I suppose (and I'm probably wrong again) that there are some free-floating islands/motes of matter that one could mine. Of course, the diamonds would have to be cut, unless they form like natual crystals, as a lump of gold has to be minted into a coin shape to be actual currency (not that it doesn't have inherent value, but being hard currency is a legal distinction).

 

[Azgulor]

What is medium armor anyways, ya know?

What upsets me... why does WotC have this fetish with 'lightning bolt' shape shields? Can't a feller just get a blue circular shield with a red yellow cross on it? Sheesh!

And intelligence to your AC? Whaaa? Are people dodging swords with their mind now?

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.

 

[Saitou]

I need Starleather armor! Oh, throw those regular diamonds away, only astral diamonds are worth anything.

Plus, the idea that astral diamonds are universal enough to be used as currency...bleh.

Diamonds are a gem, and as such vary in price.

Astral diamonds are specifically mentioned as used in the other realms concerning high-cost transactions. I doubt anyone on the Material Plane will even know what an Astral diamond is, much less be willing to pay 10k golds for it.

Also, I don't really think of Astral diamonds as diamonds per se (ie: carbon). But don't let me stop you from vehemently hating 4E for no reason!

 

[Wormwood]

Sorry, sarcasm is the currency of the realm at times at our gaming table.

You should demand a refund.

 

[Cadfan]

Plus, the idea that astral diamonds are universal enough to be used as currency...bleh.

You're manufacturing problems. It clearly says that astral diamonds are used:

1: Beyond the natural realms, in places like the City of Brass and Sigil.

2: For transactions involving a staggering amount of wealth. One astral diamond prices at 10,000 gp.

I don't like this sort of, in my opinion, over the top fantasy either. But that's a big part of why I don't run my game in the City of Brass.

Rules for underwater combat don't force you to run a game set in Atlantis, and rules for the Astral Sea don't force you to run a plane-hopping game.

 

[hong]

Astral diamonds make perfect sense, people. See, when your character is limited to 100,000 gp at a time on their person, and another 1 million gp in storage in town, you need some sort of alternate currency for really large trades.

What?