Neonchameleon
Legend
Piercing is mostly what you want vs heavy armour - small impact area allowing it to drive right through. (Yes, the rapier is an exception. But the military pick really isn't)
D&D 5E Armor in D&DNext
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damage disadvantage for heavy armor is probably the best idea I've ever read on this website. It's better than DR because you still always get at least one damage and + your strength or magic bonuses on the sword is never reduced, making magic weapons very good indeed.
Also it would satisfy my thirst for a DR solution that doesn't make you invulnerable but still gives you a nice boost for spending that 1500gp on plate.
If they keep dex = god as in 4e I will be very disappointed.
damage disadvantage for heavy armor is probably the best idea I've ever read on this website. It's better than DR because you still always get at least one damage and + your strength or magic bonuses on the sword is never reduced, making magic weapons very good indeed.
Also it would satisfy my thirst for a DR solution that doesn't make you invulnerable but still gives you a nice boost for spending that 1500gp on plate.
If they keep dex = god as in 4e I will be very disappointed.
One houserule I put in place to balance heavy armor vs light armor+high dex is that you only get your dex bonus vs the first person to attack you in a round (sort of like the Dodge feat), so if additional enemies attack you in the same round, you don't get your massive bonuses vs them. But you always get any armor bonus you have. This means that in a one on one situation, it may be better for you to go with lighter armor and keep your maneuverability, but in a general melee where you can't always be sure where attacks are even coming from it's much better to be heavily armored.
The Cardinal
First Post
almost exactly my first thought on this:
Light: +DEX
Medium: +DEX/2 *or* +STR/2
Heavy: +STR
Not very realistic. Piercing attacks are good to , well, pierce armor. Against full plates, you are better using a crossbow than a sling. I'd rather use a lance than a club. So did the medieval warfare. Wouldn't you?
That's why in real world they developed things like the war pick (which is piercing), the Poleaxe (which had a pick), the warhammer (which had a pick) and the bec-de-corbin (which had a pick) to deal with increasingly powerful armors. That's also the reason morning stars were spiked and not blunt, and the reason late middle ages war maces were flanged (like the pernarch), while in the ancient Greece they were blunt. Because blunt weapons suck against plate. Badly.
*Thrusting* weapons (like a rapier or spear) aren't that good to pierce. But *piercing* weapons are.
Izumi
First Post
Thoughts:
Heavy Armor makes your reactions a little slower unless your strength offsets the weight. However, even if that were not the case, you are almost never so slow in heavy armor that a foe in lesser or no armor can take advantage easily before you recover and threaten their life again. Furthermore, such foes must take where, how, and with what to hit you with into consideration or be at serious disadvantage. Heavy armor gets hot quickly and saps endurance though..you literally begin to cook to exhaustion in it, and that situation is not useful in a fight. Obviously weapons of all varieties including oddities like the Tuck were fashioned to combat against the heavier armors. The Poleaxe and English Bill being other great examples of weapons that were effective against all kinds of armors light and heavy. Now, I trust I've said nothing you all didn't already know. I've looked over the Playtest ACs, and they actually seem fairly accurate for a one-on-one situation between the uber-dexed and the uber-armored all things considered equal in the experience/training/talent area. Massed Heavy Infantry versus light infantry on the battlefield is an entirely different circumstance, and would indeed require dex mods be dropped from AC totals.
Heavy Armor makes your reactions a little slower unless your strength offsets the weight. However, even if that were not the case, you are almost never so slow in heavy armor that a foe in lesser or no armor can take advantage easily before you recover and threaten their life again. Furthermore, such foes must take where, how, and with what to hit you with into consideration or be at serious disadvantage. Heavy armor gets hot quickly and saps endurance though..you literally begin to cook to exhaustion in it, and that situation is not useful in a fight. Obviously weapons of all varieties including oddities like the Tuck were fashioned to combat against the heavier armors. The Poleaxe and English Bill being other great examples of weapons that were effective against all kinds of armors light and heavy. Now, I trust I've said nothing you all didn't already know. I've looked over the Playtest ACs, and they actually seem fairly accurate for a one-on-one situation between the uber-dexed and the uber-armored all things considered equal in the experience/training/talent area. Massed Heavy Infantry versus light infantry on the battlefield is an entirely different circumstance, and would indeed require dex mods be dropped from AC totals.
Looking at the numbers, I don't see the big deal.
Dex < 2: You want heavy armor unless you don't have the proficiency, then you want medium.
Dex = 2: You want heavy or light. No medium.
Dex > 2: You want light.
Light only provides better AC with a Dex bonus of 18 or better, and that's a major commitment to the stat since stat bonuses seem rarer. And even if a rogue who has put all of his points into dex has a slightly AC than the fighter, the fighter is tougher on HP and seems to do more damage, even factoring in sneak attack.
Now I would like medium to be a bit better, but it is basically the armor for those that don't have heavy proficiency. And if 5e multiclassing doesn't just giving you every prof on the planet for one level of fighter (after 1st level), then medium might actually stick around.
Dex < 2: You want heavy armor unless you don't have the proficiency, then you want medium.
Dex = 2: You want heavy or light. No medium.
Dex > 2: You want light.
Light only provides better AC with a Dex bonus of 18 or better, and that's a major commitment to the stat since stat bonuses seem rarer. And even if a rogue who has put all of his points into dex has a slightly AC than the fighter, the fighter is tougher on HP and seems to do more damage, even factoring in sneak attack.
Now I would like medium to be a bit better, but it is basically the armor for those that don't have heavy proficiency. And if 5e multiclassing doesn't just giving you every prof on the planet for one level of fighter (after 1st level), then medium might actually stick around.
El Mahdi
Muad'Dib of the Anauroch
For me, that would only make sense if Armor provided a HP increase or bonus while being worn. I'd be very cool with armor that did that though.
Perhaps armor increases HP by a percentage determined by the type of armor. When you take the armor off, your HP decrease by that same percentage... All one needs is to figure out the percentage improvement specific DR's provide (the designers need to, that is), and apply it to the appropriate armors. With this you get DR without having to subtract it every time you get hit. All you have to do is remember to adjust your HP's when you don or remove armor, which I think would be pretty easy as that doesn't happen very often, and is a prominent declaration of activity when performed.
It's not bad. I just don't know if want to generate a lot of different things that means being aware of different advantages and disadvantages. Could get real complicated real fast. Kind of like having to track multiple conditions...
This would work good from a purely numbers standpoint, but I think some would feel that it's unrealistic when described (can't wrap their head around why this would happen in reality), and many would feel seriously cheated...especially players of Rogues.
With the basic rules and standard D&D play, yeah, I don't see much of a reason for the inferior armors being listed. But if people apply more realism to the game, like penalties for heavy armor in hot environments, drowning chances in nautical environments, etc. those lighter armors will start looking really good in certain situations...
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