D&D 5E (2014) Armor in D&DNext

[TerraDave]

I agree, on first look the math doesn't seem to add up.

Maybe we are missing something?

 

[Gamer McSmartypants]

...

 

[dkyle]

Here's what I think the armors should look like:

Light           GP      AC
Padded          10      12+DEX
Leather         40      13+DEX
Studded         160     14+DEX
Chain Shirt     320     15+DEX
Mithral         1280    16+DEX

Medium
Hide            10      15
Scale           40      16
Chainmail       160     17
Breastplate     320     18
Dragon Scale    1280    19  

Heavy
Splint          20      18
Banded          80      19
Half-plate      320     20
Full-plate      640     21
Adamantine      2560    22

Medium and heavy would have -2 on stealth-related checks (disadvantage is too much, I think), and heavy would have -5' base speed.

The main difference between Medium and Heavy would be proficiency. Medium proficiency would be quite common (Clerics would have it), but Heavy proficiency would not, requiring a class like Fighter or Paladin, or a feat investment (or theme).

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Thoughts on fixing this. Shields complicate things, but if they must add to AC then:

Highest heavy AC + heavy shield should be the highest AC.
Highest heavy AC + no shield should be the same as the highest medium AC and light AC (I can't see a reason why not..)
Don't screw people in no armour too much.

Therefore:

Light armour should be 11-14 + dex
Medium armour should be 14-17 + dex/2
Heavy armour should be 16-19

The issue then is that if your dex isn't 20, you should take heavier armour. So I'll be bold and suggest that 18 is a more reasonable high dex (who knows really), giving:

Light: 11-14
Medium: 13-16
Heavy: 15-18

Or, I don't know, remove Dex from AC (it's already a save against Fireballs and such)?

 

[ArmoredSaint]

Could this be 'fixed' by upping all heavy armor by +1 or +2 AC?

Probably.

 

[Stormonu]

For "pure math" pricing, I would say that doubling the AC bonus should increase the price by at least 250%*. Those that allow a Dex bonus should account for either a +2 or +3 Dex mod in the wearer.

* Thus, if Padded (+2 AC) cost 10, Studded should cost 25 (+4 AC). Not including any price mods for Dex.

Overall, I just am not thrilled with the basic setup. Armor needs more tweaking to create a better payoff of light vs. medium vs. heavy (should really be a rock/paper/scissors decision vs. attacks/weapns)

 

[jshaft37]

All in all, I think this needs to be weighed against how characters are generated and gain in hit points as levels advance, as well as the definition of "hit points" on pg 12. In a way it makes sense that a rouge will probably get hit less than a knight because of better dexterity and being lightly armored, but the knight has more HP to soak up the damage. Perhaps DR against slashing and possibly piercing should be applied to heavy armor?

 

[B.T.]

Yeah, the armor table is kind of FUBAR, but it does allow characters with a Dex penalty to ignore it if they wear heavy armor. Not sure if that's working as intended.

 

[Bobbum Man]

Could this be 'fixed' by upping all heavy armor by +1 or +2 AC?

-YRUSirius

I already crunched these numbers.

Upping armors by +1 would keep them in-line with a light armored/high dex character to a point, but eventually dex bonus will outpace armor.

As it stands now, heavy armors are good for low dex characters, light armors are good for high dex characters, and there is really no reason to choose medium armor other than for aesthetics.

 

[jshaft37]

As it stands now, heavy armors are good for low dex characters, light armors are good for high dex characters, and there is really no reason to choose medium armor other than for aesthetics.

Medium armor is for characters with Dex Mod of 0 or less and a heavy armor restriction. So it has a place, a very specific rarely used place.