Awfully Alarmed About Armour

[Njall]

This seemed on topic:

HEMA Alliance Forum • View topic - Quarterstaff and the Armoured Man.

Can we avoid dragging realism into this argument, please?
D&D isn't a pvp game, so there's no point comparing a rapierist and a fully armored, knight style guy, because ideally they're not going to face each other: they're going to face goblins, orcs and hobgoblins, against whom heavy armor fares just fine, and they're also going to face hill giants, dragons, gnolls, titans and a ton other creatures that are just so big that they can just snap your neck or trample you regardless of how much steel you're wearing, monsters that an actual heavy armored dude never faced irl.
So, while realism works fine as a benchmark if we consider a fight between human sized combatants, I really doubt that it's applicable wholesale to your average D&D campaign. Also, I'm pretty sure the guy whose post you linked never faced a dex 18 ( or dex 20 ) rapierist, so we'll never know who has the better AC irl

 

[Gorgoroth]

But if there is one thing D&D portrays even worse than heavy armor then it is shields.

Good point, there was another thread about shields...but no sensible armor system should be designed without shields in mind, and certainly not tacked on as an afterthought.

 

[Obryn]

I only see one reasonable solution.

-O

 

[Steely_Dan]

Should we bring back shields to only apply to a certain amount of enemies you are engaged with?

Or a reactive move?

 

[Argyle King]

Can we avoid dragging realism into this argument, please?
D&D isn't a pvp game, so there's no point comparing a rapierist and a fully armored, knight style guy, because ideally they're not going to face each other: they're going to face goblins, orcs and hobgoblins, against whom heavy armor fares just fine, and they're also going to face hill giants, dragons, gnolls, titans and a ton other creatures that are just so big that they can just snap your neck or trample you regardless of how much steel you're wearing, monsters that an actual heavy armored dude never faced irl.
So, while realism works fine as a benchmark if we consider a fight between human sized combatants, I really doubt that it's applicable wholesale to your average D&D campaign. Also, I'm pretty sure the guy whose post you linked never faced a dex 18 ( or dex 20 ) rapierist, so we'll never know who has the better AC irl

What kind of equipment do Drow, Hobgoblins, and other evil humanoids use?

 

[Steely_Dan]

What kind of equipment do Drow, Hobgoblins, and other evil humanoids use?

Well the Drow "used" to make armour and weapons that were influenced by background/radiant energy that made their armours and weapons magical; when exposed to daylight, started to weaken, and destroy.

 

[Argyle King]

Well the Drow "used" to make armour and weapons that were influenced by background/radiant energy that made their armours and weapons magical; when exposed to daylight, started to weaken, and destroy.

...and evil humans?

 

[Steely_Dan]

...and evil humans?

...do The Evil That Men Do...

Great film.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Beowulf swam across the North Sea in full mail, which he explicitly credits with preserving his life from the bites of a hundred poisonous sea serpents dogging him most of the way.

At that moment in history, mail (chainmail) was the best armor even a king could buy.

There is no reason to surmise Beowulf ever purposefully chose to wear any lesser armor into battle.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Also, I'm pretty sure the guy whose post you linked never faced a dex 18 ( or dex 20 ) rapierist, so we'll never know who has the better AC irl

IRL, the Dex 18 guy in heavy armor, of course.