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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5873972" data-attributes="member: 92305">I like the way the Conan game does it, so what I mean is that I'd like something akin to that.  In the Conan RPG, it is a viable choice to wear no armor at all.  Armor absorbs damage, not make you harder to hit.   The two 3rd level barbarians in my game right now have Dodge AC 13 and AC 14, and their Parries are even better, with shields, at Parry AC 19 and Parry AC 18. Both of them (right now) are shirtless.  One wears an animal skin kilt.  The other, leather breeches.  One wears animal moccasins, and the other leather boots.  Besides their shields, that's all the armor and clothing they're wearing. So, the game makes it viable to run around in a loin cloth and get into all kinds of scrapes.   Now, if either of them wore armor, it would not affect their ACs at all.  But, if they got hit, the armor would absorb some damage.  The trade being, as you say above, slower speed and AC check penalties.  5E doesn't have to copy that, but I'd sure like that to be possible in 5E. Plus, in Conan, weapons have a penetration value that is compared to the armor.  This kinda goes down the road I was talking about above. A war hammer's damage ain't great, but it has a great penetration.  This means it's a good weapon to use against armored foes.  The cutlass, on the other hand, does good damage, but its penetration ain't great. That's why the war hammer will be seen on a huge battlefield of armor mercenaries but probably not on a ship full of pirates (who typically fight unarmed foes).  Pirates like cutlasses for the same reason.   What I'd like is to see stuff like that enhanced for 5E.        I'd agree with that.  My point above was to say that the barbarians with primitive weapon do still post a real threat.  The guy in the breastplate with the cutlass should be better, one-on-one, if his skills are also there.  But, I don't want unarmored barbarians to be AC 10 and super easy to hit.  I want it to be a viable choice that a swashbuckler or a barbarian (or, really, anybody) can go through the game and be expected to survive without wearing armor. There needs to be trade-offs.  Armor will keep you from losing hit points, but it also makes you tired.  You can't wear it that long.  You can't move well in it (not like you can without it).  When considering armor, the trade off needs to be giving up mobility.     Now, I still want armor in the game, of course.  But, I want to see more realistic choices.  Lots of chain mail variations.  Brigadine.  Leather, soft or boiled.  Flexible stuff (yeah, I know, the boiled leather ain't that flexible). Full plate needs to be reserved for mass combat on the field when giant armies clash.  Otherwise, a steel plate breastplate combined with flexible armor everywhere else should be the pinnacle protection for most adventurers.</blockquote>

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