(d20M) bulletproof platemail?

[comrade raoul]

It irks me that archaic armor is about as good protection against a hail of bullets as the best modern stuff -- why would it be obsolete? (Platemail provides a +8 equipment bonus with a +1 max dex bonus; the best modern armor provides a +9 equipment bonus with a +0 max dex bonus). It's plausible that archaic armor is that good against melee weapons or archaic ranged weapons, but not against ballistic weapons.

The fix, I think, is to evaluate the equipment Defense bonuses of archaic armor against ballistic damage as though the wearer were nonproficient. The idea is that the armor might help a little bit, but it really wasn't designed to defend against bullets (and doesn't armor proficiency mean you can take advantage of the defense the armor was built to have?). So leather armor provides a +1 Defense bonus (it's about as good as a leather jacket); a chainmail shirt provides a +2 (but a +5 against other, non-ballistic attacks) and a suit of plate mail provides a +3. Sound good?

 

[Saeviomagy]

Or you could just go
'hey, it'd be cool if my players ran around a modern-day setting wearing platemail, so I'll let it be effective'

or alternately
'it'd be stupid if my players ran around a modern-day setting wearing platemail, so I won't let them buy it'

Honestly - d20 isn't even slightly realistic, and weapon ballistics are extremely complicated, so why bother trying to work out rules for something which will hardly ever happen anyway?

 

[Jeph]

I think that Saeviomagy has pretty much got it. A dagger cuts through platemail like plastic, but d20 doesn't even slightly take that into account. If you don't want your PCs to have platemail, don't let them. If you do, then do. it's that simple.

-Jeph

 

[drothgery]

Or you could look at the rules and note that plate is expensive and more than twice the weight of non-archaic heavy armor, then remind your players that wearing plate will stick out like a sore thumb outside of a Ren Faire. And if they still want to go wandering around wearing plate, let them.

 

[Crothian]

And they'd have to aquire the feats to make it worth while. I doubt my modern group will ever get anything more then a basic leather jacket type armor.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Personally I give archaic armour half effectiveness against ballistic weapons.

Just my solution.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Personally I give archaic armour half effectiveness against ballistic weapons.

Shhh! Did you hear that?

...

YOINK!