spider_minion
First Post
I've toyed around with an armor as DR system quite a bit.
One time (in a BESM d20 game) armor would reduce damage based on a die roll. In addition to the max dex bonus or armor, it actually penalized the wearers defense roll. I think it was something like this:
Light armor: 1d4 protection, -1 defense, +6 max dex
Medium armor: 1d6 protection, -2 defense, +3 max dex
Heavy armor: 1d8 protection, -3 defense, +1 max dex
It worked pretty well. For that game, I wanted armor to be optional. Against some heavy-hitting creatures, being dodgey is a better defense.
In a recent campaign, I used the hybrid armor as DR system in UA (though I don't have the book, someone posted it on the boards). To further mix things up, I made a new stat, called Perception. Perception was used for attack rolls (both ranged and melee) rather than Str or Dex. Also, it modified Spot, Listen, and Search checks. Elves got a +2 to preception rather than dex. For monsters, I either averaged their str and dex together, or just assigned the score to balance out either very high or very low damage.
Perception can get around the giant problem. While giants may have an incredible strength, they are no longer accurate as well (something that always bothered me about D&D, and its SO uncinamatic). Giants may be able to tear apart tank fighters (that 4 points of DR is pretty useless against 3d6+15) but a swashbuckler might be able to dodge nearly all of the creatures attacks.
My intention with the stat was to create several viable fighting styles. My campaign used a point-buy system for stats and the AU rules. The party fighters had to choose whether they valued damage, accuracy, AC, or hp. This is great with the warmain and unfettered classes.
Though I never got around to it, I was going to make it possible for some weapons to bypass armor. With a light piercing weapon, someone could make a penetrating attack with some attack penalty to bypass a foe's DR. I wouldn't want greatswords to be the best weapon choice (though they usually are, another thing that bothers me about D&D).
I've stopped that campaign while I'm playtesting Fall of Man, but once I restart I'll probably tweak the rules some more. They worked quite well.
One time (in a BESM d20 game) armor would reduce damage based on a die roll. In addition to the max dex bonus or armor, it actually penalized the wearers defense roll. I think it was something like this:
Light armor: 1d4 protection, -1 defense, +6 max dex
Medium armor: 1d6 protection, -2 defense, +3 max dex
Heavy armor: 1d8 protection, -3 defense, +1 max dex
It worked pretty well. For that game, I wanted armor to be optional. Against some heavy-hitting creatures, being dodgey is a better defense.
In a recent campaign, I used the hybrid armor as DR system in UA (though I don't have the book, someone posted it on the boards). To further mix things up, I made a new stat, called Perception. Perception was used for attack rolls (both ranged and melee) rather than Str or Dex. Also, it modified Spot, Listen, and Search checks. Elves got a +2 to preception rather than dex. For monsters, I either averaged their str and dex together, or just assigned the score to balance out either very high or very low damage.
Perception can get around the giant problem. While giants may have an incredible strength, they are no longer accurate as well (something that always bothered me about D&D, and its SO uncinamatic). Giants may be able to tear apart tank fighters (that 4 points of DR is pretty useless against 3d6+15) but a swashbuckler might be able to dodge nearly all of the creatures attacks.
My intention with the stat was to create several viable fighting styles. My campaign used a point-buy system for stats and the AU rules. The party fighters had to choose whether they valued damage, accuracy, AC, or hp. This is great with the warmain and unfettered classes.
Though I never got around to it, I was going to make it possible for some weapons to bypass armor. With a light piercing weapon, someone could make a penetrating attack with some attack penalty to bypass a foe's DR. I wouldn't want greatswords to be the best weapon choice (though they usually are, another thing that bothers me about D&D).
I've stopped that campaign while I'm playtesting Fall of Man, but once I restart I'll probably tweak the rules some more. They worked quite well.
