Fishing_Minigame
First Post
Hmm. Reading over this thread, I think I see two main points I agree with:
1) In terms of AC progression, medium armor sounds like it should be slightly better than light armor, and slightly worse than heavy armor. Instead, its equivalent to light armor assuming breastplate + medium armor master or half-plate + 14 Dex.
2) Medium armor encourages MAD to get maximum AC.
If I'm playing say, a strength-based two weapon Ranger who wants decent perception as well as 16/17 AC, I need at least 14 dex, and decent strength, wisdom and con. Whereas rogues/dex valor bards/etc can focus on hitting 20 dex in their main combat stat and receive maximum AC on top of the bonuses to dex saves and initiative. Heavy armor users can in theory ignore dex entirely. Now, we've established that dex is a terrible dump stat, because even without save or die effects (which may or may not pop up in your game) there's more than enough AoE spells with dex saves for it to be considered one of the important save stats.
I can think of 2 possible solutions which may or may not work in practice. They are:
1) Nerf light armor slightly.
Maybe cap the bonus to AC at +4? This ties studded leather with 18 dex vs. breastplate at 16 AC, and gives medium armor master or half-plate a slight edge.
2) Change Medium Armor Master to the following:
• While wearing medium armor, you can use your strength modifier in place of dexterity for the purposes of determining your AC.
• When you wear medium armor, you can add 3, rather than 2, to your AC if you have a Dexterity or Strength of 16 or higher.
Do either of these suggestions sound workable? Maybe the feat could use con instead of strength, but that might be stepping on the barbarian's toes too much.
1) In terms of AC progression, medium armor sounds like it should be slightly better than light armor, and slightly worse than heavy armor. Instead, its equivalent to light armor assuming breastplate + medium armor master or half-plate + 14 Dex.
2) Medium armor encourages MAD to get maximum AC.
If I'm playing say, a strength-based two weapon Ranger who wants decent perception as well as 16/17 AC, I need at least 14 dex, and decent strength, wisdom and con. Whereas rogues/dex valor bards/etc can focus on hitting 20 dex in their main combat stat and receive maximum AC on top of the bonuses to dex saves and initiative. Heavy armor users can in theory ignore dex entirely. Now, we've established that dex is a terrible dump stat, because even without save or die effects (which may or may not pop up in your game) there's more than enough AoE spells with dex saves for it to be considered one of the important save stats.
I can think of 2 possible solutions which may or may not work in practice. They are:
1) Nerf light armor slightly.
Maybe cap the bonus to AC at +4? This ties studded leather with 18 dex vs. breastplate at 16 AC, and gives medium armor master or half-plate a slight edge.
2) Change Medium Armor Master to the following:
• While wearing medium armor, you can use your strength modifier in place of dexterity for the purposes of determining your AC.
• When you wear medium armor, you can add 3, rather than 2, to your AC if you have a Dexterity or Strength of 16 or higher.
Do either of these suggestions sound workable? Maybe the feat could use con instead of strength, but that might be stepping on the barbarian's toes too much.