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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 72933" data-attributes="member: 3146">I'm not quite sure what you mean by an MI, but I will defend my numbers.The guy in heavy armor may be disproportionately targetted by NPCs with attacks. (Or maybe not, some foes would doubtless try to attack characters who looked easier to hit--I know my characters often do this when they plan on cleaving into another foe). However, that is a matter of enemy tactics which are up to the DM. In many campaigns, wearing no armor marks one as an arcane spellcaster and therefore makes you a priority one target. In other campaigns, heavy armor might mark a character as a skilled fighter likely to have a high strength and deal devastating full attack actions. Such a character might be avoided by sneaky bad guys who would choose to engage a less deadly foe.The number of full attacks and sneak attacks that a heavily armored character absorbs, however, should be entirely dependant upon how the character is played. (Unless all lightly armored characters pick up ranks in tumble and use that to avoid AoOs for movement--even so, the heavily armored character an negate those with a tower shield). The Character in heavy armor has to move 10 feet to avoid a full attack action--just like a character in light armor. That's well within his movement capability. If heavy armored characters tend to stay put so they can get their own full attacks in, full attack vs. partial attack and move is a choice lightly armored characters have to make as well. Similarly, lightly armored characters aren't immune to sneak attacks either. They get the same AoOs that heavily armored characters get when rogues try to flank them. (Although, at high levels, the rogues may tumble to deny them those bonusses). If they want to move to avoid the tumbling sneak attacking rogues, they can provoke AoOs and do so--exactly like lightly armored characters.As to touch attacks, even lightly armored characters tend to be vulnerable to them (especially ranged touch spells--an extra +3 to your AC (from an 18 dex) doesn't help much when the wizard has a +10 to hit with his disintegrate). If the lightly armored characters tend to have more deflection bonusses, heavily armored fighters can make equally good use of rings of protection, etc. (One could argue that the +3 dex bonus is as useful in this case as the +4 armor bonus is vs. a normal attack, but that analysis ignores the fact that touch attacks tend to have much higher attack bonusses relative to the available armor class. If a 6 (+10 ranged touch vs. AC 16 (18 dex, chain shirt, protection from evil)) is needed to hit rather than a 3 (+10 ranged touch vs AC 13 (12 dex, protection from evil)) the lightly armored character only avoids 17% of the touch attacks that hit the heavily armored character. That's a much smaller difference than the 30% to 60% demonstrated in the normal attack calculations.Retreating is certainly a problem in heavy armor but not too much more than it is in light armor. Assuming that your DM shares your opinion of heavy armor not being worth it and doesn't arm his bad guys with it (and if the DMs bad guys Do wear heavy armor and consistently make you run away, maybe that tells you something about heavy armor's usefulness), non-barbarians and non-monks in light armor can't outrun his bad guys anyway. (Barbarians and monks will still have trouble if they're up against cavalry or other barbarians). A heavily armored character can escape using the same rope trick/wall of fire/solid fog/obscuring mist/invisibility/teleport/dimension door/horse/expeditious retreat/boots of striding and springing that lightly armored characters use to retreat.</blockquote>

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