Homebrew: Simple Armor durability and degradation rules

[ClaytonCross]

Chromatic orb does not consume its material component.

I actually did not know that and had to look it up, but your right. My GM has made me destroy it in the past so that's good to know.

However, Find Familiar (10 gp) and Illusory Script (10 gp) both do so while the value of this is lower the point stands. Casting spells can and does expend gold and require replacing.

Also, it still stands that the damage of the armor is a minor cost at 1 damage per hit to the armor and its not preventing tank from doing his job or a huge hindrance do down time. Not to mention you can still loot them from the dead.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

That's not what I said you omitted the part where I said a hit could still "damage" the armor just not in a meaning full way that is why the player is hut. Also a hit could mean that you hit the player in an unprotected location on there body. Your making a decision to contrast my design because you want to not because its a design flaw. Let me demonstrate your way.

If a player fails to block with his shield because it never contacted at the enemy making a critical hit on the head... you damage the shield ... what? why? It was never impacted but by your logic the player was hit so the shield needs to fall apart.

My logic is not perfect but I do believe it makes way more since then what you are comparing me to.

No, your logic is not perfect. In fact, I could point out how you're pretty directly contradicting yourself here. But that's not the real problem. Really, by getting into logical nitpicking you're missing the forest for the trees. Your system does not make sense to me because it has armor regularly falling apart on the battlefield. That is my honest, constructive critique. Do you really think the assessment is going to change if instead of exactly 54 hits it's 70 or 80 or 100, like I believe you're just a few points off an acceptable value? No. It's armor. Its entire purpose is to be more durable than the person wearing it. Anything that could damage or destroy it -- and muscle-powered medieval weaponry does not fall into this category -- would also kill the wearer. So this scenario that your rules seem intended to create, of *clang* "Oh, I'm still fine, but that last hit knocked my armor off!", is absurd, whether it happens after 54 hits or 500.

Shields, on the other hand...

 

[jaelis]

I actually did not know that and had to look it up, but your right. My GM has made me destroy it in the past so that's good to know.

However, Find Familiar (10 gp) and Illusory Script (10 gp) both do so while the value of this is lower the point stands. Casting spells can and does expend gold and require replacing.

Also, it still stands that the damage of the armor is a minor cost at 1 damage per hit to the armor and its not preventing tank from doing his job or a huge hindrance do down time. Not to mention you can still loot them from the dead.

You know, if you like your system and want to play with it, the only people you need to convince are the ones at your table

But I would suggest that comparing a fighter's armor to a mage's illusory script isn't your best argument... I expect that most wizards can play a 1-20 campaign and never cast illusory script Even find familiar is (a) optional, and (b) you only need to cast it once unless you want to regularly use your familiar in combat. I'd say that expense is a little more akin to buying alchemist fire than armor.

 

[Oofta]

I can see the scenario now using these "simple" rules.

DM: "OK, as I explained I want to have a grittier campaign so we're going to try out some armor damage rules. Please review the sheets I gave you. Last we left off you were investigating odd occurrences at the circus, you suspect clowns are handing out cotton candy causing madness."

Pat the Paladin: "I hate clowns!"
Barry the Barbarian: "Huh. Guess I don't care about these rules. Awesome to be able to deflect arrows with my pecs!" Throws the piece of paper with rules away.
Clary the Cleric: "So we have to keep track of armor damage points? The armor just falls off one day? Not sure that's realistic."

DM: "They're preliminary rules, we'll get to that later. Alright, you were headed to the cotton candy station run by the clowns when hear an ungodly trumpeting sound and people screaming in terror. Roll for initiative."

DM explains that young children, faces covered in cotton candy have been throwing handfuls of peanuts at an elephant which is now rampaging. The children see the adventurers, start throwing peanuts at them while the elephant charges*.

DM: "OK, Pat - you are pelted with peanuts! Does a 15 hit?"
Pat: "Nope, you need a 20. I just got that new armor."
DM: "Pat, you take 1 point of armor damage. Clary, does a 19 hit?"
Clary: "Yep, I have an 18 AC."
DM: "OK, you take 1 point of damage. Barry, does a 13 hit?"
Barry: "Nope, bounces off. Because I'm tough. Oh, and I don't take any armor damage because I'm not wearing armor"
DM: "Alright, the elephant charges Clary" [dice are rolled, she's gored and stomped on for a total of 41 damage]
Clary: "Cough, cough ... OWWW! That hurt, how much damage did my armor take?".
DM: "No armor damage."
Pat: "Wait, she gets gored and stomped on by a frickin' elephant and her armor takes no damage but mine got hurt by a handful of peanuts?"
Barry: "Dude, told you barbarians are superior."​

To me that does not sound "gritty" or "realistic". If you can't accept the gaping holes in your proposed solution there's not much anyone can say. Throw out some high level proposals and we can help flesh them out. Maybe something along the line of taking damage to armor after taking n points while tying it HP and type of armor.

I'm not totally opposed to armor damage, but the current concept just doesn't work no matter how much you tweak the implementation.

*Example based on a home game scenario, names have been changed to protect the innocent.