D&D 5E Less armour but same protection

[embee]

I think that the de-forestation to drill for oil to keep those suits running would be too real for me

Forget that! Have coal mines!

The power-armor is coal-fired. And you can feed it gems for various temporary ability buffs.

 

[TwoSix]

How about using Constitution instead of Strength? Constitution represents toughness. A player could use either DEX or CON to boost his character's AC.

I think that still leaves Str focused characters a little out in the cold, but ultimately you should make the decision based on the aesthetic you want to promote.

 

[Marc_C]

Where are they getting the leather?

I can see them going with bracers and shin guards. But not full leather armor. It's a jungle. It rots leather quickly. Within a month, the leather will be able to be torn by hand. It is the inability to dry out the leather that could make it soften and rot [or for other armors to rust and generally corrode]. Maybe look at wooden or bamboo armor that may be less susceptible to humidity or lacquered armors [paper, wood, leather etc.] that could be sealed against the environment.

Leather shouldn't get wet. It can be treated to naturally shed water, but soaking leather will turn it soft initially and harden and shrink it when it dries. Clothing can be detrimental. While sandals protect the feet from thorns, boots cause foot fungus that can incapacitate. Light, breathable fabrics dry in a few minutes in the sun (sometimes hard to find in the rain forest) while heavy garments of leather would be stiflingly hot and hard to dry and then have to soften up again once they were dry.

Tabaxi rely on dexterity - stealth, camouflage, and ambush tactics. They already have some natural camouflage through their coats. They're in their natural environment that they are already adapted to.

I don't play that kind of 'verisimilitude' with my D&D. Suffice to say that gator hide would be equivalent to leather in this campaign.

 

[Shiroiken]

definitely< want to avoid getting hit in the first place.

I think that's the point of ranged combat. Running a campaign like this, IMO, is meant to be a much harder game than the average one (although the OP obviously doesn't feel the same). Certain classes will shine more, and Dex will become really important (making all the whitepaper arguments about Dex being the god ability finally true).

 

[Voadam]

In 3.5 I used a house rule for a different feel in both a Freeport (tropical pirates city) and Oathbound Wildwood (low metal jungle/forest) game to encourage character aesthetics focused more on quick lightly armored characters compared to slow tank concepts. I gave everybody their base reflex save as a bonus to their dex bonus to AC. In 3e armors had various caps on dex bonuses to AC similar to 5e medium armor, so a PC could go with heavy armor and max out the dex bonus quickly and be decent compared to baseline, or go with the genre tropes and be better than baseline defensively if they were light armor quick types. It worked well for both campaigns giving a carrot to the tropes I wanted to encourage. The numbers worked out well in 3.5, with 5e's bounded accuracy a lot of boost could go too far easier.

 

[The Old Crow]

The deep jungle makes makes all armors seem extra-cumbersome. The total armor you can lug around on your body has an AC cap at whatever your Str modifier is. Want to wear leather armor? Better have a 12 Strength. Want leather and a shield? Now you need a 16 Str to pull it off. You can still add your Dex mod on top of that, so those with a good Dex and Str will have the best AC, and those with just Str or Dex will be comparable.