New or dynamic ways for Armor class suggestions

[Lastoutkast]

We all know the " rolled 10 + 5 so you hit the goblins AC of 15"

But is there any ideas or different ways to make it feel more natural without complicated it too much or just something different?

Hope that made sense all.

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[Jhaelen]

Hope that made sense all.

Not, really, I'm afraid.
What's 'unnatural' about that?

 

[snafuy]

Note: if you're thinking about a particular version of D&D (5E, PF, Older) then this question would be a better fit in one of those forums.

I think D&D style AC & HP were the wrong design choices. Armor doesn't prevent hits, it makes hits hurt less. So AC should be separated into two parts, a Defense (DEF) score based on actual hit avoidance (dodging, parrying, magical luck, etc) that replaces the existing AC, and a new Armor Class (AC) score that measures damage resistance, subtracted from weapon damage.

Also, if the attack roll exceeds DEF by a sufficient amount, maybe 8 or 10 points over, then it strikes a gap in the armor and does full damage without AC reduction.

 

[Istbor]

Iron Kindgoms honestly has the best armor/avoidance rules, I feel.

It has a DEF or avoidance score, and if it makes it past that, the AC or armor you have on then simply subtracts from the damage, much like Warhammer RPGs. The thing that would then need to change it likely the amount of hit points a given version of D&D gives out.

I can cope with the way D7D works currently however, so long as one remembers HP are somewhat abstract and not all meat.

 

[Philip Francis]

Not sure that the question is clear as there are two possible responses. As Snafuy suggests the mechanical answer is to make the system even more crunchy by making armour a damage absorber.
The other answer is to embellish the narration in a way that gives you the feel you are going for e.g. you want to bring the nature of the monster to life, so for a pixie you might go for something like "rolled 10 + 5, 15 is a hit! You easily see the pattern to his sprightly dodges and neatly pink him with your sword" versus an orc this might be "rolled 10 + 5, 15 is a hit! You batter his sword to one side and smash through some rusted chain links to strike home with your blade"

I tend to the latter approach but generally only for critical hits or killing blows, otherwise the effort becomes repetitive, looses impact and risks dragging the combat out as the descriptions take up more time than adjudicating the rolls.