PHB Armors in 3.x

[Shade]

Yeah, armors don't scale well at all.

As we approached high levels, the Dex-based guys ditched armor entirely, as even leather only allows up to a +6 bonus. Bracers of armor, etc., became far more desirable. The arcane casters were always better off with mage armor and shield spells. Even the "tanks" usually get mithral breastplates and the like as speed and the Tumble skill seem far more useful than a slightly higher AC.

Silk armor (from several supplements) lasted a bit longer, as it allows a +8 max Dex and still provides fairly decent (+3) armor bonus.

 

[Mercule]

I probably should have checked "padded". I allow my PCs to sleep in the padding from their heavier armor and count it as padded. As yet, no one has enchanted the padding, though I'd allow it.

 

[Mark CMG]

I probably should have checked "padded". I allow my PCs to sleep in the padding from their heavier armor and count it as padded. As yet, no one has enchanted the padding, though I'd allow it.

Do you count the padding from Masterwork armor as Masterwork padded armor?

 

[Drowbane]

Monte Cook lamented the utter failure of armor types once, and its true. Past level 2-3, theres like 4 armor types (padded, mithril chain shirt, breastplate, full plate). The others are NPC fluff. Who the hell wears banded mail? Better yet, what moron ENCHANTS crap like banded mail, scale mail, etc? Its like owning a corvette without a CD player. If you can afford magic armor, you can afford a base armor type that doesnt suck. Half Plate +1 is more expensive and worse than regular full plate.

I dont understand the PC concept of a guy who runs around in scale mail. Sort of like the SWAT team guy who shows up without his vest because he's "cool" or the fireman who decides the helmet messes up his hair.

QFT

 

[NilesB]

Padded: Never seen it.
Leather: Used by Druids until/unless they get Dragonskin and by people who want to avoid an armor check penalty at all costs (some rogues, people without armor proficiency who don't suffer spell failure) until they can afford better.
Studded leather:Used as MW by some people who want to avoid an armor check penalty at all costs until they can afford Mithril, and by light armor preferers until they can afford a chain shirt (often they jump directly to MW chain shirt).
Chain Shirt:Used by many light armor preferers, often mithril.

Hide: Never seen it. Used by Dwarven Druids until/unless they get Dragonskin?
Scale: Used by medium/heavy armor preferers until they can afford better.
Chain: Never seen it.
Breastplate: Used by medium armor preferers and (as mithril) by light armor preferers who don't mind an armor check penalty.

Splint: Never seen it.
Banded: Never seen it.
Half-plate: Never seen it.
Full plate: people who want heavy armor wait until they can afford this. (I've never seen it not be at least MW.) Some medium armor preferers wear it in Mithril.

Generally the random magic armor table favors the armors prefered by those who can afford to think about magic armor (except it overestimates the value of Hide armor over Leather to Druids I think)

 

[GreatLemur]

Ta da! Then the actual description of the armor would be just fluff.

Seriously. Just give us a range of choices--varying in protection-vs.-mobility tradeoff, but all resonably viable choices--and let us decide if this particular instance of "medium armor" is a chainmain, or breastplate, or steel-reinforced leather, or bone plates on lizard hide, or chitin from a giant scorpion, or whatever piecemeal gladiator absurdity we want. I see no use in trying to accurately model specific historical armor types in such a heavily-abstracted combat system.

I have never seen a picture of studded leather armor that is remotely like it's description. Every picture always has sparse studs, like a handwidth apart. Network TV's Tara's bedazzled vest would provide better protection.

Yeah, I've never quite understood studded leather. As it's generally portrayed, at least, those studs seem like they'd be more of a hazard to the wearer than any real protection. Also, in a lot of really crappy art, they end up looking like polka dots.

 

[Jesus_marley]

Hide- My last fighter started off at first level and was too broke to afford anything but Hide. In the background I said I took it off a dead hobo.

I have to ask.... did he take the ARMOUR off of the hobo or the HIDE off of the hobo.

 

[Mark CMG]

I have to ask.... did he take the ARMOUR off of the hobo or the HIDE off of the hobo.

Heck, he hid the hobo after helping himself to the hobo's hide. Then he got down with a goose.

 

[lukelightning]

Despite wanting a more abstract armor system, I do think there should be some way to have "bad choice" armor in the game, to represent things like primitive orc hide armor or primitive bronze plate worn by ancient crypt guardians and stuff like that. But that could just be as easy as saying something like "the bronze armor is poor quality plate armor... -1 on AC and an extra point of armor check penalty."

 

[Mark CMG]

Despite wanting a more abstract armor system, I do think there should be some way to have "bad choice" armor in the game, to represent things like primitive orc hide armor or primitive bronze plate worn by ancient crypt guardians and stuff like that. But that could just be as easy as saying something like "the bronze armor is poor quality plate armor... -1 on AC and an extra point of armor check penalty."

As games become more computer-dependent, and crossovers between tabletop RPGs and CRPGs and online platforms for PnP and everthing in between become more the need of the many, it may behoove some designers to ensure all things scale perfectly from bottom to top and to remove obvious clunkers from the mix but that flies in the face of more realistic simulations, IMO.