Product with Armor as DR?

[lkj]

Hey folks,
A friend of mine is starting up a 3.5 D&D campaign, and he wants alternate rules for using armor as DR- or something equivalent. I know I've seen that mentioned around here, and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I don't know if WotC has put out something (Unearthed Arcana? DMG II?), but it doesn't have to be 'official'. Just d20. Thanks for the help.

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[Greg K]

Unearthed Arcana

 

[Goblyn]

Mr K is right.

 

[lkj]

Thank you much.

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[EricNoah]

And as most of UA is "open content" you can take a peek at it right here:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/armorAsDamageReduction.htm

 

[DMH]

A different set of rules on the subject can be found in Bastion's Arms and Armor 3.5.

 

[lkj]

Again, thank you both. That link is awesome. As far as the Bastion rules-- Is there a quick rundown on the general idea? I don't need explicit details (as I would think I should buy the product for that), but an idea as to how it compares to the UA system?

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[delericho]

When implementing armour as DR, be aware that the Power Attack feat becomes much more useful, especially with two-handed weapons. Suddenly, opponents become significantly easier to hit, and so you can 'afford' to use lots more PA, which can more than compensate for the DR.

In principle, I quite like the idea of armour as DR. Unfortunately, I concluded that it would have greater impact on game balance than I was willing to put in the work to compensate for. YMMV, of course.

 

[Morrus]

When implementing armour as DR, be aware that the Power Attack feat becomes much more useful, especially with two-handed weapons. Suddenly, opponents become significantly easier to hit, and so you can 'afford' to use lots more PA, which can more than compensate for the DR.

In principle, I quite like the idea of armour as DR. Unfortunately, I concluded that it would have greater impact on game balance than I was willing to put in the work to compensate for. YMMV, of course.

I agree. I strongly feel that if you use Armour as DR, you need to make changes to Power Attack.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Critical hits happen more often as well since AC no longer includes armor. This is actually good news for arrows, bolts, darts, rapiers, et cetera since a normal hit will not overcome the DR of full plate.

IMC I just convert armor worn to DR unlike the UA's method of splitting the AC to 50/50 def and DR. And yes power attack has become quite popular. But so have trip, disarm, and sunder attacks. Overall it makes for a more fun game in my experience.