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<blockquote data-quote="Plane Sailing" data-source="post: 3819085" data-attributes="member: 114">I was just thinking about AC and reflex defence, touch attacks and the like, and that got me speculating about what I think could be a neat idea (although I've got no idea whether or not it reflects the actual design of course!)What if:a) AC just represents physical toughness. Armour, natural armour etc. No Dex bonus or anything like that.Then in normal combat you make one attack roll and match it against both AC and Reflex defence. It has to bypass *both* to score damage (it has to hit the target - bypass reflex defence - and penetrate the armour - bypass AC).Touch attacks (like spells) only have to match the Reflex defence, because the toughness of their covering doesn't matter.Attacks against helpless targets only have to match the AC, because they are not dodging anything at that point.Surprise attacks or attacks on flatfooted opponents could be considered to be the latter case.It would be a nice arrangement; making it obvious whether it was someones dodginess or his armour which protected from an attack (and giving room for swashbuckling guys with high Reflex defence to stand next to tough guys with plate armour on a potentially equal basis, using their appropriate defences against attacks).Could it happen this way? I don't know, but it seems like it might be a quite elegant way of handling the old 'does it hit, does it hurt' question with a single die roll against the static defences.Cheers</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Plane Sailing, post: 3819085, member: 114"] I was just thinking about AC and reflex defence, touch attacks and the like, and that got me speculating about what I think could be a neat idea (although I've got no idea whether or not it reflects the actual design of course!) What if: a) AC just represents physical toughness. Armour, natural armour etc. No Dex bonus or anything like that. Then in normal combat you make one attack roll and match it against both AC and Reflex defence. It has to bypass *both* to score damage (it has to hit the target - bypass reflex defence - and penetrate the armour - bypass AC). Touch attacks (like spells) only have to match the Reflex defence, because the toughness of their covering doesn't matter. Attacks against helpless targets only have to match the AC, because they are not dodging anything at that point. Surprise attacks or attacks on flatfooted opponents could be considered to be the latter case. It would be a nice arrangement; making it obvious whether it was someones dodginess or his armour which protected from an attack (and giving room for swashbuckling guys with high Reflex defence to stand next to tough guys with plate armour on a potentially equal basis, using their appropriate defences against attacks). Could it happen this way? I don't know, but it seems like it might be a quite elegant way of handling the old 'does it hit, does it hurt' question with a single die roll against the static defences. Cheers [/QUOTE]

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