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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 3753986" data-attributes="member: 1645">Ah, but the kicker is that AC isn't simply important to survival, but that extra AC bonuses show increasing returns, not diminishing returns, as you heap bonuses on bonuses.If your AC is mediocre, and you're getting hit half the time, which do you want, a +1 Dex bonus to AC or a +1 Con bonus to hit points per hit die?&nbsp; It's not immediately clear, but the AC bonus will increase your survivability by about 10 percent, while the hit-point bonus will probably increase your hit points by something like 20 percent.&nbsp; (For a Wizard with Con 8, averaging 1.5 hit points per level, it'll increase hit points by 67 percent.&nbsp; For a Fighter with Con 14, averaging 7.5 hit points per level, it'll increase hit points by 13 percent.)If your AC is high, and you're getting hit 10 percent of the time, you almost certainly want the additional AC bonus.&nbsp; It will increase your survivability by 100 percent, doubling it.Granted, there's a steep drop-off once you reach &quot;hit only on a natural 20&quot;, but up to that point, each extra point of AC is worth more than the previous one.We could sidestep some of this if fewer things were clumped into AC and we spread what are now AC bonuses across, say, defense and toughness.&nbsp; For instance, if armor bonuses were treated more like Con bonuses to hit points -- not that I'm suggesting that particular solution -- then there would be fewer bonuses stacked on top of one another for defense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 3753986, member: 1645"] Ah, but the kicker is that AC isn't simply important to survival, but that extra AC bonuses show [i]increasing returns[/i], not diminishing returns, as you heap bonuses on bonuses. If your AC is mediocre, and you're getting hit half the time, which do you want, a +1 Dex bonus to AC or a +1 Con bonus to hit points per hit die? It's not immediately clear, but the AC bonus will increase your survivability by about 10 percent, while the hit-point bonus will probably increase your hit points by something like 20 percent. (For a Wizard with Con 8, averaging 1.5 hit points per level, it'll increase hit points by 67 percent. For a Fighter with Con 14, averaging 7.5 hit points per level, it'll increase hit points by 13 percent.) If your AC is high, and you're getting hit 10 percent of the time, you almost certainly want the additional AC bonus. It will increase your survivability by 100 percent, doubling it. Granted, there's a steep drop-off once you reach "hit only on a natural 20", but up to that point, each extra point of AC is worth more than the previous one. We could sidestep some of this if fewer things were clumped into AC and we spread what are now AC bonuses across, say, defense and toughness. For instance, if armor bonuses were treated more like Con bonuses to hit points -- not that I'm suggesting that particular solution -- then there would be fewer bonuses stacked on top of one another for defense. [/QUOTE]

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