Tomb of Annihilation Is Here - What Do You Think?

Today's the day - WotC's latest Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Tomb of Annihilation, is out! Head on down to your friendly (or unfriendly) local (or not so local) gaming (or comic) store and pick up your copy. Alternatively, if you use a virtual table top, it's available for Fantasy Grounds and Roll20.

 

[guachi]

But that's taking one element of reality and ignoring others to the detriment of medium and heavy armor.

The game already ignores the reality that heavy armor is vastly better than no armor at all. There is no real world logic for monks and barbarians getting such high AC wearing no armor.

It's a salad bar approach to 'realism' that works to the detriment of players who wish to wear armor.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Are you at least also removing the AC bonus from monks and barbarians? And the Dex bonus to AC in general.

Why introduce a "realistic" disadvantages of heavy armor in a game where it has none of it's "realistic" advantages? People wore those armors because they were superior at keeping you alive and not having them meant a massive disadvantage. D&D just gives arbitrarily to certain classes having them perform as well as an armored fighter while wearing onyl a pyjamas or even less.

This has already been addressed earlier in the thread (and in other threads), so I'll assume you didn't get to read those.

It's because the monk and barbarian's AC is a specific rule that overrides expected realism. Just like spells, or hit points, or any other rule that specifically addresses how realism is overridden in the game via fantastical means. If there is not a rule that overrides realism, then it is the default assumption that people will play based on our own knowledge of how the real world works. It's why you don't allow people to run up walls or jump 50ft unless they have a specific fantastical ability (and rule) that allows them to do that.

So if there was a class feature, or a feat, or some other ability or spell that overrides the drawbacks of wearing heavy metal armor in a jungle, it is expected that it would indeed be a factor as we would expect it to behave in our real world today.

 

[Jester David]

Considering that some of the armors are listed light, medium, heavy fairly arbitrarily, and some "light" armors (padded, for instance) would be as worrisome in a jungle environment as plate armor. So, if you're looking for "realism", basing penalties on armor types is a rather poor way to go about it.

It's not going to be perfect, no. But not even making the attempt because it's a little funky seems... I dunno. Lazy? Defeatist?

Calling out metal armours seems like the easiest way, since you can have lighter hide and leather amours. The padded armour could be padded Chultan armour designed for the heat. But metal platemail is metal platemail.

Warrior types have the choice of focusing on Dex over heavy armour, or accepting the heat, or pushing their DM for light bone or insect chitin heavy armours that would work in the jungle.

It's a sweltering hot jungle. Not making characters that are able to function in the jungle is a choice. If the player wants to play a mounted knight with a warhorse, it's not up to the DM to accommodate that choice and make the warhorse operate in the dense underbrush of the jungle.
Just like if a player plays that same character in a shipbound pirate campaign and refuses to learn how to swim. Choices have consequences.

 

[Jester David]

But that's taking one element of reality and ignoring others to the detriment of medium and heavy armor.

The game already ignores the reality that heavy armor is vastly better than no armor at all. There is no real world logic for monks and barbarians getting such high AC wearing no armor.

It's a salad bar approach to 'realism' that works to the detriment of players who wish to wear armor.

Not all player choices or builds should be (or can be) appropriate to every campaign. Some choices should be detrimental.

 

[ddaley]

...
Warrior types have the choice of focusing on Dex over heavy armour, or accepting the heat, or pushing their DM for light bone or insect chitin heavy armours that would work in the jungle.
...

I am leaning toward penalizing most armor that isn't made with the heat in mind. Luckily, my group will be coming into this adventure between level 3 & 5, so should have some money to spend. They will need to pick up new armor once they arrive in Chult, unless they want to face a penalty...

I'll probably make available to them a place to store their current armor so they can pick it up later, if they so desire.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I think I'm going to make it that if you're wearing armour, you have to make the check regardless of you drinking the required 2 gallons of water. And that if you don't drink water and wear armour, then you don't even get to make the check, you just fail and accrue a level of exhaustion.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Yeah, I'll be applying some kind of penalty for wearing armor. Haven't decided exactly how to handle it yet, but I'm doing something similar right now with my PCs while they're on Athas. Chult's like the opposite extreme.

As far as such a ruling penalizing some classes or characters and not others....that's not really a concern for me. I try to make sure there are challenges for each character at times, and ultimately, I want to challenge the party. So their heavy armor guys having to take a drop in AC fits, so it works for me.

EDITED TO ADD: I think I just decided how to handle it. Here:

- Not consumming 2 gallons of water in a day= a level of exhaustion with no save
- Activity in light armor- no save needed needed
- Activity in medium armor- CON save or level of exhaustion
- Activity in heavy armor- CON save with disadvantage or level of exhaustion

I'll have to figure out the DC though....don't want it to be too steep. Maybe have it scale? DC 8 + 1 for each consecutive day of activity.

What do you guys think of that? Similar to some other ideas in this thread, but a little different.

 

[fjw70]

I am not using the heavy armor penalty. I am running it for a group of mostly new players (kids). But if I was using it I would make sure that the players knew about them ahead of time so they could create appropriate characters.

 

[Azzy]

It's not going to be perfect, no. But not even making the attempt because it's a little funky seems... I dunno. Lazy? Defeatist?

Sure, but it would be lazy to not take individual types of armor into consideration and instead use armor types as a basis. I mean, why should ring mail be treated like plate armor rather than the more similar leather or studded leather (brigandine), why should chain mail (which was used in even the jungled regions of India) be considered worse in the jungle than half plate (which includes chain mail)?

The padded armour could be padded Chultan armour designed for the heat. But metal platemail is metal platemail.

So, Chult has padded armor that is magically not thick, hot, prone to retaining sweat, and being infested with bugs? Weren't we trying to create a sense of verisimilitude, here?

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, I'll be applying some kind of penalty for wearing armor. Haven't decided exactly how to handle it yet, but I'm doing something similar right now with my PCs while they're on Athas. Chult's like the opposite extreme.

As far as such a ruling penalizing some classes or characters and not others....that's not really a concern for me. I try to make sure there are challenges for each character at times, and ultimately, I want to challenge the party. So their heavy armor guys having to take a drop in AC fits, so it works for me.

EDITED TO ADD: I think I just decided how to handle it. Here:

- Not consumming 2 gallons of water in a day= a level of exhaustion with no save
- Activity in light armor- no save needed needed
- Activity in medium armor- CON save or level of exhaustion
- Activity in heavy armor- CON save with disadvantage or level of exhaustion

I'll have to figure out the DC though....don't want it to be too steep. Maybe have it scale? DC 8 + 1 for each consecutive day of activity.

What do you guys think of that? Similar to some other ideas in this thread, but a little different.

I like it. I might tweak the DC though.