. . . while you're at it. . . Fix heavy armor!

[Olgar Shiverstone]

What exactly do you want to see? What's your ideal end state?

Chain mail and scale mail become the ideal choice over chain shirts and plate armor.

RE: heavy armor and adventuring ... if knights could reportedly jump into a horse's saddle wearing properly fitted plate armor, I see no problem with it being worn while adventuring. And while I can't speak to the authenticity of the armor itself, I'd guess this guy would have few problems dungeoneering.

 

[Odysseus]

Armour as damage reduction is the answer.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Medium armor is what gets neglected.
Full plate is worn by most low dexterity characters in my experience (13 or less, sometimes 15 or less), and by higher dex characters if they can afford mithril plate.

Really the only armors I see once PCs can afford them are Leather (this can obviously be bought at level 1 and only sees continued use with very high dex characters), Chainshirt, Breastplate and Full Plate.

One house rule I've used to encourage medium armor is it lowers running multiplier by 1 but does not lower base land speed.

 

[howandwhy99]

Chain mail and scale mail become the ideal choice over chain shirts and plate armor.

RE: heavy armor and adventuring ... if knights could reportedly jump into a horse's saddle wearing properly fitted plate armor, I see no problem with it being worn while adventuring. And while I can't speak to the authenticity of the armor itself, I'd guess this guy would have few problems dungeoneering.

Chain mail deserves to be back. They built whole games around that armor!
(re: pre-DDM & the 1971c. wargame)

 

[Irda Ranger]

For the entire duration on 3.x, heavy armor has been the neglected stepchild of the combat system. Its always inadequate compared to the other kids, and gets no revisionist love!

Please. . . for the love of god(!!) make it worthwhile to wear heavy armor, even at high levels!!!! That means seriously ramping up the protective capabilities of heavy armor and/or decreasing the protective capabilities of other magic items.

Don't let heavy armor suffer in silence and shame any longer!

The key is to allow the benefits of armor to scale with level (or the costs to be reduced). Iron Heroes addresses this with advanced Armor Mastery feats open to most fighting classes, with the Armiger getting access to the best ones (in addition to his class abilities). The Armiger was not a great implementation, but it shows that Mearls is aware of the issue, and D&D 4E will get a lot more time and attention to those "finishing details" than Iron Heroes did.

 

[Wepwawet]

I think that simply having few magic items makes heavier armor more useful.
In 3e you equip many magic items just to get your AC at that safe level.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Dissenting view - choice of armor, like choice of weapon, should be stylistic. I do not want to play in a game where one equipment choice is the "right" one, and realism be damned on this subject. I have seen characters use heavy armor very effectively, I've seen characters use light or no armor effectively, and that's exactly as it should be, imo.

 

[ArmoredSaint]

And while I can't speak to the authenticity of the armor itself, I'd guess this guy would have few problems dungeoneering.

Since I am the guy in that video, what do you want to know about the armour's authenticity? I commissioned it as a copy of a late 15th century Italian harness (#B3) from the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie, and now exhibited in the Ducal Palace in Mantova. IMO, the armourer (who is quite familiar with the suit, having examined it in person) did a pretty good job, keeping both the lines and weight near those of the original.

 

[Simplicity]

Heavy armor = full plate.
Medium armor = breastplate.

Anything else, and you're just not trying or you've got some mithril or something.
Who the heck thought that was a good system?

Let's give the players interesting decisions: They can (a) have crap armor or (B) pay 20 gold more! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I cry on the inside whenever I look at the armor table.

 

[tresson]

Since I am the guy in that video, what do you want to know about the armour's authenticity? I commissioned it as a copy of a late 15th century Italian harness (#B3) from the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie, and now exhibited in the Ducal Palace in Mantova. IMO, the armourer (who is quite familiar with the suit, having examined it in person) did a pretty good job, keeping both the lines and weight near those of the original.

Out of curiosity were you wearing the padded surcoat and chain mail under the plate that was normally worn with the plate? The quality of the video makes it hard to tell. If you weren't wearing them how do you think that they would have change your experience?