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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 1225323" data-attributes="member: 3051">To the original point (replacing armor AC with armor DR entirely is bad) I'd absolutely agree.&nbsp; To me, the problem goes deeper though.&nbsp; Take it point-by-point:1&gt; AC is AC.&nbsp; It doesn't matter how you get it, increasing AC by 1 through armor is the same as increasing it through high DEX.&nbsp; Assuming money is no object, there's no reason to buy big bulky plate armor and a shield, when you can just get Bracers of Armor.2&gt; Currently, most armors have the same basic &quot;AC cap&quot; = Armor AC bonus + Max DEX bonus, in the 7-9 range.&nbsp; So, if you have a good DEX there's no real incentive to wear heavy armors.&nbsp; On the other hand, there's always a motivation to wear lighter armor (the movement penalties).3&gt; Low ACs suck.&nbsp; Even ignoring touch spells, there are a lot of things that trigger on a successful attack (Sneak Attack, for example) that you'd prefer to avoid.4&gt; DR values should never be particularly large, especially if there's no consistent way to bypass them.&nbsp; Making a DR 8 armor will be great against 90% of the opponents out there.But, against the Greatsword-user who Power Attacks over your low AC, or the Rogue with a 9d6 Sneak Attack, it's far less valuable than +8 AC.So, IMC we tried reworking the basic system, keeping the AC boost armor already gives, but adding a small DR in addition.&nbsp; It went something like this:1&gt; Find out what material the armor/shield is made of.&nbsp; Get its Hardness.&nbsp; For Steel, that's 10.2&gt; Medium armors and large shields give DR (Hardness/10)/Adamantine.&nbsp; Heavy armors give DR (Hardness/5)/Adamantine.&nbsp; This DR stacks with itself and with all other forms of DR.&nbsp; In most cases this will only give a couple points of DR.3&gt; To compensate, the attack bonus for Masterwork is changed to a &quot;Material&quot; bonus, which now stacks with magic.&nbsp; Better materials give better bonuses, and while the same goes for armor, it's more pronounced for weapons.Anyway, it's worked really well so far, although it required heavily altering the Monk's Ki Strike ability.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 1225323, member: 3051"] To the original point (replacing armor AC with armor DR entirely is bad) I'd absolutely agree. To me, the problem goes deeper though. Take it point-by-point: 1> AC is AC. It doesn't matter how you get it, increasing AC by 1 through armor is the same as increasing it through high DEX. Assuming money is no object, there's no reason to buy big bulky plate armor and a shield, when you can just get Bracers of Armor. 2> Currently, most armors have the same basic "AC cap" = Armor AC bonus + Max DEX bonus, in the 7-9 range. So, if you have a good DEX there's no real incentive to wear heavy armors. On the other hand, there's always a motivation to wear lighter armor (the movement penalties). 3> Low ACs suck. Even ignoring touch spells, there are a lot of things that trigger on a successful attack (Sneak Attack, for example) that you'd prefer to avoid. 4> DR values should never be particularly large, especially if there's no consistent way to bypass them. Making a DR 8 armor will be great against 90% of the opponents out there. But, against the Greatsword-user who Power Attacks over your low AC, or the Rogue with a 9d6 Sneak Attack, it's far less valuable than +8 AC. So, IMC we tried reworking the basic system, keeping the AC boost armor already gives, but adding a small DR in addition. It went something like this: 1> Find out what material the armor/shield is made of. Get its Hardness. For Steel, that's 10. 2> Medium armors and large shields give DR (Hardness/10)/Adamantine. Heavy armors give DR (Hardness/5)/Adamantine. This DR stacks with itself and with all other forms of DR. In most cases this will only give a couple points of DR. 3> To compensate, the attack bonus for Masterwork is changed to a "Material" bonus, which now stacks with magic. Better materials give better bonuses, and while the same goes for armor, it's more pronounced for weapons. Anyway, it's worked really well so far, although it required heavily altering the Monk's Ki Strike ability. [/QUOTE]

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