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Jul 2, 2012 -- 3:09AM, Haldrik wrote:

Jul 2, 2012 -- 2:50AM, lokiare wrote:

Jul 1, 2012 -- 11:19PM, Haldrik wrote:

Mike Mearls mentions: “At this stage, we do assume that characters upgrade from one type of mundane armor to the next. For instance, a fighter might *afford* chainmail at 1st level. Later on, that fighter can *afford* banded armor, and then plate. Other than armor, the game lacks any other equipment that we expect you to *purchase* as a strict upgrade.”



Money creates vicious circles (money makes me more powerful, therefore I use my powers to get more money). Using money to destroy balance of leveling mechanics, invites distortive gamey behaviors that can ruin the game.

At this point, its probably best to assume all “core” armors are equally viable with advantages and disadvantages for each fighting-style. Alternative substandard armors are just that, substandard.

They could easily balance this out by starting the fighter, cleric, and paladin with a proficiency in chainmail and scale mail armor. Then later granting better armor proficiency as they level up.

Really the way to use chain mail is 100% different than using a breastplate. I personally think you should have to pick and choose which armors you are proficient with, not this "light", "medium", or "heavy" crap...

If I read your comment correctly, it is similar to the idea that each core armor type needs to be a viable option. Each has advantages and disadvantages, so each is more suitable for different fighting styles.

So, your saying each armor proficiency stands alone. If one wants to use plate armor effectively, take plate proficiency (with its advantages and disadvantages), and if one wants chain armor or leather armor, take its proficiency, respectively (with its advantages and disadvantages).

Sound good to me. That means, all core armor is equally good, depending, and there are no upgrades.



I would like to add, scale armor seems to me to be equivalent to substandard chain armor. Scale exists in the Bronze and Iron Ages, but later technologies obsolete it. Therefore, scale armor would not be a “core” armor. It can exist in a setting but simply a worse version of core chain. Darksun armors might fall into this category of “non-core” substandard versions.

Banded armor is simply leather armor with stategically placed strips of metal. This is basically the same thing as leather armor, maybe with some kind of minor bonus tacked on to the equipment/armor bonus.

This too, goes back to the idea, all the armors that core use as the standard are equally viable.

I think this will be EXTREMELY hard to pull off. It sounds good, but it wasn't even true in reality, and D&D's armor model is already lacking a lot of the details that would for instance deter one from walking around all day every day in plate armor.

The problem, mechanically, is that clearly heavier armors are going to add to your AC (or to something, though I'm not holding my breath for any other implementation). Given that say fighters are in the thick of it they're clearly a prime candidate to wear this stuff. So what exactly is going to be the offsetting penalty? Horrible penalties to physical skill checks? REALLY slow movement rates? Some sort of 'fatigue' rule? Given that the fighter's qualities are generally superior physical capability, and he needs to be able to both move around and operate constantly in his heavy armor any and all reasonably realistic and likely penalties that would offset a better AC (and they'll have to be pretty steep to do that) are going to impact the heavy armored fighter very severely.

It just doesn't seem like a viable concept mechanically. In a theorycrafting sort of way it DOES sound cool, it would solve a vast array of long standing problems, but practically speaking it isn't going to work unless someone can come up with some sort of clever idea that escapes me (please do).