REVIEW - Armour System

[crowles]

Your 10 armour is going to seem (slightly) more useful when NPCs swing for 3 instead of 6.

So, this is a pretty good point to make. Because we are humans playing a game, some numbers are better to swing than others. The best numbers to swing are 2, 5, and 10. I typically build my characters around these numbers, as humans like to round.

If in combat, in a system without a 1 second rule, if my Armour is at 54 points, and I'm getting hit for 3's, 8's, and 4's, I'm probably going to call out a breach when I "Feel" like I am breached, as opposed to the perfect moment when.

I think it's important to cater armour systems towards making these numbers meaningful, and easier for the player to interpret.
Personally, I think all armour values should be south of 100, but that's because I'm an ass-hole.

But, i think it's important that 2 damage monsters actually matter when you fight them, otherwise whats the point of sending them out.

If the power disparity in your game is so high that low level NPC's no not pose even the slightest challenge for high level PC's, then you are wasting your NPC's any time you cater to the low level players. And if you need to send out high level crunchies to even motivate your higher level players, you then alienate your low level players.

I would also add that smithing and the unlimited armour we have now is the major flaw,

Agreed. I'd address this by having NPC's drop "Scrap" which can be used to refit stuff.

[Demetria]

New blacksmithing rules would also apply to Gargylens right? Like if armor can only be repaired by 1 to 2 smiths at a time, Gargylen can only be healed by 1 to 2 smiths at a time?

[Brennus]

who is currently wearing 200+ armour without blue print and legendary shenanigans? the amount of armour my character quintus wore was shocking to some players, and physically debilitating for me to wear for extended periods. and i topped out at 150 could tip 162 with a coif but thats pushing the limits of my neck to bear.

[crowles]

who is currently wearing 200+ armour without blue print and legendary shenanigans? the amount of armour my character quintus wore was shocking to some players, and physically debilitating for me to wear for extended periods. and i topped out at 150 could tip 162 with a coif but thats pushing the limits of my neck to bear.

I was just speaking in hypotheticals, but at present, that is the non-magical max. 

My armour kit is around 140, and I could load on more. But then again, i'm a big ol fat guy.

[MM/NPL Dustin]

Now seems to be a good time to express my opinion… with TLDRs for your reading convenience 

 The armour point system in terms of the rules in the standard rulebook are fine in my opinion. The 28 armour zones, the 1/2/3/4 values of the armour and the “heavy armour” skill don’t need changing. The system awards people who wear more armour with more points, which makes perfect sense. Chain and plate armour aren’t exactly comfortable to wear for long periods of time, therefore it is fair that it provides more protection than the much lighter leather armour types. 
***TLDR: The basic functions of the armour system is fine, don't change it.

 No one has more than 200 armour before magic and legendary armour. The maximum you can wear in basic armour is 196 points, and that is only if you cover all 28 zones of the body with chain mail stacked with plate on top, which is a lot of metal to put on, wear for long periods of time and move around in. Once you add BASIC legendary armour smithing, it increases the maximum to 252, again with legendary chain and legendary plate on all 28 zones… 
***TLDR: The maximum armour point count is ridiculously hard and uncomfortable to obtain.

 The whole issue with people wearing obscene amounts of armour is a guild-specific issue for Jericho. If a PC has 150+ armour and is not wearing as many as or more physical armour than Quintus for example (Basically, full plate armour covering pretty much everything) than the problem is the existence of legendary blueprints that produce armour pieces that essentially break the armour system by giving PC’s permanently buffed and unbreakable armour. I like the idea of master crafted and legendary armour being something else for PC’s to work towards, but I think the issue lies with these silly blueprints that basically make it possible to wear minute amounts of armour for the same points as a full kit of it. 
***TLDR: Keep normal Legendary and master crafted armour, abolish insane buffing blueprints.

 The proposed changes to armour seem to be more of an issue targeted towards changing smithing, which I’m all for since it would be a much easier approach than changing all of the PC’s armour cards in ALL of the guild houses. However, the proposed changes do have a few issues. 

 I like the idea of having breaches being fixable at game rather than cost PP between games. It would make it much easier on new PC’s who haven’t invested into a bunch of armour yet, making low amounts of armour much more viable to wear, as they don’t become easier and easier to breach as the numbers get whittled down until you have no protection until next month, if you’re lucky enough to get it fixed. However, I’d suggest not making a workshop a REQUIRED part of the process of fixing one’s armour. Workshops are incredibly expensive to get IG, and this basically kills any new guild house from being able to get going due to the fact that PC’s will not be able to get their armour fixed ever. I’d suggest instead make it that it is required for you to have at least 1 level in blacksmithing to repair your breached armour, requires 10 minutes of uninterrupted RP to repair, and requires you to take off your armour reps.  
***TLDR: Brian’s suggestion of making armour breached refittable at game is a good idea… as long as they can do it without workshops otherwise all new guild houses are going to have a hard time getting going.

I don’t mind the idea of a 50% penalty for armour repair due to the fact that a PC with 20 armour may only take 25% the hit to their total armour that my 80 points does on a breach (where they‘d take 10, I‘d take 40), but my armour takes 4 times as long to whittle through, so that is fair enough to me. 
***TLDR: 50% armour breaches are okay because the more armour you wear, the harder it will be to rbeach you.

Making battlefield repair more useful than just a quick fix for shields makes it more valuable, and I’m all for that!

In terms of on-the battlefield refitting, I’ve never seen the ‘smithing circle’ as an issue. I’ve seen circles of support PC’s scattered by a charging NPC while I was getting fixed. I know this is the exception, not the rule, but c’mon NPC’s, it’s not that hard. Thusly, I don’t see why reducing the time it takes to get one person back into the fight is a problem, as we all have to line up with near-breached armour to get fixed anyways.
***TLDR: Even if smithing circles seem to effective, a bunch of support PC’s can easily be dealt with by rushing NPCs

[Marek]

I guess my only concern, which is biased because the only weekend events I've attended are All Hallows, is that the disparity between heavily armored and lightly armored is rather large. This could be a problem only in that it means shapers are going to be prone to toss heavier hitting creatures more often.

[Sierra Katrian]

I guess my only concern, which is biased because the only weekend events I've attended are All Hallows, is that the disparity between heavily armored and lightly armored is rather large. This could be a problem only in that it means shapers are going to be prone to toss heavier hitting creatures more often.

The changes we have proposed are to avoid exactly that. Percentile breaches, slower armour repair and toning down Mastercrafted and Legendary armour will help with the armour disparity. They affect the higher armour wearers more than the lower ones.

[Sierra Katrian]

Now seems to be a good time to express my opinion… with TLDRs for your reading convenience 

1. The armour point system in terms of the rules in the standard rulebook are fine in my opinion. The 28 armour zones, the 1/2/3/4 values of the armour and the “heavy armour” skill don’t need changing. The system awards people who wear more armour with more points, which makes perfect sense. Chain and plate armour aren’t exactly comfortable to wear for long periods of time, therefore it is fair that it provides more protection than the much lighter leather armour types. 
***TLDR: The basic functions of the armour system is fine, don't change it.

2. No one has more than 200 armour before magic and legendary armour. The maximum you can wear in basic armour is 196 points, and that is only if you cover all 28 zones of the body with chain mail stacked with plate on top, which is a lot of metal to put on, wear for long periods of time and move around in. Once you add BASIC legendary armour smithing, it increases the maximum to 252, again with legendary chain and legendary plate on all 28 zones… 
***TLDR: The maximum armour point count is ridiculously hard and uncomfortable to obtain.

3. The whole issue with people wearing obscene amounts of armour is a guild-specific issue for Jericho. If a PC has 150+ armour and is not wearing as many as or more physical armour than Quintus for example (Basically, full plate armour covering pretty much everything) than the problem is the existence of legendary blueprints that produce armour pieces that essentially break the armour system by giving PC’s permanently buffed and unbreakable armour. I like the idea of master crafted and legendary armour being something else for PC’s to work towards, but I think the issue lies with these silly blueprints that basically make it possible to wear minute amounts of armour for the same points as a full kit of it. 
***TLDR: Keep normal Legendary and master crafted armour, abolish insane buffing blueprints.

The proposed changes to armour seem to be more of an issue targeted towards changing smithing, which I’m all for since it would be a much easier approach than changing all of the PC’s armour cards in ALL of the guild houses. However, the proposed changes do have a few issues. 

5. I like the idea of having breaches being fixable at game rather than cost PP between games. It would make it much easier on new PC’s who haven’t invested into a bunch of armour yet, making low amounts of armour much more viable to wear, as they don’t become easier and easier to breach as the numbers get whittled down until you have no protection until next month, if you’re lucky enough to get it fixed. However, I’d suggest not making a workshop a REQUIRED part of the process of fixing one’s armour. Workshops are incredibly expensive to get IG, and this basically kills any new guild house from being able to get going due to the fact that PC’s will not be able to get their armour fixed ever. I’d suggest instead make it that it is required for you to have at least 1 level in blacksmithing to repair your breached armour, requires 10 minutes of uninterrupted RP to repair, and requires you to take off your armour reps.  
***TLDR: Brian’s suggestion of making armour breached refittable at game is a good idea… as long as they can do it without workshops otherwise all new guild houses are going to have a hard time getting going.

6. I don’t mind the idea of a 50% penalty for armour repair due to the fact that a PC with 20 armour may only take 25% the hit to their total armour that my 80 points does on a breach (where they‘d take 10, I‘d take 40), but my armour takes 4 times as long to whittle through, so that is fair enough to me. 
***TLDR: 50% armour breaches are okay because the more armour you wear, the harder it will be to rbeach you.

7. Making battlefield repair more useful than just a quick fix for shields makes it more valuable, and I’m all for that!

8. In terms of on-the battlefield refitting, I’ve never seen the ‘smithing circle’ as an issue. I’ve seen circles of support PC’s scattered by a charging NPC while I was getting fixed. I know this is the exception, not the rule, but c’mon NPC’s, it’s not that hard. Thusly, I don’t see why reducing the time it takes to get one person back into the fight is a problem, as we all have to line up with near-breached armour to get fixed anyways.
***TLDR: Even if smithing circles seem to effective, a bunch of support PC’s can easily be dealt with by rushing NPCs

1. We aren't changing the armour values, or the heavy armour skill. It was being discussed, but we felt that changing smithing would be easier.

2. Not sure why this is a complaint. If you don't want to wear that much armour, don't.

3. This is being discussed, but will likely not happen.



5. The workshop we are proposing is not an IG one, but a literal, physical, tangible anvil or wooden table.

6. We thought so too.

7. We thought the same.

8. I....don't have a comment. Not sure.

[Chèvrelier]

I’d suggest not making a workshop a REQUIRED part of the process of fixing one’s armour. Workshops are incredibly expensive to get IG, and this basically kills any new guild house from being able to get going due to the fact that PC’s will not be able to get their armour fixed ever

Don't worry about this part. It is my intention to include another type of workshop below the portable ones called a work bench that has no actual rules benefit beyond counting as a workshop. It would either require a rep but no tag, or have a tag provided once the rep is approved.

[MM/NPL Dustin]

My point in #2 was mostly in response to the claims of PCs having over 200 points of armour or whatever the hyperbole was. My point there was the only players comfortably wearing that much armour have legendary blueprinted armour, and not wearing the normal required number of phys-reps, which lead into my point in #3 which was the legendary blueprints seems to be the root of the problem of complaints towards high AP PCs wearing fewer phys-reps.

I'm glad to hear the actual "workshop" being used to fix armour breaches won't need to be the same kind that boosts PP.