What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

[Theron]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

[i wrote a longer reply to the above and the system seems to have eaten it. Here's what I remember saying.]

 

Endurance penalties, Movement penalties, and nasty rashes are good starters. Perception penalties for helm wearers. Remember that even lightweight armours tended to have leather or quilted cloth foundation garments, all of which trap heat against the body in a big way (I've worn and fought in a wide variety of replica armours, from Crusades-era maille to 14th century transitional plate, 15th century Gothic plate, to a 17th century buffe-coat. All are hideously hot. Even in winter.)

 

Not to mention, depending on your fantasy world, even the great outdoors may belong to somebody. And that somebody may very well have an interest in what busness a well armed body of adventurers has on their property. Look at the questioning Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli faced from Eomer on the plains of Rohan.

[sbarron]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

I once considered letting characters buy their amor up to 8rpd/8red with character points, and letting them define it how they wanted. I didn't want to hassle with the details of LTE, Enc, balance, etc. I just figured it would be easier. If you want to be the bare chested barbarian that is always just getting missed, or the tank that soaks ups tons of damge in your plate mail, you could be. Never tried it, but if I ever play FH again, I might.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

You could try here if you want. Some house rules for encumbrance I posted.

[PhilFleischmann]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

but what is to keep the PCs from wearing heavy armor more or less constantly while on a long march through the wilds? That really shouldnt be happening either' date=' at least not without some side effects. Especially in particularly hot weather.[/quote']

Metal armor, being non-porous, tends to keep not only body heat in, but also body scent. If there are animals or monsters that hunt by scent, and happen to like the smell/taste of human flesh (dwarf, elf, etc.), you're going to smell much more tempting if you've wearing plate armor for a long period of time than if you're wearing normal "breathable" clothes. This problem came up in Larry Niven's "Ringword Throne."

[arcady]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Has anyone here used the rules form the books as is and found them problematic in play?

 

Sometimes things read like an issue, but play out well anyway.

 

For my upcoming game, I expect things to take place in a coastal region and at times over water. Armor would of course not be practical on ship. Along the coast you have a rust issue, but that's a long term sort of thing.

 

I -might- be adding alchemical guns, similar to the wheelock pistols, and that might add a further offset for armor. I'll only be doing that if I can figure out why this alchemical substance gives me ready supply to guns but not the development of dynamite and other explosives, nor paving the way for logic leaps in steam and combustion.

[LordGhee]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Armies march in thier armor all day.

 

The romans marched 20 miles + in chain and segmenta, as proven on a nova show when they ask for soldiers to try the roman training. ( us airmen and brit army) good show.

 

If you are in the wild you wear your prtection.

 

Lord Ghee

[arcady]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

It takes some level of familiarity and endurance to do that though. Having had to wear chem warfare suits for long periods of time I can say it is not easy.

 

Some form of long term endurance problem should be involved and it should be notably worse for people new to the equipment or in hot weather.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Armies march in thier armor all day.

 

The romans marched 20 miles + in chain and segmenta, as proven on a nova show when they ask for soldiers to try the roman training. ( us airmen and brit army) good show.

 

If you are in the wild you wear your prtection.

 

Lord Ghee

 

 

Armies do a lot of stuff that soldiers wouldn't do if they weren't ordered to. In this situation, I might rule that typical adventurers, who aren't serving or leading an army, would be able to either march 20 miles in a day, or wear armor all day, but without a very strong motivating factor, would not do both, just from sheer human laziness.

[Guest joen00b]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Romans also marched on Paved roads, which allowed them to cover 20 miles a day. Were they to travel on non paved roads, and/or trailblaze (make a trail that wasn't there), that number dropped dramatically. The Romans had the greatest network of roads and aqueducts for their time, hence why we still speak of them today.

 

I always thought of them as some giant hippy commune that was into war instead of peace, really.

[Markdoc]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

>>>Armies march in thier armor all day.

 

The romans marched 20 miles + in chain and segmenta, as proven on a nova show when they ask for soldiers to try the roman training. ( us airmen and brit army) good show.

 

If you are in the wild you wear your prtection.<<<

 

Actually armies *could* march in their armour and did so if they were expecting imminent trouble. But contemporary artists also knew that they didn't normally do that: the Romans left us many reliefs of marching soldiers, most of whom are wearing tunics and carrying their armour in bags on poles or on wagons. Most medieval armies also had armour wagons and armour carriers are depicted in the Bayeux tapestry.

 

A guy in the UK claimed a world record by riding 300 miles in armour - but we know from repeated references written at the time that knights did not normally travel in armour, even in potentially hostile areas, unless they were expecting a fight. We also know from the crusades that having to wear armour all the time led to all manner of skin diseases and sores - it was a complaint voiced in multiple writings of the time. Indeed, the guy who collected the world record ended up with sores from chafing after only a week and claimed it was the most uncomfortable thing he had ever done. And unlike adventurers - or real life legionaries - neither this guy or the people on Nova were a) doing this for long periods of time or carrying ropes, picks, lanterns, blankets heavy pouches of coins and several weeks food...

 

I'm reading Micheal Psellus' "14 Byzantine Rulers" at the moment (Boy, he's a slimeball!) and he attributes the initial defeat of the Imperial army by the Patzinaks (during Constantine XI's reign) to the fact that they were caught by surprise and weren't wearing their armour (although they were patrolling a border area, where raids were a frequent ocurrence). Psellus wrote his story after talking to some of the people who were there.

 

The defeat of the vikings at Stamford Bridge in 1066 is attributed in part to the fact that they left their armour at the ships while marching, because they weren't expecting a serious fight - although they were still in the middle of a war zone, where fightng was ongoing.

 

The samurai left us many, many armour boxes designed for carrying armour while on the move,

 

and so on and so on....

 

cheers, Mark

[bushido11]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Sorry if this post is taking the whole "armor is heavy and restrictive and adds body heat, etc.", but another way to make armor less effective (if you don't want to use hit locations) is by applying an Activation Roll. Armors that cover less of the body have a lower Activation Roll (which is rolled after the attacker makes a successful attack roll). Sure it's an additional roll, but it makes for more variation of armors instead of just how much PD/ED it provides.

 

And that's all I have to say about that.

[arcady]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

Hit locations already handle that.

[LordGhee]

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

 

I have always thought that an activation roll for scale or segmenta or any armor where there are gaps that can be penatrated.

 

Lord Ghee