House Ruling AC
Oct 26, 2016 8:36:06 GMT -8
Post by The Arkansas Guy on Oct 26, 2016 8:36:06 GMT -8
I just finished Season 6 yesterday and wanted ya'lls input on a house rule I use. It probably isn't original but it made sense to me and our group has enough fun with it.
Before I can state the formulas I need to first state some ground rules
1. HP represents a creature's ability to keep fighting and not the amount of blood in their bodies.
2. AC represents a creature's equipment/natural armor only. It is the difficulty an attack must overcome IOT (in order to) affect the mental/physical state of the wearer.
3. Reflex represents a creature's …well reflex, the ability to not be where the attack is about to be, like touch AC.
4. Any power that targets AC will also be applied to Reflex. Any power that targets anything other than AC doesn’t change. An attack that relies on affecting your mind (Will Defense) either does or doesn’t, you hesitate momentarily (dazed) or you don't. An attack that only needs to make contact with something (reflex defense) won’t care about armor. An attack that affects your body's ability to function (fortitude defense) will either impede bodily function or your body will repel it. Armor will not help fight off poison that you just inhaled.
5. There are always exceptions to the rule. Just use common sense.
6. When I say/type “Damage”, I am referring to an attack reducing the creatures will to fight (HP).
With that out of the way, lets start talking math and interpolation:
Enemy attack = x
If X < reflex then, the attack misses completely
If X > reflex < AC = the attack hits armor dealing "Damage” but, armor soaks some of the damage**********
If X > AC = attack hits in such a way that the armor doesn’t reduce the “Damage”.
*********Armor Soak can be calculated thusly: [(Armor base AC bonus) * 10)]. Then turn that number into a percentage. The armor will soak this percentage of the attack “Damage”.
Example: Player 1 is wearing Magic Full Plate +3 with no shield bonus and no other bonuses to AC from any other equipment. Full Plate grants a +9 at heroic tier (lvls1-10). An attack from a Goblin missed his AC but exceeds his Reflex Defense and deals 30 “Damage”. (9*10=90) then add a % to get 90%. The Player’s armor soaks 90% of the 30 damage (27) resulting in the player's HP falling 3 points.
But wait! What’s that? “Hey guy, won’t players just tackle butt their reflex?”
Fine let them. If this isn't your first time GMing then you should be building your encounters to be entertaining and challenging. Magic types will have attacks that target Will Defenses. Sneaky baddies will have the powers that target Fortitude Defenses.
Anyway, I have thought about what happens if someone happens to get a basic armor bonus of 10 or more (which can easily happen with scale mail and a heavy shield at heroic levels). A bonus of +10 negates all damage which should happen if someone is focusing on being a defender and burning feats and gold to be able to handle a pounding (hehe, pound). A bonus of +11 or more represents a creatures ability to feed off the futile attacks of her enemy. For every integer above 10, the creature gains that many Temporary HP when an attack hits reflex but not AC. (ie. +14 grants 4 temp hp)
This undoubtably will make the defender harder to kill but inversely makes the mage wearing cloth robes a high value target. Every hit above reflex and below AC will still be doing somewhere from 100% to 80% damage.
Well thats that and lastly just a heads up, I already sent this in an email so maybe we will hear about it on the show although i was 2 glasses into some whiskey. I look forward to seeing what ya'll have to say about it.
Before I can state the formulas I need to first state some ground rules
1. HP represents a creature's ability to keep fighting and not the amount of blood in their bodies.
2. AC represents a creature's equipment/natural armor only. It is the difficulty an attack must overcome IOT (in order to) affect the mental/physical state of the wearer.
3. Reflex represents a creature's …well reflex, the ability to not be where the attack is about to be, like touch AC.
4. Any power that targets AC will also be applied to Reflex. Any power that targets anything other than AC doesn’t change. An attack that relies on affecting your mind (Will Defense) either does or doesn’t, you hesitate momentarily (dazed) or you don't. An attack that only needs to make contact with something (reflex defense) won’t care about armor. An attack that affects your body's ability to function (fortitude defense) will either impede bodily function or your body will repel it. Armor will not help fight off poison that you just inhaled.
5. There are always exceptions to the rule. Just use common sense.
6. When I say/type “Damage”, I am referring to an attack reducing the creatures will to fight (HP).
With that out of the way, lets start talking math and interpolation:
Enemy attack = x
If X < reflex then, the attack misses completely
If X > reflex < AC = the attack hits armor dealing "Damage” but, armor soaks some of the damage**********
If X > AC = attack hits in such a way that the armor doesn’t reduce the “Damage”.
*********Armor Soak can be calculated thusly: [(Armor base AC bonus) * 10)]. Then turn that number into a percentage. The armor will soak this percentage of the attack “Damage”.
Example: Player 1 is wearing Magic Full Plate +3 with no shield bonus and no other bonuses to AC from any other equipment. Full Plate grants a +9 at heroic tier (lvls1-10). An attack from a Goblin missed his AC but exceeds his Reflex Defense and deals 30 “Damage”. (9*10=90) then add a % to get 90%. The Player’s armor soaks 90% of the 30 damage (27) resulting in the player's HP falling 3 points.
But wait! What’s that? “Hey guy, won’t players just tackle butt their reflex?”
Fine let them. If this isn't your first time GMing then you should be building your encounters to be entertaining and challenging. Magic types will have attacks that target Will Defenses. Sneaky baddies will have the powers that target Fortitude Defenses.
Anyway, I have thought about what happens if someone happens to get a basic armor bonus of 10 or more (which can easily happen with scale mail and a heavy shield at heroic levels). A bonus of +10 negates all damage which should happen if someone is focusing on being a defender and burning feats and gold to be able to handle a pounding (hehe, pound). A bonus of +11 or more represents a creatures ability to feed off the futile attacks of her enemy. For every integer above 10, the creature gains that many Temporary HP when an attack hits reflex but not AC. (ie. +14 grants 4 temp hp)
This undoubtably will make the defender harder to kill but inversely makes the mage wearing cloth robes a high value target. Every hit above reflex and below AC will still be doing somewhere from 100% to 80% damage.
Well thats that and lastly just a heads up, I already sent this in an email so maybe we will hear about it on the show although i was 2 glasses into some whiskey. I look forward to seeing what ya'll have to say about it.