Shattered Kingdoms

I like the weapon subtypes and diversification a lot.

I am very much against armor subtypes though. I think it's trying to add an element of realism to the game and complexity that the game just doesn't need. The only thing I would consider changing is making some armors weak against blunt objects and some weak against slashing or piercing just so people have a reason to spec in other things. These same armors maybe being stronger against those weapons in their counterparts.

It's really just a headache I don't feel we need though. The game currently has a pretty good amount of armor. There's not so much that everyone is running around in adamantite and theres not so little that only one person has it and is super uber. I think we're at a nice median. The last thing I want to see is an excuse to add more suits of armor so everyone can have a full suit of their armor subtype they like and old suits becoming useless because its not the best.

This is one of those things where I feel like if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Booyah.

Create a matrix of material type vs. armor style.



While the combined protection types are very important, from a theoretical viewpoint the real kicker is the encumberance variable. I would suggest that dexterity, class armor restrictions, and encumberance all factor into what the max encumberance value a given character can use without penalty. Classes should not be overly penalized for armors within their class, but dexterity is dexterity, and freedom of movement is neccessary for battle.

I would propose that the encumberance values be assigned as thus:


-For examble, a dwarf mercenary, because of his class, suffers little or no penalties no matter which armor he chooses, because he is a heavy armor class. (I might suggest that if the encumberance of an item exceeds his dexterity by more than 7 (arbitrary number) that he suffer a 1pt loss to skills)
-An elf swashbuckler suffers no penalties for wearing any light/light combination because of class, but due to his high dexterity, may venture into, perhaps, mithril platemail, or adamantite chainmail, based on 3 pts of DEX for every encumberance point he wishes to overcome.
-Likewise, a sprite sorceror would always be comfortable in a cloth/cloth combo, but he might be able to manage a light material/cloth armor set, like a leather vest, or even, since sprites have such a high DEX, a brass-studded suede armor.

Suggesting at this point, however, that while a character may choose an armor heavier than what is prescribed by his class, that it is established a total for every point of encumberance that character wears that is over his class's maximum (42, for a sorceror -- 6 encumberance x 7 wear slots, not including about body). If this number exceeds half of that character's constitution that character will start to recieve skill penalties.

It would be my view that this would open up a lot of armors to different race/class combinations (thus changing the way they may be played), empower non-sleep maledictions, and make things a little more interesting, at least. Run the numbers, see what you think.

When I read XXX studs it made me think of Judas Priest and my mind then wandered off to the Gimp in Pulp Fiction.

That's sounds too freakin complicated :/

Bah, wussy.

Encumberance and related penalties also opens the doors for things like dodge/parry bonuses, future monk skills or bonuses to current monk skills, as well as just a lot more variation within what is a stagnant armor system.

Also, building would be quite easy -- you just plug in two variables -- material and style -- and be done with it. The only difficult thing would be calculating deterioration of items that have a durability modified by certain armor types during combat...