Armour / Encumbrance alternative?

[hcobb]

Who are these characters that can blow 1k XP on a single attribute point but can't afford any magic items? Did they fall off the same Medieval European potato, tobacco, and corn wagon as the wizards who think that Mana is a worthwhile use of their XPs?

[Shostak]

They are characters in campaigns run by GMs who don't stick a Ye Olde Magycke Shoppe in every town with oodles of magic items for sale at ITL's suggested retail price.

[hcobb]

Why is it always Fine Plate at $5k and not a well balanced Broadsword for $800? The same figure makes both types of gear.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Why is it always Fine Plate at $5k and not a well balanced Broadsword for $800? The same figure makes both types of gear.

Why are you hijacking your own thread, and what are you even talking about?

Why do you seem to gravitate so quickly to "it's always" statements that other players don't even know what you mean?

I don't remember a TFT PC in a campaign I was playing in ever buying fine plate. A few NPC allies did. Fine weapons were much more popular.

[larsdangly]

We might have to create two sub forums, one for people who play TFT for the items and one for those who play it for the characters!

Here is my entry for a PC who has wisely spent his or her money on protection at Ye Olde Magic Shoppe:

Stats and talents: mostly irrelevant, but for the record:
ST 12 DX16 (10) IQ 10
Toughness 1, Sword, Shield, Shield Expertise

Equipment (!!!)
+5 Fine Plate, +5 Tower Shield, Ring of Diamond Flesh, Ring of Spell Shield, Ring of Reverse Missiles (all self powered, natch)

21 points of protection, -1 for foe's attack rolls, functional immunity to all mundane and magical missiles

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Hence the best starting character is ST 6, DX 11, IQ 15
Staff IV, two weapons double parry.
That's four points of armor plus a four dice defense plus an armor piecing attack.

Originally Posted by Shostak

Comments like this assume that TFT is all about combat. The above character won't be all that useful in a campaign which rewards characters with more non-martial abilities. And in a combat heavy game, he won't live through his first encounter with a crossbow bolt.

Or a hit from the rear (no armour). Plus the character will be wobbling on -3 DX after just three attacks.

[MikMod]

On the original topic, I think I might have to reconsider lower AdjDX as more 'normal' and the high DEX of player characters as a reflection of their advanced/abnormal/heroic 'skill' level.

In other words, I need to accept that the city guard will be on 7-10 AdjDX to hit in their chainmail outfits and that's perfectly okay.

I would be interested to know if that's how other GMs do it - city guard in chain with low AdjDX, or do you boost their DX a bit, or do you just put them in cloth armour?

[larsdangly]

I think that is right. The choice whether or not to wear substantial armor is impactful whether you are a new or experienced PC, and you can't just walk away from it because combat in the game is very dangerous and good armor really makes a difference to your survivability. I think it means that front line fighters (people who will spend a lot of time engaged with and receiving attacks from foes) can't afford the luxury of maintaining adjDX above 12 or 13, because the marginal benefits of higher chance to hit don't outweigh the risk of taking a damaging wound. Most of the arguments in favor of getting even higher in adjDX are thinking of the very narrow case of someone who's problems will be solved if they just deliver a single attack to a single foe.

[larsdangly]

As for how I treat this, inexperienced rabble (Beadles, etc.) are in no armor or perhaps cloth or leather and have at most 30 stat points. So, a javelin, club, or spear as weapons, and adjDX of anywhere from 8 to 11 or 12. Combatants wearing mail or various forms of plate armor (household knights, dragoons, etc.) will generally have 32-35 stat points, base DX of 13-15 and adjDX of 8-12

[Skarg]

It's a bit different now that so few characters get to be very high attribute totals.

Our general experience and equipment theory tended to be that it was usually imprudent for a fighter to take armor that would lower their adjDX to 9 or below, and adjDX 10 or 11 weren't great either.

Reducing MA to 6 was also a serious issue that most fighters didn't want to do, unless they were in a cadre where most/all of them would be at MA 6.

Especially for skilled shock fighters like most of our adventuring parties, the way most people managed to stay alive involved using teamwork/tactics/superiority/magic/etc to take out foes before they got much chance to attack you. That means both doing decent damage and having good adjDX, so you strike first, usually hit, and do enough damage to take foes out before they attack. Having adjDX 9 or less undermines that and makes you a low-contributing obstacle on the field. adjDX 10 an 11 are pretty unreliable, too.

Which means people would only take armor that wouldn't reduce their adjDX below about 10-12. And even many quite experienced people chose to keep quite a high DX.

"City guard" regulars would tend to be about 32 points, and no armor, cloth or leather. With some exceptions. Also armor might change per situation. If you want your guards to be able to chase people, giving them heavy armor that drops their MA to 6 is going to undermine that. But to stop a mob, putting a bunch of them in chainmail to block a street and intimidate may work well.