Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Looking through the DFRPG magic items book, I see that for armor and shields, the magic bonus for +1 block is 5 times the cost of +1 Defense Bonus, which applies to ALL Defenses...

Am I missing something?

Exploits page 47: Defense Bonus
If you have a ready shield or cloak, add its Defense Bonus (DB) to any Dodge, Parry, or Block roll against an attack that comes from your front or shield side. Defense Bonuses appear on the Shield Table (Adventurers, p. 107).

https://www.screencast.com/t/qJPo0XLuq

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Are you referring to the Deflect enchantment vs the Defending Shield enchantment?

I posed the question here, as such:

Turns out there's an earlier thread, too: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=153471

I think the key (made clear in the second link) is this: The two bonuses do stack, so it makes sense for a wealthy PC to get both.

But it definitely makes sense to get Deflect first!

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

It's a straightforward pull of the relative enchantment costs as seen in GURPS Magic for 4th edition, as was dragged forward without revision from 3rd edition's GURPS Magic (copyright 1989) for Deflect and GURPS Grimoire (copyright 1994) for Defending Shield.

I suspect the pricing of Defending Shield in Grimoire was done on a "This new, more limited bonus stacks with the already-established Deflect, so we have to price it to reflect that it's an increase for people already benefiting from Deflect" basis, but I wasn't an author, editor, or a playtester on Grimoire thirty years ago.

I would have revised the whole scheme going into 4th edition GURPS, but that obviously wasn't done.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

I wish Deflect had gone away with PD. The whole "my gloves have deflect +4 and my breastplate has Deflect +1" thing is very annoying in play, and requires random hit locations to be rolled before defenses.

A DB bonus item that gives a force field effect like a ring of protection wouldn't be as bad. Nor is adding DB to shields.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Well, there's a reason my "errata" for GURPS Magic converts it into the more-expensive Dodge bonus enhancement counterpart of Defending Weapon (Parry) and Defending Shield (Block). But that might be underpowered for DFRPG.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

I'm pretty sure you're not suggesting that someone could stack Deflect +4 from gloves with +1 from breastplate, but at any rate Exploits pg. 118 says they can't. You only get one DB.

Are you saying it's annoying to determine the DB of a specific hit location (+4 vs. hands, +1 vs. body in your example)? If so, why not just not buy armor that annoys you? BTW you can still roll random hit locations last if you want to--just apply DB retroactively. It's no different really than rolling 3 attacks and damage before rolling 3 defenses, which is also a timesaver.

(Also wow, putting Deflect +1 on just a breastplate is only $350! What a great deal.)

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Other than banning it, what prevents players from doing it?

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

If they do, what's the impact on you? They're the ones who have to deal with it.

You can still roll random hit locations only on a failed defense if you want to.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

I'm pretty sure I have to deal with it. I think you are assuming a very optimistic level of rules mastery.

So "You can buy Deflect, but it doesn't do anything"? I'm not sure how this is different from just banning it.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

You misunderstand.

GM: the peshkali tries to slice off part of your anatomy. [rolls] Thunk! 11 hits.

Bob: wait, maybe I can parry it! [rolls] 15. I fail.

GM: it's a random hit location, so [rolls] the scimitar hits your right hand. [starts to roll damage]

Bob: oh, my hand?! My right hand has an extra Deflect +4 on it, so the parry is successful after all.

GM: lucky for you. Here comes the next peshkali scimitar... [rolls]

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

IME, many players would expect the GM to catch this.

At any rate, I would qualify this as an annoying exception to the normal game mechanics.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

This line of events is flawed.

Once the roll to hit succeeds, you then roll random hit location, not after the player rolls to defend. So:

GM: the peshkali tries to slice off part of your anatomy. [rolls] Thunk! 11 hits.

GM: it's a random hit location, so [rolls] the scimitar hits your right hand.

Bob: oh, my hand?! My right hand has an extra Deflect +4 on it, so [rolls] the parry is successful.

GM: lucky for you. Here comes the next peshkali scimitar... [rolls]


EDIT:: apparently I am wrong! Basic page 400 says to roll location after the foe fails to defend.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

I understand using the per-piece pricing rule for armor with fortify and lighten enchantments. I think it doesn't fit as well for deflect. Despite RAW, I'd probably rule against it working that way, just to keep things simpler and more rational (to me anyway). I find it hard to envision how deflect is meant to work on a piecemeal basis, improving a character's dodge, parry and block, but just for attacks that would hit one particular body part? My house rule would be always pay full price for deflect, whether it is on one piece or the whole suit, and it works for the whole body.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Yeah, that was the motive behind why my Deflect rewrite (mentioned above, linked in my signature) also says "This cost is not reduced for individual pieces of armor."

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

The larger point here is that the order you roll in doesn't matter as long as you wind up with the same results as the "official" order. It's perfectly valid to do this:

GM: The peshkali attacks you! [roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll] What do you do?

Bob: I am going to parry the first two and then try to dodge the others. No retreat.

GM: There are three hits and then a crit.

Bob: [roll, roll, roll] Ouch, four hits total. I'm probably dead meat.

You won't do this every time--if the GM intends the peshkali to chop off Bob's leg in order to make subsequent hits easier, he won't do them in parallel like this. But if your goal is just to make your life easier as a GM, you can.

Re: Why does +1 Defense Bonus cost less than +1 Block?
 

Doing it this way is the first degree of annoyingness I sited. Rolling things that don't actually matter is not good.