The Immovable Foundation-Stone on which TFT Characters are Built

[David Bofinger]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

First, a strong argument can be made that for heroes, DX is more useful than ST, up to a certain point. 2 additional points of ST will allow you to take 2 additional points of damage - once. 2 additional points of DX will allow you to take leather armor, which allows you to take 2 additional points of damage in every attack.

Of course, ST does govern the size weapon you can use. But I'd have a hard time agreeing that 2 additional points of damage done offsets the advantage of wearing leather armor.

In a duel it absolutely does. Consider a duel between

• 13-11-8 bastard sword, small shield, no armour: damage 2+1, hits stopped 0+1: against opponent below, attacks with DX 11 and does 2-2, MA 10.
• 11-13-8 short sword, small shield, leather armour: damage 2-1, hits stopped 3: against opponent above attacks with DX 11 and does 2-2, MA 8.

The guy with the extra ST is just better than the one with the extra DX: more hit points, more MA. And the slope of damage versus ST is actually a bit more than 1 so the example is arguably generous.

One reason armour is attractive is that most fights in an RPG involve the heroes winning with tolerable damage. Having armour tends to slow the fight down and minimise the chance it will suddenly get out of hand in a freak event, like a PC death. Also, it's a way to use attributes after the benefits of ST and adj DX have plateaued.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Jim Kane

The Immovable Foundation-Stone of TFT

...skipped about 8000 words

Too long; didn't read.