An Inquiry into Armor

The following are some thought on how armor is modeled in game systems that I like.  Note these are not the definitive discussions on these systems nor armor, but they are in my thoughts as I work on Roguish.

Armor seems to me to default to being either (in car parlance) a bumper or a shock absorber.

In D&D this system is shown as Armor Class, and the better (whether ascending or descending) your armor class, the harder you are to hit.  In Dungeons and Dragons armor is more of a bumper in that wearing it makes it hard for damage to be inflicted on you.  It adds to your defense keeping the vitals protected.  In this sense it acts like a car's bumper.  If you strike a bumper on a car the hope is it will stop any additional damage from hitting the rest of the car.  It stands out as a defense to the body of the car and if damaged can be replaced much easier (and cheaper) than body damage to the vehicle.  In my mind this is how I equate armor in D&D.  It stands out to make your body harder to hit. If damage gets past the armor, its difficult (and expensive) to repair.

Combat in D&D then is a matter of increasing armor class to improve your defense and lower the percentages for you being hit.  In car parlance this would be like adding a brush guard or roll bar or bug shield or other bits and bobs to protects the body and deflect as much as possible body or engine damage.

The shock absorber system I equate with Melee/Wizard/ TFT.  In this system when hit the armor absorbs some of the damage from the hit, potentially all of it.  Like shocks it absorbs the impact imparting (hopefully) the least amount of damage to the rest of the car. The damage removed is fixed by armor type worn.  So Leather always stops 2 points of damage when you are hit, while plate always stops 5 points of damage whenever you are hit. In TFT the armor worn by the player actually interferes with your ability to execute dexterous abilities.   Kind of the way jacking up a vehicle and adding a ton of suspension will decrease the nimbleness of a vehicle.  Like jacking up a Porsche for off-road travel.  You lose the sportiness and nimble road handling ability but now you could explore the great outdoors.

I'll toss a 3rd example in with the new Advanced Fighting Fantasy.  In combat you and your opponent both roll and the lowest total suffers damage. Yes every time you fight, someone is going to get hurt. Originally armor was assumed and had no material effect.  In the new edition you roll to determine how much damage was stopped.  Each armor has a short range (like weapons in the system) and you roll ad6 to see how much damage was stopped.  So it's a modified shock absorber I guess.  You never know how much damage will be stopped nor how much will be done.  I like this a lot, but I get the feeling not a lot of people do-to random for some.

Back to the car example then and how it applies to Roguish.  You see a car has bumpers, and it has shocks, not just one or the other.  Yes certain armors make it more difficult to get through and cause damage, but blows still land and opponents can still be stunned or suffering crushing damage when hit even if the armor wards off part of the blow.  In a sense both systems are right.  Sure each has the adherents and any fan can make a argument for why there's is right.

With Roguish I am trying to seek a simple middle ground of sorts and here is what I see:
1) Melee combat is an opposed test (like in AFF)
2) The defender adds his armor rating to his dice roll (Armor as bumper)
3) If hit, the defender takes the damage from the attack OR...
4) The player sacrifices points of his Armor Rating to absorb the damage (shock absorber)
5) Armor is damaged through absorbing damage permanently and can only be increased again through repair or replacement.
6) This gives magical armor another potential trick rather than simply making you harder to hit.
7) This gives the player (Referee)  the ability to destroy shields and armor through combat, avoid damage, and makes a blacksmith or armorer a valuable asset when adventuring.

In some ways it could be seen as a bit like the dreaded AR/SDC system from Palladium.  Except I don't think Roguish is nearly as convoluted or time consuming to figure out.  It allows players a sense of choice for their character and a way to stave of damage while sacrificing protection. It changes the value proposition for armor in the game buy making it something sacrificed like spell casting for wizards.