Armor and Protection

[Azai]

Recently an idea I was playing around was removing D's from armor bonuses and instead replacing them with numbers.

So say 1D of protection would give 5 protection(Random numbers off the top of my head). And what the protection would do is automatically minus 5 from the opponent's damage roll. After which the character would then roll strength normally for the rest.

It is a basic idea, and something I was playing around with more in the ideas of a medieval or fantasy D6... But at the same time I wanted to try it out with star wars.

Any thoughts?

[Bren]

[atgxtg]

I was thinking of taking the armor dice off the damage dice, before they were rolled. For example, if a character shoots a stormtrooper, he'd subtract the 1D from his blaster's damage roll.

This would have a similar effect to a fixed number, but might be a bit simpler.

IF you tired this with scaling, the tanks would be a bit tougher.

[CRMcNeill]

I think the randomness of a #D value in the RAW does a good job reflecting the fact that no suit of armor is fool-proof; they all have weak spots or places they don't cover, so getting hit in one of those spots at random is a good indicator of a low dice roll on that extra #D value for armor.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Bren]

[atgxtg]

[Bren]

[Nico_Davout]

[ZzaphodD]

I once was trying to come up with a rule that if a weapon didnt match a certain damage criteria, the damage would be stopped with no dice rolled at all.

For example, a Bounty Hunter armour might automatically stop attacks up to damage 4D. A Blast Vest 3D, and so on. If the damage is over the threshhold the damage is resolved as normal.

This was to give low STR characters wearing heavy armour a break as the rules favoured hight STR characters so much. For example, a 2D STR character with bounty hunter (ie heavy armour). armour rolls 3D to resist, while a big unarmoured thug rolls 4D. However I look at it, this seems wrong.

Never came up with a streamlined set of rules though.
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My Biggest Beard Retard award goes to: The Admiral of course..

[Bren]

[garhkal]

On the scale thing, i do that as is.
EG enemy cap ship is shooting pc freighter. BY the rules the pc's would add 6d to their dodge roll. I give them the choice of doing that OR going with the enemy's to hit being 6d less. This way if that cap ship is also shooting them with SF scale weaponry, they have only 1 dodge roll to worry about.

Same applies to damages. EG walker (5d+1 lets say) shoots at a fighter that just whizzed past. The walker can choose to go with just rolling 3d+1 against the (lets say) 4d hull of the fighter, OR can do the normal 5d+1 against the hull + scale.

So i can see having it where armor just takes a flat D for D off damage, leaving what's left to go against strength.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Azai]

Ah, I forgot to say the advantage. As I said, I was actually designing this more for a medieval, fantasy setting and I was trying to work out different kind of armor. Like Steel Platemail, opposed to Iron Platemail, to just straight plate armor, scale, ring, ect, ect

With just adding values (5, 10, 12) what have you, it is just an easier way for me to know how good a certain armor is and set a standard. Especially if I throw in three different damage types. (Physical, Blunt, Piece) Or something like that.

Then I started to look at it from a star wars standpoint, and thus lead me to post.

I like the idea of a threshold of protection, with what you are saying Bren. It is easier to work with certain numbers that I am familiar with. (Like I know how 2D of physical protection works. I don't know how -5 works) Explain the reduction of damage points for me again, if you could. Say if it didn't miss, it'd just minus a set number from the roll? Or...?

[atgxtg]

[Bren]

[Bren]