On abstract layer I would make armour have two threshold values and percentage reduction for each damage type. Damage below first threshold would be nulled. Remaining damage below the second threshold would be reduced accordingly to the damage reduction and possibly transformed into different damage type (if weapons deal single type of damage it could transform for example slashing damage into blunt force trauma, if each weapon dealt different amounts of different damage types this would be unnecessary). Damage above the second threshold would bypass the armour and result in it being severely damaged (reflecting armour getting physically pierced or otherwise defeated). Armour would also have base chance of being bypassed (accounting for lack of coverage in some places) further modified by the type of weapon, skill of the attacker and other factors.
Hits could be critical (delivering crippling, potentially fatal damage to various body parts and organs) or non critical (cuts, flesh wounds and bruises).
Armour would hinder dodging and movement according to its weight and type.
Melee combat would revolve around techniques, counter-techniques, throwing enemy off balance, fatiguing him or striking a lucky crit - no whittling HPs down nonsense.
mondblut said:
Yeesh said:
But I don't think anyone can make a good case for bulky armor somehow making you harder to HIT, instead of harder to damage.
It does not make you "harder to hit". It reduces a statistical probability you'll suffer "damage" in a given period of time. Which is just how real armor works, statistically.
I have always interpreted it as such, but the problem is that dodges don't differentiate how much damage you're dodging, while absorbing it does. DnD-style AC works like dodging, not absorption in this aspect, which leads to all sorts of problems - as evidenced by house rules like those saying that your armour won't protect you from ceiling collapsing on you, even if your AC might seem to make it not only possible, but expected outcome.
Proper absorbtion might completely protect you from rock fired from a sling, but not from a collapsing tree. This can be used to help balance the lightly armoured agile characters like monks against historically-owning armoured juggernauts - they may not feel as safe as a knight when someone fires a weak weapon at them, but they will dodge if something tries to hit them with a fucking tree. In typical fantasy you often fight against non-humans of various shapes and sizes (or you might be a non-humanoid yourself).
