Post originally by Roy Morgan at 2003-10-12 20:14:43
Converted from Phorums BB System

Armor will actually deflect some blows, though it mostly does reduce damage as you said. I've been experimenting with a system using the Defense modifiers from The Wheel of Time RPG and some altered armor statistics that goes like this. Give fighters armor attunement (wear armor and keep your defensive bonus), let everyone else have half of their defensive bonus when wearing armor, and use the altered statistics I mentioned earlier.

How is the armor altered? Very easily. Split the armor bonus down the middle, putting the removed part into Damage Reduction. Here's some altered armor examples:

Breastplate:
Armor Bonus: +3
Damage reduction: -2

Leather:
Armor Bonus: +1
Damage Reduction: -1

Banded Mail:
Armor Bonus: +3
Damage Reduction: -3

Some of these won't come out even when divided. For softer armors, put the remainder into Damage Reduction. For harder, put it into Armor Bonus. Also, I'm using the Hit Point system, so the Damage Reduction affects all damage, unlike Star Wars armor which only stops Wounds and not Vitality damage. The system seems to work well, though I haven't had many chances to playtest it. This was the simple version of the system. If anyone thinks this has merit and wants more details, let me know.