Variable armor point values - yay or nay?

[AikiGhost]

I do not really see the 'need' for them, it does not add realism (and my games strive for realism and atmosphere, i find realism aids in immersion) so even though i run low combat games, the extra time spent on this rule just feels like a waste of effort

As I said this rule actually takes less time rather than more to run and to write stuff up for (No APs/Hps per location). Also "realism" (whatever that means) is kind of an odd goal for an RPG.

[tedopon]

It's been vetoed out of the mix every time I've asked if we should include it. It's adding another level of complexity for little real benefit.

NAY

[Chaot]

The great armor divide of '11.

If I ever get around to running BRP DarkSun, I'm likely to use hit locations because piecemeal armor for that setting is too good to pass up.

There are just two things I want to address though. The first is the added steps and the second is a question about 'realism.'

I don't understand why people are saying that using variable armor is an additional step. Are you combining hit locations and variable armor together in your rules sets? If so I agree, that would be too much. But when you use the variable armor and major wounds you are supposed to drop the AP and hit locations.

Steps:

1. Attack/Parry

2. Roll Damage

3. Roll Hit Location

Steps:

1. Attack/Parry

2. Roll Damage

3. Roll Armor

There are other tiny bits in there, like looking at a chart to check which limb you hit and tracking individual body sections as well as checking to make sure that the damage done was under half of the character's hit points and that the current damage that the character has sustained is less than half of the character's hit points.

Realism, when it comes to rpgs, at least in my mind, depends on what a mechanic is designed to model and how well the mechanic models said system. Both hit locations and random armor are, in my mind, realistic. The question comes down to what they are modeling. Hit locations and a fixed AP provide a sort of combat/injury map that can be very handy in the narrative of a fight. Variable armor and major wounds models the vagaries of combat and can also be very handy in the narrative of a fight. Both are set up to define how much damage a person takes in melee and when looking at it at a very broad base, their outcomes are actually very similar. Both are viable options and are really just a difference in taste.

[Aini]

I have always been tempted to do a BRP conversion of Dark Sun, such a wonderful setting. And if Hit Locations and Random Armour systems are intended to be mutually exclusive to one another i do not recall reading such, but i *Always* use Hit Locations in my games for so many years... just not using them would feel wrong

Out of curiosity would Dark Sun conversion even be publishable even for free? i know they had a 3E Dark Sun website for D&D, but that was before WoTC did a 4E Darksun themselves, and they are pretty hawkish on their IP's generally.

[Chaot]

The Burnt World of Athas did have some sort of relationship with WoTC when they did the conversion but I don't think you'd have a problem if you put up a pdf of your DarkSun conversion. chromebob had a conversion to RQ out there, so did Neville White. (or Merak Gren I don't remember exactly. I think it was one of those two.)

DarkSun and BRP go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

[Mankcam]

I like both systems, the Variable AP/ Major Wound system and the Static AP/Hit Locations system. My players prefer the later, especially for a ancient/medieval settings, and I guess we like RuneQuest so the later works best for us. I think if I was doing a Modern or Near Future/Cyberpunk setting I might prefer the former, just for the sake of a more fluid combat flavour as opposed to a crunchy tactile one.

Either system works as long as they are mutually exclusive. It's just down to taste.