Experiment- Endurance Points

[Ravian]

So I've been doing some homebrew modifications with the Pendragon system, particularly in those cases wherein armor is considered less essential, though certainly still useful.

Ideas have often been tossed around of ways by which this could be implemented. Most notably using dexterity as a sort of shield armor value. But while reading through The One Ring rpg (Cubicle Seven's LotR system) another idea occurred to me of another possible alternate system, as I worry that the "DEX as shield value" idea may make DEX potentially too valuable, since it might actually be preferable for more skilled warriors to wear no armor at all, which while suitable for some genres, can still strain credulity if you're still trying to maintain some realism.

So an alternate system is proposed. Rather than a shield bonus, DEX and CON are combined and averaged out to create a derived statistic of "Endurance Points". (Note that I'm still tinkering with that math, and I suspect it may currently be too low). In combat, a partial success means that Endurance points are deducted before Hit Points are, representing the character still being able to dodge and parry to a limited extent to avoid the worst of a blow. On a miss, endurance points are ignored completely and all damage goes directly to hit points. Notably, endurance points recover much more quickly compared to hit points, usually refilling completely assuming the character has had at least an hour or so of rest.

 

Of course, armor being as heavy as it is, it acts as a significant degree of strain on one's endurance. Armor reduces one's total endurance (not totally sure on numbers yet, but likely enough that most heavily armored knights likely won't have many if any endurance points available to them (in order to avoid messing with the expectations of core combat too much.))

 

So basically the philosophy as I understand it ought to be that armor will be very preferable in most cases, but fighting with lighter armor can be at least something of a viable strategy if you've got the skill and endurance to back it up, though ideally some sort of armor, even light leather suits that won't reduce your endurance too much would be preferable to nothing at all.

 

Obviously this is an experiment in its early stages and the details need to be sorted out, but I'm looking for feedback on whether it could be viable and how those numbers ought to be set to promote the best balance to at least allow a lighter armor build to be useful even for those that could afford heavier stuff.

[Cornelius]

So in essence you make lighter armor more interesting and it reduces the need for heavier armor.  what would then be the reason for a knight to actually wear heavy chainmail or even plate?

In a normal KAP game I would not want this. It is after all the game where you have the knight in shining armor.

Usually I would expect the reduction of armor be offset by some other gain than endurance in a combat. 

[Ravian]

6 hours ago, Cornelius said:

So in essence you make lighter armor more interesting and it reduces the need for heavier armor.  what would then be the reason for a knight to actually wear heavy chainmail or even plate?

In a normal KAP game I would not want this. It is after all the game where you have the knight in shining armor.

Usually I would expect the reduction of armor be offset by some other gain than endurance in a combat. 

I wouldn't likely use this in base pendragon, as you're right knights in shining armor are a big consideration. I've been pondering some various alternate settings where lighter armor might not be such a crazy idea. (Right now I'm looking at Game of Thrones for instance, where heavy armor is still generally going to win out, but there are lighter armored foes that can present at least some difficulty to even a knight, even if they still will likely win out eventually. (Water Dancers and the like)).

Mainly I'm thinking this as more of a consolation prize for lighter fighters to keep heavy fighters a little cautious that they won't just mow through them like grass. They'll still probably win, since armor will trump Endurance in most cases, but the foes will still probably be able to survive an extra hit or two, during which they might get that lucky crit in.