Devblog - Classic Fantasy - Armour

    To address armour, we must first address weapons; and to address weapons, we must first know what kind of armour they will be used against. Historically, rather than being circular, this development was cyclical. Weapons would be developed that worked well against a given armour type, and then armour would be developed that worked well against the given weapons, and then the process would repeat.

    However, in the history of weapons, there are three key weapon shapes that repeat time and again. A blade, for cutting flesh and lightly- to moderately-armoured opponents. A bludgeoning hammer, to deliver impact through even heavy armour. And a spike, for piercing through armour. While these categories are not rules, and certain weapons, such as the großen Messer (English: Big Knife) are able to reliably cut through even heavy armour, they do seem to be consistent patterns.

     So then. We have our weapons (cutting, piercing, and bludgeoning). What about armour? First, we must address how armour reacts to each weapon. Versus a piercing weapon, armour, in general, either stops it entirely, or none of it. Versus a bludgeoning weapon, armour merely reduces its damage, as the impact of the weapon is the weapons' damage. Versus a cutting weapon, armour either stops it, or reduces the depth of the cut. We then arrive at two figures for armour: Penetration Resistance, Cutting Resistance, and Bludgeoning Resistance. In turn, then.

     Penetration Resistance

     For a penetrating weapon, we have a penetration level equal to (strength level + weapon's penetration damage level + weapon's penetration level + roll). If this is equal to or higher than the armour's penetration resistance level, then we apply the weapon's penetration damage. Otherwise, no damage is applied.

     Cutting Resistance

     For a cutting weapon, we have a cutting damage level equal to (strength level + weapon's damage level + roll). We then subtract the armour's cutting resistance, and apply any positive value left as damage.

     Bludgeoning Resistance

     For a bludgeoning weapon, we have a bludgeoning damage level equal to (strength level + weapon's mass level + roll). We then reduce that by the level of the armour's bludgeoning resistance, and apply the remainder as damage.

      Tying It All Together?

     We can tie this all together, and reduce the numbers, in the upcoming devblog on classic fantasy weapons.