Revised edtion armor rules

[Angaros]

Not asking for details (even if my brain and heart have a hard time coping with the wait) but I was wondering if heavy armor has a negative impact on positioning rolls in the revised edition? This struck me as plausible and a fair trade-off from armor protection as well as a suitable extension of the armor clumsy mods. So, BWHQ boys and gals, which is it?

[Kublai]

In accordance with the now-cemented BW philosophy, Speed isn't reduced by armor penalties, but rather any speed-related tests will have increased Obstacles. Thus, positioning tests using speed will incur ob penalties.

[Angaros]

Ah. That is good to hear. :) I believe I managed to get two friends sold on BW last night after a combat demo. Results: one Elven etharch with a crushed pelvis + one Dwarven prince with a slit throat. :D We did a demo with normal characters as well and it was a blast.

[Thomas Thomas]

Obviously I'm not officially connected to Burning Wheel, I just have the books. But...
It seems to be that the obvious way to do it would be do have protection based on the armor at the hit location. So say, X is hit, either it was on offer, or the attacker spent a success to hit it. Role 1D for cloth armor, 2D for Boiled Leather, 3D for Studded 4D for Banded leather or ring mail. 5D for Chain mail. And 6D for plate. Deflecting the hit is Ob 1, DN 4. A weapon's VA increases the obstacle needed.
This would allow for Grew and White weapons and armor to be internally consistent. Grew Armour lowers the obstacle while Grey weapons raise it. So grey weapons would not ignore black armor but a grey sword would probably go through studded leather like cheese cloth. Ob 2, at DN 5, with three dice. And even full plate would only stop a hit or two.

Grey attacks might automatically damage black armor. But I don't think it should ignore it. Hector puts on amor and carries a shield going into battle with Achilles. And Achilles is only human, I don't think grey power should let him punch through steel plate.

PS. I don't know what the fix for these would be, but it seems like the heavy crossbow is just a long bow with a longer load time, does it have a mechanical advantage? Maybe giving it a VA 3 is fair, although this seems REALLY nasty. But I'm thinking heavy crossbow as in a seige crossbow, something you strain to pull back with winch. maybe this is inaccurate.

The revised weapons appendix has a similar issue, the one handed axe and the sword are basically identical but the axe has shorter range. One would think that with such a heavy blade at the end it might get VA 1. (logs that bleed)

I'm not trying to be a power gamer, obviously there are role playing reasons one would choose these weapons, but people did use a widely differing array of weapons so I do think they should each have their advantages.

[luke]

Thomas,

I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised with the Rev.

-L