Armour damage in R&C?

[Evil Dr Ganymede]

If you fail armour rolls in ranged combat, can your armour still fall apart? As it stands, it seems quite possible for a single arrow strike to destroy all the armour in a location if it's poor armour - this seems rather unlikely to me.

[Bobus X]

It seems like it would depend a lot on the individual weapon. An arrow, probably not, but a thrown axe or spear I could see doing it...of course, if its poor quality, maybe a little ding will make it fall right off :? . I would make a call based on the weapon used myself, I also think that an arrow should not damage even poor quality armor in a single hit.

[donbaloo]

As it stands, your interpretation is correct EDG. If it goes against your sense of realism, just overrule it. Seems like a fair trade-off for such a potent weapon. I personally think that arrows in general would have a higher VA, but then they'd just be too destructive for my game so I'm not touching it.

[Angaros]

It does seem unrealistic -- a fist can make a whole articulated plate breastplate fall apart if the player is unlucky enough with the dice. But ask yourself -- isn't it at least theoretically possible that a piece of armor was so badly made that a gust of wind could have made it fall apart? The armor might even have looked alright to the casual observer, or even a fairly experienced soldier. But as you look at it after the fight you see that all the leather straps were moldy and more or less disintegrated from sweat, moist, scorching sun and freezing cold without having been cared for the least. I'd say it's at least possible, even if it's not plausible. Possible yes, plausible no. After all it's only a 1/1296 chance that it happens to a piece of chainmail... a 1/46656 chance of it happening to that breatplate. Not exactly common situations.

[Evil Dr Ganymede]

As it stands, your interpretation is correct EDG. If it goes against your sense of realism, just overrule it. Seems like a fair trade-off for such a potent weapon. I personally think that arrows in general would have a higher VA, but then they'd just be too destructive for my game so I'm not touching it.

Yeah, I mean, a single arrow? No way could that make armour fall apart.
A flamethrower? Sure, that could destroy armour.

And no, I don't really think that armour could be made SO bad that it would fall apart at the slightest. It'd be pretty obvious that it was so bad.

[stormsweeper]

And no, I don't really think that armour could be made SO bad that it would fall apart at the slightest. It'd be pretty obvious that it was so bad.

Well, it is called poor quality for a reason.

[Kublai]

I bet Don Quixote's armor was poor quality, but BOY did it make for a great story! You can't ignore story and focus completely on math. It's a mistake I warns ye! If a player chose poor quality armor despite all the math, I'd heap artha on him everytime it completely came apart after a child hit him with a stick! HEAPS, I tells ya! I'd bet we'd all have a good laugh, too!

[Angaros]

Why assume that the failure is all due to that one hit? It might break at that time but it has probably suffered a lot of damage (that didn't affect it's protective ability) before this. Either that or it's as shitty as it can get. Yeah it'd be obvious that its a crappy design, defective materials and made by a crappy wannabe armourer. But it's cheap. Real cheap. Which is why it's used. And there's always the chance that it's even shittier than you thought. You got ripped off.

There are cars, bookcases and even houses that seemingly work well (even though they're cheap POS'es) for years maybe needing a repair or two but then one day --- WHAM! It falls apart mercilessly and ceases to function.

That all dice are lost doesn't mean that the armor has evaporated it just means that it doesn't protect the wearer any longer. It's just a decoration from now on. That an arrow can do this is unlikely, I agree with you, but it's not impossible so why disallow it? It's a piece of metal on a stick hitting you at a great speed. There are lots of potentially fragile pieces holding armor together. Old leather straps aren't especially tough unless they've been treated well. And those in poor quality armor probably hasn't.

[Yagathai]

Or how about the arrow penetrates the armor, and while it may or may not actually injure you, you've still got a sharp barbed arrowhead punching you in the chest every time the armor gets hit. It may not "destroy" the armor, but it certainly makes it difficult to use, or gain benefit from.

Abstract thinking, man. Open your mind. Clear your head. Positive vibes!

[Wuxing]

Yeah, I mean, a single arrow? No way could that make armour fall apart.
A flamethrower? Sure, that could destroy armour.

And no, I don't really think that armour could be made SO bad that it would fall apart at the slightest. It'd be pretty obvious that it was so bad.

If you're actually running a game you are certainly free to run it however you'd like. However on the issue of "No way..." I have to toss one thought. I've seen Michael Jordan play basketball. I've seen straws punched into trees. I've seen a skinny 5 foot kid kick the snot out of a 6 foot musclebound man. Toss out all the stats you want. I've never seen a great many things in this world. But you won't here me saying there is no way. :D

[Bobus X]

I bet Don Quixote's armor was poor quality, but BOY did it make for a great story! You can't ignore story and focus completely on math. It's a mistake I warns ye! If a player chose poor quality armor despite all the math, I'd heap artha on him everytime it completely came apart after a child hit him with a stick! HEAPS, I tells ya! I'd bet we'd all have a good laugh, too!

Well, his armor was probably more of a character effect than a viable piece of equipment. Poor quality is a Chrysler Sebring, not a car that falls apart when you turn the key in the ignition IMHO.

[Kublai]

Poor quality is a Chrysler Sebring...

Dude! Are you making fun of my car??? :oops:

[Bobus X]

Poor quality is a Chrysler Sebring...

Dude! Are you making fun of my car??? :oops:

Hey, they are great cars when they work, but they break all the time (at least the late 90s ones did). They had the most man/hours of repair work for the 1st 50,000 miles in the US. I did hear that they were a dream when not in the shop though.... :P