Ye Olde Inn

Count Mohawk wrote:If you cap a normal set of 2 dice to 8 (or, more generally, you can only roll a maximum of 4 per red die), you end up with an average movement roll of 6, while also avoiding a pluponderance of very low rolls as would happen in the straight subtraction method. I think I'll be changing my armory to reflect this way of thinking.

I was simply thinking that if you rolled 12, you could still only move as far as the cap allows but using 2 x 1D4's would work and it still gives a bell curve.

But wouldn't you end up with an average roll of 4, not 6?

cynthialee wrote:Otherwise you are going to often fail to catch up to the battles thus defeating the reason for the armor in the first place.

Nah, that's the whole point of the penalty. Sure, it's negated if they wait but when groups are split, they're running the risk of isolation and backup taking longer to arrive than they usually would or allowing the opportunity for the greedy to risk searching but you're tougher to hit.

Redav wrote:I was simply thinking that if you rolled 12, you could still only move as far as the cap allows but using 2 x 1D4's would work and it still gives a bell curve.

But wouldn't you end up with an average roll of 4, not 6?

The average roll for 2d4 is 5, not 4, although this is still lower than 6. Also, capping each individual die rather than the total roll results in a slightly lower average (it's 6.4 for a total-roll cap, which is actually not that much slower than unencumbered movement). If you roll 6-3, for example, you move 7 with each die capped to 4, but 8 if you use the total cap of 8.

cynthialee wrote:

Count Mohawk wrote:If only someone would invent a d4 that actually rolls!

Your wish is granted. They have D4's in the Crystal Dice set's.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... jsp5na3c_b

Haha... I know what I did wrong when I worked out 4, okay, yes, 5

What about this as an alternative to a movement penalty?

Plate armour Plate armour allows you to roll four combat dice in defence, BUT your maximum Body points are reduced by one whilst wearing plate armour. Cost 850 gold coins May not be used by Wizard. ARMOUR

Would this penalty see Plate armour used more often? Statistically is it better to have the extra BP or the extra combat die?

I reckon people would then ask why doesn't increase the number of BP's?

It would be better to have an extra body point. It statistically takes two rolls for a monster to roll a hit whereas it would take three rolls for a hero to roll a shield.

No it is dependend on how often you actually use it.

If you use it 3 times, this penalty is already paid of. If you use it another 3 times, you already have one BP extra compared to not using it.

Dependend on your Quest, it could therefore pay of very quick or if you encounter only single Monsters per room, then not at all.

Face it:
The extra exhaustive weight everywhere doesn't show in Combat or other swift but short actions, but it will show after a day's march. If you don't want to introduce stamina counters you will have no way of representing the exhaustive effect of plate armor.
From mechanic point of view, i like the penalty mechanism itself to make the Heroes thinking twice before using it. I don't like the implementation. It is such a strong penalty that no Hero I know ever used the plate armor.

The trick is now to find a penalty that makes the hero think twice, three times, four times, and he will still be unsure if he is for or against buying the plate armor. In best case here in the forum 50% is for using it and 50% is against using it because of the penalty.
Plus, even better it would be if it somehow shows the exhaustive effects it has without hindering swift actions like a sprint to help your comrade.

What about having a movement penalty that applies in general (2d6, but a maximum of 7 or 8 or 9); but can be ignored 2 times per Quest ? This would show the heavy duty of carrying it all the day, but also show that short-time action is possible if it is touch and go.

I went a route similar to Slev's. I simplified the use of my heavy attribute, the glossary reading:
Heavy: [attribute] You must subtract 3 from your Move roll result for each [i]heavy item.[/i]
This makes additive and superordinate special rules easier to put into words.
There are not many heavy items for now, in fact only Warplate (Plate Armour) for the first campaign, later maybe a Warhammer and a Towershield or something.

I like the sacrifice a body point to reflect the loss of stamina in the day.

Perhaps give those weapons designed to defeat plate armor in real life a bonus dice to attack said armor?

Count Mohawk wrote:The average roll for 2d4 is 5, not 4, although this is still lower than 6. Also, capping each individual die rather than the total roll results in a slightly lower average (it's 6.4 for a total-roll cap, which is actually not that much slower than unencumbered movement). If you roll 6-3, for example, you move 7 with each die capped to 4, but 8 if you use the total cap of 8.

I like that. Keeps the player slow without increasing the chance of them being super slow a lot, which would happen with 2D4.

3D4-2 with a 1 minimum would give a 1-10 movement with allot of 1-3 square moves.