Plate Armour

[whitebeard]

I like the rule that the dwarf can wear plate without penalty. The barbarian can use a great sword (diagonal 4 dice). And the elf can switch weapons sword and shield / bow at no penalty.

To speed up the game, you can allow the hero with plate armor to roll 2 dice IF they take no action AND there are no enemies on the board (or an active trap requiring you to race somewhere). Tactically, this is roughly equivalent.

[wallydubbs]

I'm just curious, but how often does Plate Armor get bought? I've only ever seen it bought once by the Female Elf to wear with Elven Boots.
Plate Armor is found in the Frozen Horror and it seems to help, but is generally worn by the hero with the Snowshoes of Speed so he can keep pace with everyone else.
How often has everyone else seen it bought?

[Anderas]

Depends. If you're playing like you can attack with battle axe and then defend with the shield, you can do the same with the plate armor.

Attack and move with Battle Axe, Helmet and otherwise naked. Then change equipment, defend with Helmet, Shield and Plate armor.

NO! I wouldn't want to play with people doing that. Full stop.

The original rule are allowing it, though.

[wallydubbs]

Actually, the original rules don't quite specify and it seems like a grey area.
I wouldn't allow it either. In fact, for my group, it costs a hero an action to switch out weapons.

[Anderas]

Oh, I allow it even before attacking without action penalty. "I attack with the Crossbow" or "I attack with the battle axe" are equally allowed if the hero has both cards.

But afterwards, they have to face the matching Defense.

And until now I had no one trying it with the plate arm or.

[lestodante]

I will allow to switch weapons as a fast action but to dress and undress an armor..... no!

[Kurgan]

Other things I've done, that may help:

- Easier access to potions - upgraded Wizard starts with 2 random draws from Potion Deck at the start of each Quest, upgraded Elf gets one draw. Searching a room with an Alchemists's Bench (and no Quest Treasure) triggers a random draw from this deck as well. Of course there are Potions like "Speed" and "Dexterity" in there which give extra movement.

- Upgraded Wizard and Elf benefit from spells that grant extra 1-2 squares of movement for Spells like Swift Wind, Veil of Mist and Pass Through Rock (applies when these Heroes use the equivalent Spell Scrolls also).

When it comes to two handed weapons I would require an action to switch. The same with "carrying" the armor vs. wearing it.

Now there's a good question: Let's say the Wizard finds a suit of Plate, obviously he can't wear it... does his merely carrying it (to give to another Hero) force him to roll only 1 die? The Armory seems to treat this as the weight being the issue (as opposed to some kind of restrictive nature of the armor when worn).

[Anderas]

Cynthia used to say that she had seen men doing artistic stuff in plate armor. Why not, if it would hinder movement too strongly, it would certainly not be useful in the fight.

[Jalapenotrellis]

I play like Anderas with my group, which is full of gamers. If you attack with a weapon suit / weapon, then you defend with it. You have to suffer the benefits and drawbacks for one complete round (ending with Zargon). If you pass an item, it must be done on your turn.

Also, I don't think the plate armor weighs a lot, it just impedes movement because you're less agile with it. So someone could carry items easier than wear them or dress with them. That said, my group doesn't switch out armor yet even though the rules seem to allow it, and everyone already bought a crossbow. So the only items to swap are really potions.

[Kurgan]

Just wanted to clarify I know realistically anyone can wear plate armor. Real Knights could run around and even do cartwheels in well made armor, it's a myth that they had to be lowered onto their big horses on cranes (like in some old movies and books mocking the middle ages). In the same way, Longswords and crossbows are treated in this game like one handed weapons when they really required two. And we all know from LOTR (the inspiration for all of these fantasy games), that Wizards can use swords. These are game balancing mechanics, in the end.

With my Paladin character I interpreted it more like the Plate armor is restrictive which accounts for the halved movement, but because he is trained with it, he isn't as hampered by it (but still suffers some movement loss). That's my interpretation of it. If it's a weight thing, I guess he's just that much more buff than the others (but then shouldn't the barbarian have the least trouble?). Now its pretty clear that Borin's Armor is defined as being ultra-light (at least in the NA version) so the whole thing seems to be about weight as far as the game designers were concerned.

This reminds me of Legacy of Sorasil. I have never actually played the PC game, but from what I read in the manual, it sounds like every character can use everything, but the Wizard would not be as effective with weapons and armor and the Barbarian's magic would be really weak. Can't say I like that, I prefer the hard restrictions, to force players to make more compromises and work together, and because its nostalgia for the game I grew up playing, I'll admit it...

As Zargon I would think if it seems like the players are trying to cheat, so they can use long two handed weapons with a shield, and not be restricted by restrictive armor, I'd disallow it. Thinking about it now I'd say probably the Wizard should be hampered if he's carrying the plate to give to another Hero. Some players I know would just say "get it your dang self" rather than put up with the restriction. Subtracting only two movement seems like less of a penalty, but that second die always seems like it could be a 6, when in reality it could be a 1 or 2 anyway, from the player's perspective.

I have to laugh at the idea of a group of Heroes having one suit of plate and one crossbow between then and just passing them from one to the other every turn to avoid having to buy enough gear for everyone. But I've seen several types of player groups, mostly the dichotomy between the players who want to fend for themselves and let the other guy deal with the challenges and those who want to actually band together and do heroic deeds. The player who has to do a "costume change" every turn in order to get his right combination of gear from his "bag of holding" (bottomless backpack) is not far from it...