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Elricaltovilla
2013-10-03, 11:51 AM
So I was thinking of changing the way damage reduction works in my games but I thought I should run it by wiser heads than mine before playtesting it.

The idea is pretty simple- Instead of DR removing a specific amount of damage, DR reduces the damage taken by a certain percentage.

DR in this case would range from DR 1 to DR 5(and capping at 5). Each point of DR ignores 10% of an attack's damage.

The second part of this is that instead of DR/Slashing protecting against everything but slashing, DR/Slashing is only effective against Slashing attacks. I would only implement this second part if the first part seems significantly more powerful and/or balanced than the Current way DR is run. But it has the benefit of opening up things like DR/Spells or DR/Fire etc as ways to standardize the different Damage Reduction sources that exist.

So what are your thoughts?

Amnoriath
2013-10-03, 12:21 PM
So I was thinking of changing the way damage reduction works in my games but I thought I should run it by wiser heads than mine before playtesting it.

The idea is pretty simple- Instead of DR removing a specific amount of damage, DR reduces the damage taken by a certain percentage.

DR in this case would range from DR 1 to DR 5. Each point of DR ignores 10% of an attack's damage.

The second part of this is that instead of DR/Slashing protecting against everything but slashing, DR/Slashing is only effective against Slashing attacks. I would only implement this second part if the first part seems significantly more powerful and/or balanced than the Current way DR is run. But it has the benefit of opening up things like DR/Spells or DR/Fire etc as ways to standardize the different Damage Reduction sources that exist.

So what are your thoughts?

If this is the case give me an Ironsoul Forgemaster build and Adamantine Heavy Armor(your choice) along with Improved Toughness and Roll with it. This gives a build that is immune to damage.

Elricaltovilla
2013-10-03, 12:27 PM
If this is the case give me an Ironsoul Forgemaster build and Adamantine Heavy Armor(your choice) along with Improved Toughness and Roll with it. This gives a build that is immune to damage.

Yeah, this would be a more extensive change than just: Stack DR/- and be immune to damage. Or did you not read the part where DR ranges from 1 to 5 (i.e. Hard Cap)?

Amnoriath
2013-10-03, 12:33 PM
Yeah, this would be a more extensive change than just: Stack DR/- and be immune to damage. Or did you not read the part where DR ranges from 1 to 5 (i.e. Hard Cap)?

You said range which could mean any source that could stack with others. Adamantine Heavy Plate is its own, Roll with it is its own, and the Armor meld is its own.

Elricaltovilla
2013-10-03, 12:37 PM
Apologies for the lack of clarity then. But this is probably a more substantial change than I really intended it to be anyway (as is frequently the case with anything I come up with).

But the general idea of Damage Reduction reducing a percentage of damage as opposed to a set number, good, bad, too much work for a regular game? What do you think?

Amnoriath
2013-10-03, 12:42 PM
Apologies for the lack of clarity then. But this is probably a more substantial change than I really intended it to be anyway (as is frequently the case with anything I come up with).

But the general idea of Damage Reduction reducing a percentage of damage as opposed to a set number, good, bad, too much work for a regular game? What do you think?

If you don't actually change how DR is dolled out it is fine, but maybe make it 5%(minimum 1, 2..etc respectively for each increase) instead. I always liked the idea of putting DR(as is) on armor in general to increase along with AC this way there is actually substantial differences in armor among the categories.

stack
2013-10-03, 12:53 PM
The system I thought best modeled armor is in a computer game called Mount & Blade. Unfortunately it would be too much math for a table-top. Armor had a set value. Attacks where reduced by both a flat amount and a percentage, depending on the type (cutting, piercing, blunt). But the amount of scaling and fussiness of the differing weapon damage types would make it untenable to do by hand.

Scurvy Cur
2013-10-03, 01:03 PM
I've been running damage reduction as a percentage for ages, using a 5% scale per point, with a 50% reduction hard cap, no matter how high you stacked DR. I would even spring for a diminishing marginal DR return (each point protecting you for less than the previous) but that proved to be more work than I was willing to do for homebrew systems.

I'd definitely say a percentage system is worth adding though, especially if you are vastly underwhelmed by how DR works in general. It also means (using 3.5 as a reference) that classes which get a smidge of DR benefit from it against hard hitting opponents without needing some way to stack it to absurd levels. Barbarians actually come out significantly tankier against hard hitting opponents using this variant, with a 25% base physical damage reduction (corresponding to a 33% increase in EHP against physical attacks). From my experience, this usually helps make DR classes feel a little more like the durable stalwarts they're supposed to be.

On the flip side of the equation, it also avoids the whole phenomenon of a melee character being unexpectedly useless because he forgot to pack 4-5 different weapons to deal with all the assorted types of DR he encounters. He will still be less useful without the appropriate weapon type, but hitting for 50% damage is still better than hitting for none.

Edit: if this is for 4e, what I say may not be at all valid. I confess to poor familiarity with the system.

Elricaltovilla
2013-10-03, 01:21 PM
I've been running damage reduction as a percentage for ages, using a 5% scale per point, with a 50% reduction hard cap, no matter how high you stacked DR. I would even spring for a diminishing marginal DR return (each point protecting you for less than the previous) but that proved to be more work than I was willing to do for homebrew systems.

I'd definitely say a percentage system is worth adding though, especially if you are vastly underwhelmed by how DR works in general. It also means (using 3.5 as a reference) that classes which get a smidge of DR benefit from it against hard hitting opponents without needing some way to stack it to absurd levels. Barbarians actually come out significantly tankier against hard hitting opponents using this variant, with a 25% base physical damage reduction (corresponding to a 33% increase in EHP against physical attacks). From my experience, this usually helps make DR classes feel a little more like the durable stalwarts they're supposed to be.

On the flip side of the equation, it also avoids the whole phenomenon of a melee character being unexpectedly useless because he forgot to pack 4-5 different weapons to deal with all the assorted types of DR he encounters. He will still be less useful without the appropriate weapon type, but hitting for 50% damage is still better than hitting for none.

Edit: if this is for 4e, what I say may not be at all valid. I confess to poor familiarity with the system.

Glad I'm not the only one to think up something like this. I definitely don't want it to be for 4e since I don't know that system well at all. I was intending to use it in a warriors and wuxia style system.

Glimbur
2013-10-03, 03:38 PM
As it stands, DR is important at low levels and generally at high levels you can avoid it or punch through it. This would make punching through it slightly better at low levels and rather worse at high levels. If you want DR to be more important, this is a reasonable step to take. But expect to see more Adamantine Full Plate, Stoneskin, and other PC-friendly sources of DR.