(TFT) On the Subject of Armor...

[lifeisfun@aol.com]

While I have suggested that different weapons do different types of damage, I wouldn't want to change TFT to accomondate these differences.  I like the simplicity.  Plus, I like the "stops" style of armor bonus much more than the AC style of "sorry, you don't have a dex high enough to hit me".   It's not so much that someone can't hit you, it's that they don't do any damage because it was either absorbed or deflected.  
 
But I do have a couple of peeves with the system.  The first peev is that people rarely keep track of damage to the armor.  That magic robe with blurr on it has been burned by 10 die dragon fire, it has been squered by a couple near fatal stabbings or slashes.  It has been soaked in your blood and the blood of others and yet people still wear it.  I like to try to describe what superheroes look like when you meet them at the onset of a campaign.  "... and here we have a burly man wearing what seems to be very used equipment.  If he had not introduced himself as a prince, you never would have known.  He looks more like a savage with a ceremonial feathered headdress mismatched earrings, 19.. no 20 swords sticking out in every direction, at least 100 feet of coiled up rope.. and these wierd glowing boots.  Oh, did I miss the fact that he appears to be wearing a cloak that was burned and dipped in blood?"
 
In any event, i love it when characters spend time to be a mechanic or know a tradeskill that allows them to keep their armor neat and clean.  
 
My other peev is the ineffectiveness of a block or parry.  I think it would make battles a whole lot more interesting if creatures and players alike could roll to parry instead of hitting for damage in a given round.  The minimal dex minus or stopping of an additional hit or two is not the way I envision battle between skilled combatants who parry or block with shields.  If someone carries a shield, I'd think that it should be a parry style weapon as well as a bashing weapon.  In real combat, I see a shield as the first defense, not as an afterthought... oh you stop an additional two points this round.  Bah.  
 
And parrying, I think they missed the boat on that one entirely.  Two weapons characters should have an advantage if they are trained in the Florentine style of fighting.  The parry and stab or even the parry and riposte with a single sword is extremely effective against a figure with only one weapon.  
 
Problem seems to be that in Mele, the high dex goes first.  We can't have that low dex character parrying, can we?  They're just not fast enough.  Hmmpf.  
 
Well even if we disallow the slow characters to focus on parrying then, what about in the case of a character who uses the (optional rules) delay of attack.  They have a higher dex, I'd think they could parry away the full damage of a blow.  Or, if they had two weapons talent, they might parry away the blow and smack at a dex minus with the second sword.  Sure they risk missing the parry and taking the full damage, but if they succeed, then it's a coup.  
 
I'd love to have seen a system where both characters roll against their adj. dex and compare the delta to see if the parrying character succeeds or fails to block the blow.  But, that's not the way Mele is played.  I just sort of like the idea.  Plus, are defending and parrying the same thing? You have to have a weapon to defend.  Why have a parry at all?  it's bogus, if you ask me.  Woo hoo.. nice job.  You successfully parried, but he still hits you.  
 
Good Fortune,
Richard
 
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