Re: (TFT) plate and half-plate...opinions wanted

[srydzews@ix.netcom.com]

>I also have to agree with Rick. I'd like to believe that Steve Jackson
>knows a little bit more about game balance than I do.

Hm...so no one should change anything because Steve knows best?  Sorry, I
don't buy that.  We have the benefit of many years of playing this game.
I've had active campaigns for a total of about eight years now (five when
the game first came out, and for the last three now.)  There are many
others on this list that have spent even more time with the system.  More
time than Jackson himself spent on it before it was published.  So yes,
in some ways I think this "collective wisdom" has more insight into the 
game than SJ himself did in 1980.

And I believe that Rick agreed these armors were of little use.  He just
doesn't mind that fact, figuring that fine plate is everyone's choice. 
I believe I conceded that if one don't mind that state of affairs, then 
no problem.  It just irks me to have this stuff on the armor list that
has no use.

>The choices he made seem to be the best balanced combination. You're
>premise that plate/half-plate are "losing" propositions doesnt make sense
>to me. Losing for who? Compared to what?

All the armors through chainmail have a DX penalty equal to their protection.
Half plate and plate have DX penalties higher than their protection.  That doesn't
destroy it in and of itself, but combined with the bell curve of 3d6, it really 
marginalizes this stuff.  You can't go into a fight with an adjDX of less than 
nine if you want to do anything other than stand there (maybe eight, but that's
pushing it).  To get an adjDX of nine in full plate you need a DX of 15.  A
starting character with a DX of 15 won't have a ST over 9, not enough to carry
the weight of full plate without having yet more DX penalties.

So obviously this is not armor that a starting character would wear.  I don't
mind that, but by the time a guy's got four or five points of stats under his belt,
and can actually start to think about taking on a DX hit greater than chainmail's,
he's going to have the cash to get fine plate.  There is no point in a typical 
character's "career arc" where this stuff makes sense.  

I'm not arguing for a big change here, only that for people with decent ST 
these armors should have a DX penalty equal to their protection value.  They're
STILL lousier than fine plate, but maybe someone, somewhere, will wear them
for a while before moving up to fine plate.  

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