I have been toying with the idea of having every full multiple of 3 (total, both imp and ballistic) points of worn armor remove a combat pool dice from use. So wearing a Lined Coat would take away 2 dice, wearing the 5/3 vest would also use up 2 dice. Each point from Form fit would count as half for purposes of this rule. The 5/3 vest and forearm guards would take away 3 dice.

Once a person is down to zero usable combat pool dice then for every additional 3 full points of armor the TNs to hit the person would drop by one.

Criticize this. Let me know what you think of it as a house rule.

Why? what are you trying to accomplish?

Looks like you want to penalize for wearing armor, not sure why exactly but Armor layering accomplishes this already.

/boggle.

Yeah, there's no reason for this rule because like Grinder said, armor layering penalties already do this. Also, the combat pool isn't just used for augmenting attack roles; it is also used for resisting damage, which is a body test. Penalizing someone on a body test for wearing more armor just doesn't make sense.

Would you be eliminating the existing rules in regard to armor and combat pool, or would you be using these on top of that?

So your players' options are no armor or no dodge? I'm glad I'm not in your game.

I like the idea of a static reduction, however. High Quickness characters are already rewarded with higher Combat Pool, so using it to determine how much armor could be worn seemed overly good (if anything Body, Strength, and Quickness should factor).

That said, 1 per 3 combined is a tad high. Perhaps 1 per 4 or 5 points?

Higher Quickness characters are faster, and can therefore wear more armor without it slowing them down as much. They spent the karma/build points/attribute points to get that way, why SHOULDN'T they get the benefits that go with it? They paid the price and you're taking away what they bought. If you penalize players for character advancement, what's the point in playing?

Maybe the reduction should count only towards dodging.

Would be replacing the existing rules.

As the rules are, the mechanic includes a step function. So, there is no reason at all not to wear armor up to just before it penalizes you. This change, for me, seems a more smooth transition. You have a moderate and growing penalty up to a point based on your stats, and then a major and growing penalty if you go past that point, if you start to overload your ability to compensate. I feel that this would also increase armor variation among runners.

The rule as proposed still lets toons with high quickness wear more armor than those without (though see Kanada Ten's post and below).

I'm also thinking of somehow including strength in the mix. I like that body strength and quickness idea. IMO just because somebody is quick, doesn't mean they can port around a bunch of armor with no penalty.

Maybe the house rule should only count towards dodging. Thats an interesting idea.

I just picked 3 outta the air - 4 seemed to slow to have a significant impact. I haven't played with the numbers much yet, so 4 might be better.

Smiley, if that is your reaction, you are right. (You would prolly shit bricks and write your congressman a letter if you heard my house rules for magic)

I am also thinking of having dodge dice last until your next action. Example: You need to dodge so you roll 4 of your dice, get 3 successes - you get to keep those three successes to use against any attack against you until your pool refreshes. I figure, if you are spazzing out for one opponent, you are spazzing out for them all, at least to some degree. What do you think about that?

Maybe I am just trying to justify the bikini warrior chick, dunno. I mean, does everybody have to walk around in kevlar and steel plates for the game to be fun?

(Oh, gamemaster and Xavier - this is your new GM
- i can't find the pword to 3Threes so i had to make a new dumpshock account - let me know what your take is on this)

More input please. Somebody put your head on this and try and break or xploit it - see how robust the house rule is.

I was specifically thinking that Form Fitting and Second Skin would either be excluded, as they currently are, or count 1/2.