[Sorloc]

Originally Posted by RMS

The irony here being that random armor is much more realistic than fixed armor values because real armor is full of strong and weak spots that a warrior has to exploit. Additionally, random armor simulates angle of attack and it's affect on armor's ability to protect. Throughout most of history, armor was expensive, but nowhere near the cost of a house. There's a very limited time when that's true and only of the top-end armor, not the armor worn by most of the people on a battlefield.


RQ/BRP hasn't offered the ability to target weak spots in armor in the past, so I'd be surprised to see it now. MRQ offers it, but it breaks down mechanically pretty quickly and I don't see any easy way to implement such a system elegantly in BPR.

But the warrior isn't exploiting the weakness; fate is.
A defender will know where his weak spots are, and try to cover them.
An attacker tries to get past that defense into the weak spot.
How to tell if he succeeds? Your skill roll.
How to tell if he hit a weak spot? Your damage roll.
How to tell if you really exploited the chink in the armor? Did you crit?

So actually, yes, RQ DOES offer the ability to target weak spots in the armor. It actually assumes that that is what you are doing, because why wouldn't you?

You don't get a 50/50 shot at hitting a weakness in the armor, you get a 5% chance.

Really, anyone who weakens armor is someone who is revealing that they don't use encumbrance rules.


It's already there; no need to reinvent the wheel.
Yes, it does tend to devolve into a contest of who gets a crit first, or who gets exhausted first, but isn't that what a combat wearing armor really is? A test of endurance?
If your dagger could penetrate a breastplate, the armorer would make thicker breastplate - and not just in places - ALL OVER! That's kind of the point of armor, Right?