Targeting & Armor Avoidance

[Bill Reich]

This is an optional supplement to the Glory Road Roleplay rules system. However, I think it could be adapted to any crunchy system. It is coming out on DriveThru but it will be "pay what you want," with a recommended price of fifty cents, so getting the PDF here, https://sites.google.com/site/grrefe...mbat-equipment, would be no problem for me or for Drivethru.

It is optional because it adds a layer of complexity to an already-complex combat system. When I was ready to publish the full game rules, I realized that the targeting and armor avoidance system we had used over the years was too complex and had largely fallen into disuse, although it was quite popular with some, a sizeable minority, of the players. This is a much simpler system, although it is still not simple.
It does, however, have its advantages. It often makes combat quicker. Using the sub-system may make one round of combat more complex but it can reduce the number of combat rounds. It gives the combatants more meaningful options. If the player-characters use it and their foes do not, it can give the PCs a unique advantage. I admit that I am a meanie and the NPC foes of my characters will use these options but they don’t use them as often as the PCs.
We don’t do targeting or armor avoidance with missile weapons and we only do armor avoidance with knives, military javelins (used in melee) and those swords with armor-piercing points.

The Glory Road Roleplay Core Rules are still available at
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product...lay-Core-Rules

 

[Spinachcat]

Why not with all weapons?

In OD&D, I let PCs take a -4 to avoid armor if the foe has no helm. The math only really matters vs. dudes in Plate, but PCs have used it over the years to do extra damage, shoot monsters in the foot, etc.

 

[Bill Reich]

"Why not with all weapons?" Mainly because then weapon choice is mostly cosmetic and that's not the system I am aiming for. Targeting works with a wide variety of weapons but you need an AP point to avoid armor, or a knife. Obviously, I could have chosen a different variety of weapons if my aim were solely to make one different from another but I chose the type of weapon that was used to avoid, rather than smash, armor. Yes, this is mainly a concern against foes in plate.

 

[Spinachcat]

Wouldn't arrows (and especially xbow bolts) have an AP point?

 

[Bill Reich]

Both arrows and bolts have AP versions. The shooter arguably doesn't have the amount of control needed to shoot it into an eye, although I, as a GM, have allowed exactly that on a critical hit at point-blank range. I ought to put some notes about that in the armor avoidance rules.