Has anyone else been able to figure out why padded armor gives Disadvantage to stealth, but Leather and Studded Leather do not?
Padded is bulkier, whereas leather and studded leather can be crafted to a tight fit that won't get in the wearer's way. It's not so much that the padded armor makes noise itself, but picture yourself trying to sneak around in a heavy winter coat and you'll start to understand the issue with it. Basically the bulk of the material plus padding is going to make the wearer clumsier.
that seems weak, but understandable
There was a similar topic on the WotC forums, but I can't for the life of me locate it. I think Mike Mearls said padded is more like that kid from Christmas Story. That it was a lot bulkier and tough to move in, thus giving disadvantage on stealth.
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Ah, so that's it, the need to stare at the awkwardly dressed individual is where the Disadvantage on Stealth comes from...
This is one of very few rules I find to be just plain wrong. Padded armor is just a quilted shirt. Wearing it wouldn't make you look like a tick that's about to pop.
If it's thick and bulky and heavy enough to warrant disadvantage, it should also give much more than 1 AC. As it is, there should be no penalty.
It appears to me they had to come up with some kind of disadvantage(no pun intended) for the category of armour below leather, which is already at the bottom of the line.
Metagamey reasons aside, I still find it a bit odd since I would argue that some kind of padded armour or gambeson would be worn under a chain shirt, which doesn't have disadvantage on stealth (and according to the PHB, chain shirt is covered by another layer of clothing to muffle-off sounds and make it stealty)...
The padding you wear under a chain shirt isn't really comparable to what actual padded armor would be.
No, it isn't. But in the abstraction that RPGs do of objects and laws of physics, they are close enough.
Perhaps stealth disadvantage comes from all the fleas and lice biting you and the stench of wet warrior reeking through the vest...
But I wouldn't sweat too much over it. Every armour category has a better/expansive option and a worse/cheap option. Padded fills the niche of cheap and crappy, and since it couldn't go down in AC, it went down in mobility. The rest is just a skin. A quality gambeson could be a "studded leather armour". A crappy leather could be "padded".
The rest is just a skin.
Beyond the core mechanics, it's all skin.
It's trivially easy to justify a rule based on verisimilitude. Doing so doesn't make it a good design decision. And the opposite is also true. It's trivially easy to criticize a rule based on verisimilitude as well.
That's why it's so easy to argue about rules. Anyone can come up with reasons why this or that should or shouldn't be.
I think the only good way to judge a rule is in a metagame sense. If it's a good rule, you can justify it literally however you want, and it will still be a good rule. If it's not, it doesn't matter how you justify it, because no amount of justification will make it good.
You don't have to play if you don't want too!
Just alter to suit your needs. Dnd5 should be played flexibly so don't stress. If you want more realism save your pennies and keep playing other games
I guess in an adventure you could say padded keeps you warmer!
I guess in an adventure you could say padded keeps you warmer!Or for every 10 feet you fall, you take 1 less point of damage (minimum 1).
Yeah, stuff like that