Armor Runes proposal

[tivadar27]

The current information on armor is up, and we now know that regular AC (RAC) and touch AC (TAC) will now be features of armor. We were given two examples, leather, with at RAC of 1, and a TAC of 0, and Chain, with a RAC of 2 and a TAC of 1. We've also gotten an update on armor "runes", which add to your RAC/TAC, as well as all of your saving throws.

As presented, I think this system has some issues.
1. It's essentially folding 3-4 magical items into a single item (Ring of Protection, Cloak of Resistance, Amulet of Natural Armor, Magic Armor). This feels a bit crowded.
2. We currently haven't seen anything to indicate that certain armors will give relatively better RAC as compared to TAC (Chain is a +1 to both over Leather).
3. And most importantly, there's no way to "specialize". Upgrading magical armor means you're upgrading your defenses across the board, unlike before where you could focus on one area.
4. It's a *major* departure from the old system from an appearance standpoint.

I think there's a simple fix to this system, and I'd like to suggest the following:
1. Have RAC and TAC have a range on base armor types. This might be in the current system as is, but we haven't seen it in the examples. For example, assuming TAC is supposed to be 1/2 RAC, for some armor that has an 8 RAC, 4 TAC, also have a 9 RAC, 3 TAC, and 7 RAC 5 TAC variant.
2. Split the single armor rune into two specialized runes, one for saves, and one for RAC/TAC. This can be done in such a way that it hearkens to the old system. For example, there's a resistance rune that is inscribed/embedded on the shoulder of the armor you are wearing, and there's a protection rune that's a ring embedded in the middle of your armor. Each of these should be upgradable independently, for approximately half of the cost/time that they were previously.

It's a fairly simple change, and doesn't change any of the underlying mechanics, but it allows for more specialization, between RAC and TAC based on the armor you choose, and between saves and AC in general based on the runes. In addition, equating each of the runes to the old cloak of resistance and ring of protection items makes it feel like slightly less of a departure from the previous system.

[Fuzzypaws]

With how tight they've made the math, it's pretty much guaranteed that you're going to need both those AC bonuses and those save bonuses at higher levels. Combining them in the one item like in original D&D does make sense in that you no longer have mandatory cloak of resistance and can use your cloak slot for more favorable items. Splitting the upgrade process on the armor really just delays the problem because you're going to have to upgrade them both eventually anyway.

[Mathmuse]

In my Iron Gods campaign, I had my NPC party member try out a scatterlight suit, a form of technological armor that gave a +6 to touch AC versus beam weapons and rays, but only +1 to regular AC. She decided to boost her regular AC with an armored coat worn over the scatterlight suit.

That is what happens when armor improves one kind of AC but not the other. The wearer searches for a way to maximize the weaker armor, too. In PF1 armor almost always improves regular AC and the wearer carefully chooses the armor to get his full Dex bonus to touch AC.

By the way, that NPC learned that few opponents used rays or beam weapons, so she sold off the scatterlight suit and wore a Wondrous Item robe under the armored coat instead.

[RangerWickett]

I very much like needing fewer items. (And I've always thought that natural armor and armor shouldn't stack. I mean, AC isn't "how thick your armor is" but more "how hard is it to find a gap in your armor," so I kinda wish it capped out at +10. Like, even a dragon shouldn't get higher than that.