What is Armor *Class*

[Mogloth]

I know what the stat is. I'm talking about the word choice. Why armor *class*? What does class mean in regards to armor?

And the same question can apply to DC. Difficulty *class*

These are the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools.

[Tiene]

The wording still makes sense but it sounded slightly better when lower AC was better. It's like the difference between saying your a scout with the First Class rank vs the Second Class rank, or a First Lieutenant vs Second Lieutenant, or "first class citizen" vs "second class citizen." AC 1 meant you had "first class armor." Of course the fact that AC could go lower made it kind of weird. "Zeroth class armor" and "negative tenth class armor" don't really sound right.

[Joana]

*shrug* At least it's two game-things that avoid the use of the term "level."

[Anguish]

Class in this sense refers to a category.

Upper class versus lower class citizens. Galaxy class starships such as Enterprise-D. Private first class or second class.

Admittedly that's rather loose when the degree is a straight number with a large range. If there were three or four classes of armor or difficulties, the word would fit better. Still, even with thirty or forty classes for AC the word does work.

I'm guessing someone will add some history to explain the choice.

[Ascalaphus]

What is Difficulty Class?

[Joana]

Anguish wrote:

I'm guessing someone will add some history to explain the choice.

All I can find is a Dave Arneson interview in which he says he took the term from a naval Civil War game called Ironclad.

EDIT: Though, upon further investigation, looks like Ironclad referred to "armour boxes" so it might have been Arneson and/or Gygax who took the concept and applied the term "class."

EDIT again: According to this blog, the term "armor class" first showed up in Chainmail.

Quote:

We must first of all note that the "Individual Fires with Missiles" table uses the construction "class of armor worn by the defender," a first version of the term "armor class." Earlier, first edition Chainmail called this quality the "defender's armor protection type," a slightly more cumbersome construction. The actual term "armor class" first appeared in the January 1972 International Wargamer in a later set of Chainmail revisions, which noted that "attacks from the rear and right flank negate the shield, if any, for armor class."

[Zaister]

Armor class is, obviously, where you learn how to armor.

[ryric]

In the original versions of D&D, each armor type had a specific AC: leather 7, leather+shield 6, chain 5, chain+shield 4, plate 3, plate+shield 2. So your armor class was a number based on the category of armor you were wearing. Then as time passed new armor types were added, dex bonuses became a thing, so things got more complex, but the original name stuck.

[Mogloth]

Zaister wrote:

Armor class is, obviously, where you learn how to armor.

And Difficulty Class is where I learn to be difficult. Got it. :-)

[Handy Haversack of Hillarity]

Gorbacz must of made straight A's in Difficulty class.

[Pan, definitely not a Kitsune]

Class: "a number of persons or things regarded as forming a group by reason of common attributes, characteristics, qualities, or traits; kind; sort:"

But I'll admit that it's the least interesting of answers in this thread.

[Unicore]

how has no one made an AC/DC joke yet?

[Un-Bear-able Puns]

Unicore wrote:

how has no one made an AC/DC joke yet?

I'm going to need you to put a "Warning High voltage" sign on that comment.

If you gave me a call I would get that dirty deed done dirt cheap.

[Kyrone]

Un-Bear-able Puns wrote:

Unicore wrote:

how has no one made an AC/DC joke yet?

I'm going to need you to put a "Warning High voltage" sign on that comment.

If you gave me a call I would get that dirty deed done dirt cheap.

I would need steel balls to not make a Jojo reference out of this...

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

Un-Bear-able Puns wrote:

Unicore wrote:

how has no one made an AC/DC joke yet?

I'm going to need you to put a "Warning High voltage" sign on that comment.

If you gave me a call I would get that dirty deed done dirt cheap.

Yeah, you don't want anybody getting Thunderstruck.