Armor, shield etc FINAL version

[Andrea Sfiligoi]

After much work, thoughts, comments etc:

no bolt on rules - armor and shields are represented by traits. You want them, you take them, you do not want them, fine.

we have ONE level of armor, we will call it Heavily Armored. Lower levels of armor are assumed to be reflected by the figure's C score.

A Heavily Armored figure adds +1 to his C roll after the roll, when losing a combat. If this changes his being doubled, tripled, etc, it means that the armor has stopped the blow. In no case the result will be better than a tie.
Magic,the Penetrating trait or the Crossbow trait ignore the Armor effect.

Shields may be abstracted or reflected by the following traits:

Melee Block - blocks melee attacks only
Block: blocks melee and ranged
Expert Block: blocks melee and ranged on a roll of 4+
Magic Block: like Expert block but works against spells as well.

Blocking works like this: if the model has been put out of action, knocked down or recoiled, he rolls a die, on a 5 or 6 (or on a 6 only if the model is surrounded by 3+ foes and/or knocked down), the model may downgrade a OOA into a Knockdown or a Knockdown into a Recoil or a Recoil into a No effect.

If a model has both Heavy Armored and Block, the block roll is performed AFTER taking into account the armor bonus.

There is no limit to the number of blocks that can be attempted in a turn.

both armor and shields are written as generic rules so they may be applied to represent a dragon's scales or the like. DO NOT FEEL FORCED to use them on any character who has a shield or wears a suit or armor. Use them only when it feels appropriate for the figure.

Also, no limitation of movement. If you want to simulate that, just buy Short Move or Slow for the figure, and that will offset the cost of the Armor/Block rules.

It works well, it's unobtrusive, and does not change the game too much.

Also take into account that some fungus figures will have Squishy. Also good for jellies, gelatinous cubes, oozes etc.

[Andrea Sfiligoi]

(and yes of course there will be a magic armor trait that also stops spells, but not in FiFu)

[andyskinner]

Nifty. This is what I always wanted the SoBH Heavy Armor rule to be. Will the point cost be higher, since this is more effective and doesn't have the downside that Heavy Armor has?

andy

[Abyssal Goblin]

Will models with Squishy still be unable to use Heavy Armor and/or Shields? I'm thinking not, but just clarifying.

And for the different Blocks/Shields, will there be alternate names for them? Like Buckler, Shield, Tower Shield, Magic Shield? Or Light, Medium, Heavy, Magic Shields?

[Andrea Sfiligoi]

You either have Squishy or Armor/Shield. You cannot have both.

I'm not sure about the names yet. Giving them names such as Buckler, shield etc kind of reinforces the idea that any character with that equipment MUST take the rule...and I do not want that. I can see a buckler armed character who is C3 (and maybe he would be C2 without the buckler) but is not skilled enough with it to have the Melee Block trait.
Giving the rules abstract names reinforces the idea that any figure can be given those rules.

This is in the end a purely aesthetic convention. The game effect is there if the profile paid the points for it. Players keen on this kind of simulation may agree that all figures who take Block must be depicted by a model with a shield.

[Jcrozier]

The abstract names would also allow the rules to be given to figures with sword-and-dagger or sword-and-axe combinations or with swordcatchers, etc. Fantasy miniatures are often equipped with dual weapons; historically, a second weapon was generally used defensively, and the block rule would be a good way of acknowledging a dual-armed weapon; much better than the "double attack" rule that some other systems use.

[Abyssal Goblin]

Would an abstract of Light, Medium, Heavy, and Magic Shield work? I like to also incorporate these type rules into monsters, for example; a Huge Crab would be Heavy Armor and Heavy Shield, to indicate his thick carapace armor.

[Andrea Sfiligoi]

I think Block works better than Shield as an abstract name, because shield is the "thing".

[Abyssal Goblin]

Gotcha, sounds logical. So a Light, Medium, Heavy, and Magic BLOCK? Or did you have another abstract name in mind? Defense, Protection, etc.

[Andrea Sfiligoi]

I wanted to call them Melee Block, Block, Expert Block, and Magic Block