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AC modifiers

JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
So, right now, each character has a base AC and a bunch of AC modifiers against each of the four attack types. For example, I have an IWDEE character with a -11 base AC, -4 vs. crushing, -4 vs. piercing, -8 vs. missile, -2 vs. slashing. Which actually illustrates the feature I'd like to have. This character, and many others, has a modifier in the same direction for every attack type. A simpler and more transparently informative version would, imo, simply add the shared component to the base. See below for an example:

Current version:
AC: -11
Modifier vs. crushing: -4
Modifier vs. slashing: -2
Modifier vs. piercing: -4
Modifier vs. missile: -8

Suggested new version (subtracted shared components):
AC: -13
Modifier vs. crushing: -2
Modifier vs. slashing: 0
Modifier vs. piercing: -2
Modifier vs. missile: -6


Alternatively, if you want a more complicated version, it may make sense to display the base AC as the mean of the four actual ACs. This would provide a more accurate measure of defensive strength for players who aren't inclined to dig through the record screen, at the expense of some more complicated numbers. An example of this would be as follows:

Suggest new version (mean AC):
Aggregate AC: -15.5
AC vs. crushing: -15
AC vs. slashing: -13
AC vs. piercing: -15
AC vs. missile: -19


Thoughts?

Comments

  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    Could be good but it is probably a pain to implement. I'd rather Beamdog just kept working on adventure y and their other projects.
  • FranpaFranpa Member Posts: 637
    edited December 2014
    Jarrakul said:

    Suggest new version (mean AC):
    Aggregate AC: -15.5
    AC vs. crushing: -15
    AC vs. slashing: -13
    AC vs. piercing: -15
    AC vs. missile: -19


    Thoughts?

    This is the best approach, can be referenced at a glance without needing the player to do any calculations. Wubble, they have multiple departments/groups of people working on different stuff simultaneously, This kind of change would be handled by the people currently working on updates/bug fixes for the game and not those working on new content.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    For me the danger would be that I could overestimate my defensive capabilities in certain situations (i.e. all the protection in the world from missiles would boost your apparent AC but be of no use at all in a fist fight with an ogre) and could also confuse newcomers to the game who battle enough with the AC concept as it is.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Huh. Didn't expect this threat to be resurrected.

    Yeah, @dunbar, that's the danger of the aggregate system. Notably, the current system has the opposite problem, which causes just as many problems (since the relevant judgement is one of comparison between ACs). I think it'd end up being an improvement overall, but whether it's the best possible system is... more debatable.
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