Dungeons & Delvers: Armor Math Theorycraft

I decided to do some number crunching, to see if there are any obvious issues with the whole Defense/DR setup, comparing some very average stats and see how it goes from there.

One of the goals is to avoid 4th Edition, and to a lesser extent 3rd Edition math, where you need high stats just to get by (ie, a +3 modifier for the "attack" stat, and a +2 in your secondary), and the math on both sides just paces itself so there's no real reason to have the numbers in the first place.

While I'll be comparing stats from characters and monsters with equivalent level/HD, note that Dungeons & Delvers doesn't have a Challenge Rating or any sort of approximate, and it does not expect you to keep these things similar in the name of "balance".

The default ability score method is 4d6, drop lowest, assign in order. This produces, on average, a result of just over 12. Since Dungeons & Delvers operates on classic ability score modifiers, this means your average score has no modifier at all (a 13 is needed for a +1).

Presuming human race, you'll be able to at least bump up your Strength to +1 (though even elves could get a +1 to hit with Light weapons, and kobolds get +1 to hit due to size). I'd also imagine fighters prioritizing Constitution above Dexterity, so your typical shield-less fighter will look something like this:

• Level 1 Defense 12; DR 3
• Level 5 Defense 14; DR 4
• Level 10 Defense 17; DR 5
• Level 15 Defense 19; DR 6
• Level 20 Defense 22; DR 7

Fighters start with medium armor, which gives you DR 3 (though with randomized gear you might end up worse off), and by 20th-level I'm assuming you'll have magic armor, or were able to scrape together enough cash for masterwork heavy reinforced.

Now if you have a shield, that bumps up your Defense by +1 or +2, and another +1 if you have Defender. There are other talents, special materials (namely adamantine), abilities, effects, alchemical items, etc that you can use to further increase your defenses and DR, but let's just use this as a baseline.

Something else to consider is that the average fighter will have a combined 5.5 WP and VP, but we can just bump that up to 6 per level to make things a bit easier. This is just something to keep in mind to see if a monster can meaningfully harm a fighter, as well as how quickly the monster can kill him.

Rather than show a bunch of lists and tables, here's basically what I learned:

Small monsters, such as goblins, dire rats, knockers, animated chairs, "giant" insects, and draknians will be able to hit the fighter more often than not, but generally won't gain a damage bonus from exceeding the hit roll until around level 15 and up.

Average damage is 2.5 per attack after factoring DR, which I think is fine because I expect these monsters to be encountered in large numbers, though it's only going to take about three hits to take the fighter out.

Damage ticks up at about the same rate a fighter's DR is expected to increase, so this damage-per-attack remains pretty consistent, but they'll get multiple attacks here and there, so the total damage per round goes up at levels 5, 10, and 20 (assuming you're fighting something like 20 HD goblins).

Medium monsters, such as humans, gnolls, orcs, perytons, and gargoyles will also be able to hit the fighter more often than not, and not only does their damage start around 4.5 after DR, it gradually ticks up to 8.5 per attack (and 34 damage per round at four attacks), partly due to the damage bonus from exceeding the hit roll.

Large monsters like ogres easily hit, start at 8.5 damage after DR, but it only ticks up to 10.5 per attack at the end (42 damage per round over four attacks). Still enough to clobber a fighter in one hit at 1st-level, and less than one hit per level overall.

Didn't crunch the numbers on Huge monsters, but guessing they won't have any problems pulverizing a fighter.

Now, not all monsters get multiple attacks, as it doesn't always make sense, but this is typically compensated for by other abilities, or just more damage.

Also, the numbers assume more or less "average" abilities scores, such as goblins with Strength +0, and an ogre with Strength +5. Ability scores can fluctuate (orcs are stronger than humans, and so hit harder than the "normal" Medium-sized warrior-type), different weapons are used (everything above assumes a spear), and some monsters can bypass some or even all DR (such as ghosts).

The numbers also don't account for Ganging Up, the ability to impose various conditions that grant attack and damage bonuses, and enemies using traps, tactics, alchemical items and magic.

But what about the flipside? How well do fighters (as well as barbarians, rangers, and paladins) fare?

First, a 1 HD monster's base Defense ranges from 10-12, depending on whether it's primarily a spellcaster, warrior, or something in between. It is also affected by size, Dexterity, shields, and similar abilities and effects that can obstruct attacks.

This makes it a bit harder to predict, as a goblin has a base Defense of 13, or 14 with a shield, while an orc has 12, or 13 with a shield, a naked skeleton is 12, a skeleton warrior 13 (14 with a shield), an ogre is 13 (due to size and Dex penalty), and a zombie just has 9.

DR can also vary wildly. Many animals, as well as primitive, savage races like orcs, or those that tend to scavenge what they can get likely have 1 or 2. 3 is generally a gambeson reinforced with metal components, brigandine, mail hauberk, stuff like that, while 4 is a full-body mail haubergeon, and most monsters just don't have that kind of gear or similarly resilient skin.

Those that do are things like dragons, demons, and stone golems, all of which can have DR in excess of 6 (or 7), and characters will have to find ways to overcome those weaknesses (such as magic weapons, or those made from special materials), run, or try something besides beating them to death.

Well, they can just try to beat them to death. Might even work out, but could end up being a massive headache or slog.

Again it all varies, so I'll be using specifics based on Hit Dice. Before that, fighter combat stats: they get +1 to hit each level, starting with +1, as well as a scaling damage bonus, extra attacks, and talents that let you emphasize, offense, defense, missile attacks, and special attacks.

Assuming no talents whatsoever, a 1st-level fighter will likely have a +2 bonus to hit, and inflict 1d6+2 damage (AP 1) with a spear. Doesn't sound like much, but I don't want things setup where you need optimal stats in order to get by. I also want clerics and even wizards to have a chance of contributing, since they can't rely on magic all the time.

We'll get to them later, but for the fighter this means he'll have a harder time hitting a goblin (Defense 13-14), but they've only got around a combined 3 WP and VP, their crap armor doesn't matter because of the fighter's AP 1, so most of the time the goblin is going down in one hit, even if it had maxed out HP.

I'm fine with this, because you're 1st-level. Don't go barging into a goblin warren and expect things to go your way. Also, fighter won't be going alone.

Orcs are a bit easier to hit (Defense 12-13), but tougher at 5 HP, but even then there's a good chance the fighter can take one out in a single stab, unless they are packing DR 2 armor.

Corpse crawlers weigh in at Medium, 5 HD, Defense 14 (DR 2), and an average of 22 HP. A 5th-level fighter will probably have +6 to hit, deal 1d6+3 damage (AP 1), and make two attacks. The fighter won't have much trouble hitting it, will deal 5.5 damage on average (after DR), or 11 per round, meaning that, assuming he's all alone and doesn't get Paralyzed, he'll likely kill it in two rounds.

Corpse crawlers attack with tentacles and a bite, and a quick number crunch shows that it will hit the fighter on average (though they prefer to attack from an ambush, which could give an initial attack and damage bonus), and will deal 9 damage per round (or about a third of the fighter's HP), more if the fighter is caught unawares.

I considered using the apparition (a powerful ghost subtype) as the next example, as they're a 10 HD Medium monster, but there are too many variables with them. Basically if the fighter doesn't have a magic weapon he's fucked (they do a lot of damage, it Drains WP, and ignores armor DR), otherwise he might have an okay time. But then in a party the cleric or wizard are likely to handle it, anyway, or enchant the fighter's weapons at the least.

So, instead I'm gonna go big with a wyvern: 10 HD, Large, Defense 17, DR 3, and 75 HP.

A 10th-level fighter has a +12 to hit, assuming a masterwork spear (very likely by now), meaning he's going to have no trouble hitting the wyvern and even get a +1 bonus to damage due to exceeding its Defense. Damage will probably be 1d6+4, which means 6.5 after all things considered, and a total of 19.5 given his three attacks.

So, great. Fighter is able to hit and deal damage despite the upped DR, though he'd probably get obliterated given what the wyvern can dish out, which includes some pretty potent venom, possibly even a breath weapon. That's fine, this is a team game, after all.

Back to Medium category with the 15 HD death knight, which is rocking a Defense of 19 and DR 7.

This is where the fighter could have trouble. Granted, his attack bonus is +17, so he's got no trouble hitting it, but at 1d6+5 damage a pop, even with AP 1 he's only going to be chipping around 10 HP per round (assuming all of his attacks hit), and with an average of 112 HP that's going to take awhile.

Assuming he lives, because the death knight has +21 to hit, deals 2d6+9 damage, and makes three attacks per round. Even if the fighter also has DR 7, that's still around 30 per round (ignoring its Burning Blade ability), so the fighter is going down considerably sooner.

But I think this is a very suitable challenge for a higher level party. They'll need to coordinate their attacks to eke out a bit more damage by Ganging Up, cleric and wizard will have magic, and the death knight also takes additional damage from silver, so bringing a moonsilver weapon (or even silver coating) is going to bump up the fighter's damage by 9 per round.

And that's really what I was concerned about: heavy reinforced armor, ie plate, or the equivalent thereof, such as what might be found on bigger, badder dragons. Or angels and demons with even higher DR, reflecting their unnatural resilience to mortal weaponry.

So far I like what I'm seeing. I think this is going to further encourage characters to coordinate, to utilize alchemical items, cover, set up ambushes and traps. Sneak past the more dangerous stuff. Distract it. Bribe some things just to avoid conflict. You know, the kind of stuff I'd expect an actual adventuring party to do.

Now to see how clerics and wizards fare. Ideally the cleric should be able to do something in melee without demanding a specialized build (but I'm find with saying "you really should take War Domain for fighting purposes"), and it would be nice if wizards could at least plunk away with a crossbow or something (since crossbows aren't based on Strength).

Of course this doesn't mean the system will work, but it's good that I haven't found anything obviously flawed about it. 

Yet.