How does the Armour/Defense system work

[Atomic Monk]

Even though release is only 10 weeks away (31st August).. Im still considering buying it now..

As much as I love DoS2 one of the things im not a fan of is being pushed into building my Chars a certain way in order to balance my party for the the Physical and Magic armour system of most enemies..

What kind of System does BG3 use?.. is it similar, or is it according to Race or Class..

Thanks:)

[Volo]

Thankfully, it doesnt have that "dual armor" system (there are mods for DoS 2 though that "fix" that)

[Izuzul]

Dungeon and Dragons 5e rules, with some Larian homebrew.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

[Atomic Monk]

Originally posted by Volo:

Thankfully, it doesnt have that "dual armor" system (there are mods for DoS 2 though that "fix" that)

Ill check those out.. Thanks..

Originally posted by Reconciler:

Dungeon and Dragons 5e rules, with some Larian homebrew.

Sounds interesting.. as long as the homebrew isnt multiple armour types to wade through..

Thanks :)

[Zapp Brannigan]

Originally posted by Atomic Monk:

Even though release is only 10 weeks away (31st August).. Im still considering buying it now..

As much as I love DoS2 one of the things im not a fan of is being pushed into building my Chars a certain way in order to balance my party for the the Physical and Magic armour system of most enemies..

What kind of System does BG3 use?.. is it similar, or is it according to Race or Class..

Thanks:)

You have an armour class which can change depending on armour, magic items spells etc, you get hit if someone rolls higher than that, but that's a very bare bones explanation.

[Hex]

Random.

DnD is, at it's core, is about mitigating randomness. You focus your stats and abilities to maximize your ability to hit and minimize the enemies ability to hit you. Everything is done with a 20 sided die when you attack, then you add your to hit chance to that die roll against the targets Armor Class number.

If you have 10 to hit and the enemy has 20AC, you need to get a roll of 11 or more to hit.

[ExcaliburV]

Originally posted by Hex:

Random.

DnD is, at it's core, is about mitigating randomness. You focus your stats and abilities to maximize your ability to hit and minimize the enemies ability to hit you. Everything is done with a 20 sided die when you attack, then you add your to hit chance to that die roll against the targets Armor Class number.

If you have 10 to hit and the enemy has 20AC, you need to get a roll of 11 or more to hit.

Yes except meets beats, so you need a 10 or more to hit.

[That1BIGDude]

Armor has a value of 10-18 (Higher being better) with some rare magic items adding a +1-3 to that value.
Armor is then split into 5 different sections

Clothes
Typically provide no protection and your armor class ( AC) is 10 + Dexterity
Some classes can't wear armor normally, and there are some armor spells that only work on clothes or when your nude

Light

These like the name mention are lightweight their AC is normally from 11-12 but they let you add your full dexterity to your armor class

11-12 + dexterity

Medium

These have higher AC values but because of their weight typically limit your dexterity bonus and some of them make it harder to stealth

12-15 + dexterity (capped at +2)

Heavy

These armors only have a flat AC and start requiring a minimum strength score to wear. Also all of them typically make stealth harder by making you roll stealth checks at disadvantage (You roll twice and pick the lower number)

AC goes from 14-18


Miscellaneous

This can be anywhere from shields to magic items to spells to Class abilities

Shields always add a +2 to the points above(There are also magical versions of these that can add 1-3 points) but they take up an arm which limits what weapons you can use and in some case what spells you can cast

There are spells that also increase/ decrease your Armor class

and magic items that apply a bonus to your ac as well

There are also some classes that provide you with a special armor class calculation when not wearing armor.

for example the monk has unarmored defense that is 10 + wisdom + dexterity




now what do these numbers even mean well they represent how hard it is to actually hit you.

You roll a dice from 1-20 1 means that no matter what your bonus is or what the other persons AC is you will miss, 20 being the opposite meaning no matter what your AC is you will be hit.

without any modifiers (which you get from your stats, spells, and magic items) an AC of 18 means that someone would have to roll an 18 or higher to hit you which is really hard. Now there are spells that do not care about AC and hit you no matter what but those spells typically have other requirements or downsides to counteract this upside

[Atomic Monk]

Originally posted by That1BIGDude:

Armor has a value of 10-18 (Higher being better) with some rare magic items adding a +1-3 to that value.
Armor is then split into 5 different sections

Clothes
Typically provide no protection and your armor class ( AC) is 8 + Dexterity
Some classes can't wear armor normally, and there are some armor spells that only work on clothes or when your nude

Light

These like the name mention are lightweight their AC is normally from 10-12 but they let you add your full dexterity to your armor class

10-12 + dexterity

Medium

These have higher AC values but because of their weight typically limit your dexterity bonus and some of them make it harder to stealth

12-15 + dexterity (capped at +2)

Heavy

These armors only have a flat AC and start requiring a minimum strength score to wear. Also all of them typically make stealth harder by making you roll stealth checks at disadvantage (You roll twice and pick the lower number)

AC goes from 14-18


Miscellaneous

This can be anywhere from shields to magic items to spells

Shields always add a +2 to the points above(There are also magical versions of these that can add 1-3 points) but they take up an arm which limits what weapons you can use and in some case what spells you can cast

There are spells that also increase/ decrease your Armor class

and magic items that apply a bonus to your ac as well




now what do these numbers even mean well they represent how hard it is to actually hit you.

You roll a dice from 1-20 1 means that no matter what your bonus is or what the other persons AC is you will miss, 20 being the opposite meaning no matter what your AC is you will be hit.

without any modifiers (which you get from your stats, spells, and magic items) an AC of 18 means that someone would have to roll an 18 or higher to hit you which is really hard. Now there are spells that do not care about AC and hit you no matter what but those spells typically have other requirements or downsides to counteract this upside

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write and explain all that.. :).. I really appreciate it...

and... Thanks everyone for the great explanations and help.. Appreciated..

I played BG 1 + 2 and NWN years ago, so I have a bit of understanding of d20 combat, although It has been many years and I wasnt sure whether 5E used d20, so the explanations helped..

I remember both BG1 and NWN paper manuals came with a d20 combat ruleset manual in the box.. those were the days.. we got books in boxes with discs.. hehe

[Yojo0o]

Unarmored is 10+dex, and light armor is 11-12+dex, but that's otherwise spot-on.

[That1BIGDude]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

Unarmored is 10+dex, and light armor is 11-12+dex, but that's otherwise spot-on.

Thank you I updated the comment I also added an example for class AC

[Hex]

Originally posted by ExcaliburV:

Originally posted by Hex:

Random.

DnD is, at it's core, is about mitigating randomness. You focus your stats and abilities to maximize your ability to hit and minimize the enemies ability to hit you. Everything is done with a 20 sided die when you attack, then you add your to hit chance to that die roll against the targets Armor Class number.

If you have 10 to hit and the enemy has 20AC, you need to get a roll of 11 or more to hit.

Yes except meets beats, so you need a 10 or more to hit.

Oh? My bad.