December 2018 Changes Part 1: Weapons & Armor
We’ve received feedback regarding armor rules on a few occasions, and we’ve also made some internal observations with regards to the complexity of the system. We feel that there is room to improve our implementation of armor, so we’re rearranging the system. In general, we are making Aegis easier to acquire and making Immunities harder to acquire. We are also making adjustments to weapons that should help get more mileage out of armor when you do qualify for immunities.
Currently, armor has the ability to absorb certain hits at the cost of breaking your armor. In our original implementation of armor, this occurred before losing aegis. As we simplified the interaction between armor and aegis, armor retained some nuanced protection that is more difficult to track. In the new system, armor does not absorb this “extra hit”, but armor is not normally broken by damage. Armor will be broken by a specific effect that causes it to break (we will most likely name this effect “Sunder”). Broken armor provides no immunities, but losing your armor does not affect your qualifications for Aegis.
Coupled with these changes will be a new system for Aegis gains. In our current system, we have very little design space to put Aegis on cards. We are now implementing an Aegis Cap that largely relates to armor and costuming. This will allow us to add aegis as a secondary benefit on several cards, allowing more players to make use of aegis and helping dedicated melee combatants to realize the benefits of their armor selection.
Our overall aim is to shift the gameplay of armor towards Aegis and away from immunities. Stab immunity will now be a benefit provided to Medium armor, rather than Light. Bolt immunity will not be granted to Heavy armor by default, but can be accessed via patterns or projects. Crafted armor can accommodate further benefits or tweaks.
We are implementing a nerf to heavy armor. We have found that the current rules create an unhealthy incentive to weight clothing without making it more protective. The Strike immunity provided by Heavy Armor is now only applied to areas covered by rigid plates. Other immunities are unaffected by this change.
Regarding weapons - Great Weapons will no longer implicitly call Crush or Pierce, this ability is now relegated to two cheap patterns (10 potentia). More expensive versions of these patterns can be acquired that provide an additional benefit (+1 aegis, can call Crush - 60 potentia, cost not final). We have made this change to better enforce the pullback requirement on making Crush calls. The Pierce pattern requires two hands, but doesn’t require a Great weapon, so it can be used with two hands on a dagger or other stab-legal weapon.
TL;DR Rules Changes
Heavy Armor Change:
Only rigid materials, like metal plates, will have heavy armor immunities.
Weapon Changes:
ALL Melee weapons now call Stab/Strike by base.
Cheap patterns (currently 10 potentia) will be available that give the ability to call Crush or Pierce. More expensive versions of these patterns will be available to give additional benefits in order to avoid taxing your slots.
New Armor Immunities & The “Aegis Cap” concept:
The “Aegis Cap” is a value of aegis that cannot be exceeded no matter how many cards are granting aegis. Aegis Cap in humans is primarily determined by armor, but can be enhanced by certain Wild or Twisted patterns. The highest Aegis Cap qualified for is used - this will typically be sourced from the most restrictive element of the character, whether that be armor, costuming, or twisted corruption. Aegis cap is most often reported as a flat number, but will rarely be modified by a + or - that applies after the flat number.
New Armor Benefits (immunities cumulative):
Unarmored - Aegis Cap 1
Light Armor - Aegis Cap 2
Medium Armor - Aegis Cap 3, Stab Immune
Heavy Armor - Aegis Cap 4, Strike Immune on rigid plates
Examples:
A player wears armor that qualifies them for an Aegis Cap of 3, but only has 2 aegis in their tapestry. Their aegis is thusly 2.
A player only wears armor that qualifies for an Aegis Cap of 1, but has 2 aegis in their tapestry. Their aegis is thusly 1.