Due to the extreme heat last event and the likelihood of it being an issue again this event, some folks have been asking for summer armor rules. The proposal on the table is to let armor users have their full armor value without wearing armor during the hottest parts of the day.
While this proposal promotes safety, it's also unbalanced and unfair to the non-armor wearers. After all, the inherent encumbrance of armor is the most significant balancing factor for armor use. Allowing you to benefit from armor without having to wear it would be like allowing all spellcasters to cast their spells without verbals (this is an analogy; not a proposal).
At the same time, we recognize that armor wearers need some mechanical incentive to take the armor off when it would be unsafe to wear it. After all, they've invested precious skill points in their characters' defenses. Thus, we've elected to adopt the following summer armor rule:
When deemed appropriate by an armor marshal or medic, characters with ranks in Armored Combat may temporarily substitute those ranks for bonus health on a 1-for-5 basis.
This is similar to temporarily respending your ranks in Armored Combat for ranks in Fortitude, which does not require an encumbering phys rep as a balancing factor. Let's say, for example, that Dreygor has Armored Combat (Rank 5) and chooses to take off all but 40 points of armor and keep his shield. He could then substitute his three unused ranks in Armored Combat for 15 bonus health. Not as nice as the additional armor, by any means, but still fair considering his increased mobility. If he wanted to go completely armor- and shield-less, he could instead get 25 bonus health, all the while enjoying the cool breeze.
Note that this is not a permanent choice. If you choose to put your armor back on when it cools off later in the evening, you can un-substitute the bonus health back into Armored Combat ranks as you please.
It's worth mentioning that we believe you're all mature and know the limits of your endurance better than anyone else. Thus, the choice to take off or keep on your armor is yours alone. If it becomes evident that you're pushing it, however, Nick and I won't hesitate to remove your character's ability to wear it for your own safety. We think of it as no different from swinging a weapon too hard; if it's unsafe, we have to put a stop to it.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to share them. Scathing rebuttals? Chuck them at my head; I'm used to it. Bonus points if you catch me on the nose. *cringes*
The only thing that I would worry about is shield use with this proposal. All in all, I really like it. However, as a leather armor wearer, I really only have Armored Combat 2 for shield use, otherwise, I'd probably just stick with a light leather, and 20 armor points and be done with it. However, should I want to take my armor off and continue to use my shield (a VERY important part of not being killed) I would gain absolutely no benefit from the armor rules, and with or without leather armor, my mobility isn't going to be impaired all that much.
I would propose moving shield use to Armored Combat I, or allow continued use of shields along with the fortitude substitution since its a skill we've already paid for, otherwise, we're changing the dynamic of the way people fight considerably.