Armor and weapon requirements

#1

Hey guys,

I just had an idea I’d like to share with you and I couldn’t find it in the forums yet:

Usually in RPGs you need to have certain levels to equip certain weapons or armor. This is far away from being realistic. So I was wondering how you could avoid that typical RPG issue. I was thinking of a penalty system if you don’t meet the requirements to wield a weapon properly or carry an armor.

For the weapon you usually need strength. If you don’t have enough strength you can’t hold the weapon for too long. This means your attacks get weaker after some time or you weapon even slips out of your hands. For wielding weapons you need endurance. The heavier the weapon is the more endurance you loose for each swing. The amount of endurance used for a swing is even higher if you don’t meet the strength requirement to use that weapon.

For armor it’s rather simple. If you don’t have enough strength you’ll walk slower and lose more endurance when running. However it should be possible that the character stumbles, because the playable character is not able to wear it the whole time. When running you get weaker and so it’s only natural if you stumble because your legs or body in general can’t carry that weight. This weight should also include the items you carry with you.

This system wouldn’t be limiting, instead it’s more challenging.

4 Likes
#2

For weapons you should also have some sort of skill, anyone can swing a sword around, but if you meet who candle it properly you won’t last long. The requirements to wield an axe should be different from sword for example.

#3

So you mean a skills for specific weapons? I guess they should be taught and trained. There is this general swinging but only training gives you the accuracy and speed you need to use each type of weapon to the fullest. But I don’t want that kind of skills for armour like in Skyrim and some other games. I mean: why should I get better armor stats depending on which “armor skill” I trained?

#4

I’d like this kind of penalty system!
By wearing heavy armor you should get more strength/endurance and when using weapons more fighting abilitiy and strenght etc. So you will be able to equip better weapons and armor without penalty when you get better.

Good about this system is also that players can choose to wear heavy armor and accept the consequences like slower movement and less endurance. Or a good Sword but dealing with attacks getting weaker over time. Thats would create much more freedom than in other games

#5

I don’t know what kind of thing you are using for a weapon but if you can’t hold it for long enough there is something very wrong. Besides you gotta remember the character in this game is a blacksmith and virtually all people in that time had some physical activity in those days.

Instead I can see the fact that you don’t know how to use a sword as more of a factor. But that is more player skill.

For armor they already mentioned endurance/stamina as a factor. Unless you have some sort of a crippling disability you’d be fine wearing almost any armor from those days. Fighting in them all day however would simply tire you more and stress your generally endurance.

4 Likes
#6

Yes, I mean you should have skills for specific weapons, but not for armors. I think you can wear any armor type if you can put it on, but for weapons you should gain experience by using it or training somewhere.(in-game combat academy stretch goal maybe)

#7

I think that everyone should be able to wear and equip everything. On the other hand is it practical or could he even handle it? Even kid can hold big axe or sword. So I think there should be another way of learning combat skills and weapon mastery and another for body abillities like endurance, strenght etc.
Perhaps you can learn better and other combat skills from another NPC with some type of training. But strenght and other typical abilities could be learned from common things like running, heavy-lifting, food, swimming etc.

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