Veraxus

I really like Adhin's idea for a small amount of heal every time a wound is spent. Right now, playing a "naked monk" (no armor, no weapons) is pretty horrible. Monks seem to be either full-tilt generic gear tanks (to such an extent that the class might as well be called "Defender" instead of Monk, since this violates the very core concept of what a Monk is) or un-fun glass canons that do reasonable damage, but are virtually impossible to keep alive... and I've restarted multiple times looking for the magical, elusive stat combination to make it work. As far as I'm concerned, this means the class is broken... since it's a choice between misusing the class (loads of armor & ignoring wound system) or constant death/failure, respectively. I feel that the whole point of a pure Monk class is to to play without the aid of traditional equipment... and the game just doesn't seem to have managed that at all. But again... Adhin seems to have pointed out a really elegant, functional compromise: Spend Wounds to get back a little health! It would definitely stabilize the class for those trying to play a traditional D&D-style no-equipment Monk without making the class OP for those playing armored tank-monks (and who will be gaining few or no wounds as a result).

Hey KTran, here's my Player.log... Initialize engine version: 4.6.1p2 (961a19933c56) GfxDevice: creating device client; threaded=1 LoadSystemBundle - Could not create bundle URL for framework 'OpenGL.framework' OpenGL: Version: OpenGL 2.1 [2.1 NVIDIA-10.2.7 310.41.25f01] Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M OpenGL Engine Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation VRAM: 1024 MB Extensions: GL_ARB_color_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_clamp GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_draw_elements_base_vertex GL_ARB_draw_instanced GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_framebuffer_object GL_ARB_framebuffer_sRGB GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_ARB_half_float_vertex GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_instanced_arrays GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_provoking_vertex GL_ARB_seamless_cube_map GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shader_texture_lod GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_sync GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_compression_rgtc GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_float GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_texture_rg GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_array_bgra GL_ARB_vertex_blend GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_bindable_uniform GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_debug_label GL_EXT_debug_marker GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test GL_EXT_draw_buffers2 GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample_blit_scaled GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB GL_EXT_geometry_shader4 GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_packed_float GL_EXT_provoking_vertex GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture_array GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_integer GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_EXT_texture_shared_exponent GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_decode GL_EXT_timer_query GL_EXT_transform_feedback GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra GL_APPLE_aux_depth_stencil GL_APPLE_client_storage GL_APPLE_element_array GL_APPLE_fence GL_APPLE_float_pixels GL_APPLE_flush_buffer_range GL_APPLE_flush_render GL_APPLE_object_purgeable GL_APPLE_packed_pixels GL_APPLE_pixel_buffer GL_APPLE_rgb_422 GL_APPLE_row_bytes GL_APPLE_specular_vector GL_APPLE_texture_range GL_APPLE_transform_hint GL_APPLE_vertex_array_object GL_APPLE_vertex_array_range GL_APPLE_vertex_point_size GL_APPLE_vertex_program_evaluators GL_APPLE_ycbcr_422 GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_texture_float GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_conditional_render GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_fragment_program_option GL_NV_fragment_program2 GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint GL_NV_point_sprite GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_barrier GL_NV_vertex_program2_option GL_NV_vertex_program3 GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL: Detected 58720528 MB VRAM Begin MonoManager ReloadAssembly Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/UnityEngine.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/UnityEngine.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-CSharp-firstpass.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-CSharp-firstpass.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-CSharp.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-CSharp.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-UnityScript-firstpass.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Assembly-UnityScript-firstpass.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/UnityEngine.UI.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/UnityEngine.UI.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/SteamworksManaged.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/SteamworksManaged.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/MySql.Data.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/MySql.Data.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/OEICommon.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/OEICommon.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/OEIFormats.dll (this message is harmless) Loading /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/OEIFormats.dll into Unity Child Domain - Completed reload, in 0.076 seconds Switching to 2880x1800 fullscreen Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/System.Core.dll (this message is harmless) Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/System.dll (this message is harmless) Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/System.Xml.dll (this message is harmless) --->InitializeDisplay()... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Available display resolutions: [ 0 ] 2880x1800 [ 1 ] 2560x1600 [ 2 ] 2048x1280 [ 3 ] 1920x1200 [ 4 ] 1680x1050 [ 5 ] 1440x900 [ 6 ] 1280x800 [ 7 ] 1024x640 [ 8 ] 840x525 [ 9 ] 720x450 [ 10 ] 1024x768 [ 11 ] 800x600 [ 12 ] 640x480 Largest resolution is [ 0 ] 2880x1800 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->InitializeRoutine(0, Fullscreen, )... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->GetDesktopResolution() returning 2880x1800 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeResolutionRoutine( 0, False )... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeResolutionRoutine( 0, False ) _currentResolutionIndex is 0 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeResolutionRoutine( 0, False ) calling Screen.SetResolution(2880, 1800, True). (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Checking to instantiate global... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Instantiating global. (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) ---- GAME BUILD VERSION: 530 ---- (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Game is not running Windows 32 Bit (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 291650 Steam_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561197970166619 [API loaded no] Loading table: ClassDefenses CharacterStats;CharacterClass;,BaseDeflection,BaseFortitude,BaseReflexes,BaseWill,MeleeAccuracyBonus,RangedAccuracyBonus,MaxHealth,MaxStamina,HealthStaminaPerLevel,ClassHealthMultiplier Undefined,25,20,20,20,40,40,36,36,12,6 Fighter,25,20,20,20,30,30,42,42,14,5 Rogue,15,20,20,20,30,30,36,36,12,4 Priest,15,20,20,20,20,20,36,36,12,3 Wizard,10,20,20,20,20,20,30,30,10,3 Barbarian,15,20,20,20,25,25,48,48,16,6 Ranger,20,20,20,20,30,30,36,36,12,5 Druid,20,20,20,20,20,20,36,36,12,4 Paladin,25,20,20,20,25,25,42,42,14,5 Monk,25,20,20,20,30,30,42,42,14,6 Cipher,20,20,20,20,25,25,30,30,10,4 Chanter,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,4 Troll,25,20,20,20,30,30,84,84,28,6 Ogre,30,20,20,20,50,50,84,84,28,6 Wolf,25,20,20,20,30,30,42,42,14,6 Spider,25,20,20,20,30,30,36,36,12,6 Ooze,15,20,20,20,25,25,48,48,16,6 Stelgaer,25,20,20,20,30,30,42,42,14,6 Imp,25,20,20,20,30,30,36,36,12,6 DankSpore,10,20,20,20,30,30,72,72,24,6 SwampLurker,10,20,20,20,30,30,72,72,24,6 Eoten,25,20,20,20,30,30,48,48,16,6 Xaurip,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Vithrack,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 WillOWisp,40,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Delemgan,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Pwgra,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Wurm,25,20,20,20,35,35,48,48,16,6 Skuldr,25,20,20,20,25,25,42,42,14,6 Drake,45,20,20,20,55,55,72,72,24,6 SkyDragon,55,20,20,20,60,60,72,72,24,6 AdraDragon,65,20,20,20,60,60,72,72,24,6 Blight,25,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Animat,25,20,20,20,25,25,30,30,10,6 FleshConstruct,25,20,20,20,25,25,72,72,24,6 Shadow,45,35,35,40,35,35,30,30,10,6 Phantom,45,35,35,40,25,25,30,30,10,6 CeanGwla,45,35,35,40,25,25,30,30,10,6 Skeleton,15,20,20,20,25,25,36,36,12,6 Revenant,15,20,20,20,25,25,72,72,24,6 Gul,25,20,20,20,25,25,72,72,24,6 Dargul,25,20,20,20,25,25,72,72,24,6 Fampyr,35,20,20,20,25,25,72,72,24,6 Wicht,25,20,20,20,25,25,30,30,10,6 Beetle,25,20,20,20,25,25,42,42,14,6 AnimalCompanion,25,20,20,20,30,30,36,36,12,5 WeakEnemy,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1 HeraldOfWoedica,15,20,20,20,50,50,84,84,28,6 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Loading table: Experience ExperienceTableData;Level;,Experience,StrongholdTurns 1,1500,4 2,3000,10 3,4500,15 4,6000,15 5,7500,15 6,9000,20 7,10500,20 8,12000,20 9,13500,20 10,15000,20 11,16500,20 12,0,0 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) 3 data files parsed! (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->MatchResolutionToIndex(2880x1800) returning 0 (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->TryChangeResolutionAndDisplayMode(0, Fullscreen)... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->TryChangeResolutionAndDisplayMode(0, Fullscreen) _currentResolutionIndex is 0, _currentDisplayMode is Unknown (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->TryChangeResolutionAndDisplayMode(0, Fullscreen) returning false. Not initialized. (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeDisplayModeRoutine( Fullscreen, True )... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeDisplayModeRoutine( Fullscreen, True ) _currentDisplayMode is Unknown (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) --->ChangeDisplayModeRoutine( Fullscreen, True ) calling Screen.fullscreen(true). (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Switching to 2880x1800 fullscreen UnloadTime: 0.338618 ms Checking to instantiate global... (Filename: /Applications/buildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/MacStandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49) Shader warmup: 14 shaders 32 combinations 0.006s Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/System.Configuration.dll (this message is harmless) System.SystemException: Error running gmcs: Cannot find the specified file at Mono.CSharp.CSharpCodeCompiler.CompileFromFileBatch (System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters options, System.String[] fileNames) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Mono.CSharp.CSharpCodeCompiler.CompileAssemblyFromFileBatch (System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters options, System.String[] fileNames) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Mono.CSharp.CSharpCodeCompiler.CompileAssemblyFromFile (System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters options, System.String fileName) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.GenerateSerializers (System.Xml.Serialization.GenerationBatch batch, System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters cp) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.RunSerializerGeneration (System.Object obj) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 Unloading 7 Unused Serialized files (Serialized files now loaded: 4 / Dirty serialized files: 0) Unloading 27 unused Assets to reduce memory usage. Loaded Objects now: 3003. Total: 8.260608 ms (FindLiveObjects: 0.118182 ms CreateObjectMapping: 0.162828 ms MarkObjects: 7.652433 ms DeleteObjects: 0.220013 ms) Platform assembly: /Users/Matt/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Pillars of Eternity/PillarsOfEternity.app/Contents/Data/Managed/Boo.Lang.dll (this message is harmless) Unloading 1 Unused Serialized files (Serialized files now loaded: 4 / Dirty serialized files: 0) Unloading 21014 unused Assets to reduce memory usage. Loaded Objects now: 15760. Total: 33.754047 ms (FindLiveObjects: 1.618508 ms CreateObjectMapping: 1.822037 ms MarkObjects: 17.704527 ms DeleteObjects: 12.556326 ms) KQ: Error reading KQ:Interrupted system call

Good temporary workaround tip, @ncreen_same... although the game is still inherently broken. Workaround: By going into Display Settings and using a scaled option for "More Space" (see screenshot) I can launch the game without the screen being clipped. The problem is that the game wants to launch at 2880x1800 - the Retina display's natural resolution, but it's not taking display scaling into account. OSX acts as if the screen as 1440x900 so that all items are a comfortable size for the physical screen, while using HiDPI scaling to ensure everything is nice and crisp. So when the game attempts to launch at 2880x1800 it is doing so at 2880x1800 plus OSX scaling instead of 2880x1800 native (no scaling)... meaning that the game window ends up much larger than the physical screen and is therefore unusable. When the game launches, it needs to launch at either... 1) Half-resolution with scaling (pixel-doubling)... e.g. 1440x900 @ 2X / 144dpi 2) Full resolution without scaling (native dpi) Care should be taken with #2 as it might cause UI elements to become tiny and unusable on smaller HiDPI screens. This is clearly a bug that needs to be fixed ASAP. Anyone unable to figure out this scaling problem would be completely unable to play the game AT ALL on their HiDPI MacBooks and iMacs... and even so, playing the game requires using undesirable, unoptimal display settings OS-wide - and then changing back afterward so that you can continue using the computer comfortably. Also, as I stated before, this bug isn't present on Windows... only on OSX.

On my MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display under OSX Yosemite, the game is highly zoomed in to such an extent that I can't even access the options, let alone play. Here's a screenshot... I should add that this scaling problem does not exist on my Bootcamp Windows 7 partition. This only happens in OSX.

I didn't even know about them until seeing some references in this thread! I'm not sure I have it in me to go back and try again though. I've got a big enough backlog of games already and not nearly enough time. But I'm more than happy to watch Chris Avellone play through the whole thing. Provided it's on YouTube or somewhere I can pause at will, I can watch the playthrough while I work. Sidenote: I'd prefer YouTube, but NOT in 10m clips. YouTube can take videos of any length, so split it up into 1h chunks please.

I found the Arcanum MUCH more enjoyable once I replaced the music with the Fallout soundtrack. No offense, but Arcanum's soundtrack is like a lullaby. It puts you to sleep even while you're committing sundry atrocities across the land. That said, I never managed to finish the game. I've made at least two serious attempts... both times, as soon as I started really getting into it, I ran into game-ending bugs that were never fixed. :-/

Two things. For one, there a lot of ways to work deducible clues into the world so that players can prepare... so it also becomes a bit of a matter of world design. For instance, you can find out that guards/soldiers of a particular kingdom or caste use one type of weapon or armor, and adjust your party to compensate. Second, you could allow players, in certain circumstances, to quickly re-equip at the start of battle... provided they aren't being caught off guard (slightly similar to D&D's old flat-footed rules). You should be able to tell, just by looking, generally what the enemies are wearing. You might then have the opportunity to spend you first turn quickly changing out your gear to be more appropriate to the situation. Alternatively, you might send a thief/rogue to scout ahead, sparing you from spending a precious turn/time changing gear. As for studded leather, I know there isn't a historical precedent, but I don't tend to weigh high fantasy against actual history. Magic isn't historical either, so I give it a pass. Who's to say someone in a fantasy world hasn't invented it? I'm not saying I want it or not, I really don't have a horse in that race. I'm just saying it's plausible even if it's not historical ;-) I'm also of a mind that fun trumps realism unless it starts getting REALLY wacky... which is why I can recommend changing armor at the beginning of a battle with a straight face. Heck, in my PnP D&D days, there were a couple instances where a player wanted to change gear mid-fight (technically against the rules), and the other players protected (or tried to protect) them while they did. I allowed it because was actually a rather fun and interesting scenario.

As others have already mentioned, I'd be more in favor of a system where different armor/weapons have different attributes and you would wear whatever you felt was most suitable to the tactical situation and your particular character build. For realism, this would rank "ehhhhhhhhh" but it turns armor choice vs character build a rewarding tactical decision. Throw in the idea of damage mitigation vs evade, and you now have a tactically rewarding system. That is, armor offers damage mitigation, but keeping your agility (or equivalent) higher means you have a better chance of not getting hit at all. Of course, if/when you DO get hit, it's a lot more damaging since your armor isn't mitigating any damage. You could even balance this with a set of evade-specific abilities that become unavailable with heavier armor selections (to help ensure evade characters have a fair shot at staying alive). For example, see these simple samples (I DARE you to say that ten times fast): Plate - Very strong against bludgeoning, moderate against slashing, weak against piercing, disables all evade abilities & seriously hinders movement Chain - Strong against piercing, moderate against slashing, weak against bludgeoning, some limits on certain abilities & movement Studded Leather - Strong against slashing, moderate against bludgeoning, weak against piercing. few limits on certain abilities or movement Leather - Moderate against all types of damage, very few limites, if any No Armor - No protection, but gives a bonus to evade chance (see below) Attributes like this allow you to populate the world with armor that is definitely better than others, but also somewhat specialized and diverse. It's no longer ONLY vertical armor progression system, but a horizontal one as well.