You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars Blue Oyster Cult, Veteran of the Psychic Wars |
Note that these rules rely on my Semi-cumulative damage system.
When hard, pointy things go through armor, it generally leaves dents, holes, and cuts in the armor, making the armor less effective. After a while, you will probably want to either get your armor fixed or replaced.
All armor has a Hardness score (abbreviated HD). This is how much damage the armor can ignore. Armor with a HD of 5, for example, ignores the first 5 points of damage. This is treated just like DR for the armor itself.
Damage in excess of the HD that is absorbed by the armor causes structural damage to the armor. Armor is homogenous, so it will take 1 point of damage for each full 3 points of piercing, impaling, or beam damage absorbed, and full damage from any other damage type.
Armor that has suffered a Massive "wound," may break on a failed HT check, as with anything else that suffered such a wound. Broken armor provides no protection. For every Gawdawful "wound," the armor is at half DR (so 1/4 DR at two Gawdawful wounds, 1/8 DR at three, and so on). Armor that has suffered a Destroyed "wound" is, well, destroyed and provides no protection.
Use common sense! Flexible armor will not be harmed by blunt objects doing crushing damage. Flanged maces, crocodile bites and other attacks that are technically crushing but have sharp pointy bits for piercing and tearing will harm flexible armor. Punches, falls, explosive shock waves, collisions with automobiles, and most clubs will not. Any armor with a flex of 1 and HD 0 can be considered flexible for this purpose, as is chainmail.