20 hours ago, Nivrap said:

A bolt won't blast through a shield unless the GM wills it to be so, which would probably be a despair considering it's essentially destroying the player's equipment.

The main difference between soak and defense when it comes to armor is that defense represents the potential for the armor to completely dissipate the shot (a capability which most armors don't have anyway), while soak represents the amount of the shot that is dissipated if the shot still goes through. Essentially, defense ratings on armor represent the potential for total soak.

Now, see this is where I disagree, and why I don't like Armor Defense bonuses in any game system (which is one of the key reasons I stopped playing D&D years ago). Defense, as I read it, is the ability to avoid being hit ; not deflect a hit, not turn it away; to avoid being hit at all. Armor does not, in any way, shape or form, prevent you from getting hit.Armor, however, absorbs damage after you have been hit . That is what it does. That is all it does. It is actually easier to hit someone wearing armor than someone who isn't. A shield, however, does, prevent you from being hit, to a point, since it is, in effect, portable cover .

7 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Now, see this is where I disagree, and why I don't like Armor Defense bonuses in any game system (which is one of the key reasons I stopped playing D&D years ago). Defense, as I read it, is the ability to avoid being hit ; not deflect a hit, not turn it away; to avoid being hit at all. Armor does not, in any way, shape or form, prevent you from getting hit.Armor, however, absorbs damage after you have been hit . That is what it does. That is all it does. It is actually easier to hit someone wearing armor than someone who isn't. A shield, however, does, prevent you from being hit, to a point, since it is, in effect, portable cover .

The problem, in my opinion with this system, is that in a lot of ways, Defense and Soak work very similar. Since successes on attack rolls directly translate to damage (every suxx beyond the minimum = extra damage), then any potential failures rolled on Defense, at least in a mechanical sense function as Soak. Sure it's a bit random, but the end result is that can reduce how much damage you take, possibly down to the minimum of the weapon.

Though I don't understand how you can say that a shield helps you not be hit. I mean if we are talking about the classic shield concept, a block of some material that absorbs an attack, you are still being "hit" by your definition. Anyone that has held a shield when someone took a whack at it knows full well that they still feel the hit. In fact, you could still take damage to your arm while technically not "being hit", simply from the impact of the shield against your arm. So by your definition, I think a shield would still only count as soak, because it's still something connected to your body that has taken a hit, just the hit didn't do any damage to you (potentially)

Just now, KungFuFerret said:

The problem, in my opinion with this system, is that in a lot of ways, Defense and Soak work very similar. Since successes on attack rolls directly translate to damage (every suxx beyond the minimum = extra damage), then any potential failures rolled on Defense, at least in a mechanical sense function as Soak. Sure it's a bit random, but the end result is that can reduce how much damage you take, possibly down to the minimum of the weapon.

Though I don't understand how you can say that a shield helps you not be hit. I mean if we are talking about the classic shield concept, a block of some material that absorbs an attack, you are still being "hit" by your definition. Anyone that has held a shield when someone took a whack at it knows full well that they still feel the hit. In fact, you could still take damage to your arm while technically not "being hit", simply from the impact of the shield against your arm. So by your definition, I think a shield would still only count as soak, because it's still something connected to your body that has taken a hit, just the hit didn't do any damage to you (potentially)

A shield is used to block or parry a blow, much like a sword, staff, pol-arm, etc. can; not in the way the game rules present Parry, but by the actual dictionary definition of parry:

When an attack is successfully parried, you are not hit. The blow never makes contact your body. Thus, you aren't being hit at all. In fact, a shield has a lot of surface area that can be struck, that isn't anywhere near your body, making it much better for parrying a blow. Like I said, it's similar to cover in that sense. Sure, if the blow, lands right over your arm, then you're likely to feel the shock of the blow. But there are reasons why certain weapons were designed to pull shields out of the way. Shields are very good at providing actual defense against your body actually being struck by a blow. Armor does not. Armor, essentially being a second skin that covers the body, simply absorbs damage from blows that actually make contact with you directly. Hence why most games use some form of Damage Reduction/Stopping Power system for armor. As far as I know, only D&D still uses an exclusive Armor Defense bonus.