I know that darker shade weapons can not damage lighter shade armor, but how do you figure the black shade V.A. versus the grey shade armor?
(Example: Sweet Axe versus Dwarven Forge Mask and Shield complements to Dwarven Mail)
VA is unchanged. The benefit of better shade armor is that it’s more likely to roll successes and overcome VA.
Also, if I remember correctly armor can’t be damaged by a lower shade weapon.
So if someone hits your gray armor with a black weapon and you roll a 1 on your armor check, no damage.
That’s what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation guys!
While looking for the infamous “Don’t Use This System” essay in the original BW book, I found an interesting fact: in the first iteration of the rules armor ignored VA on weapons of a lesser shade. That disappeared in BWR.
Also wow, I’d forgotten how rough the rules and the tone of the rules were way back then. No wonder I didn’t even try to play the game until the revision! I can’t help but notice that Revised is when Thor appears in the editing credits, too…
“Don’t Use This System” - what, seriously? Rule Zero in Burning Wheel? Or did it mean something else?
Please don’t derail this rather useful and informative thread!
Are you more likely to damage a mundane weapon by striking heroic armor with it? And if so, how is that determined for shoddy, run of the mill, and superior weaponry?
There are no rules about damaging your weapons.
At risk of raising Luke’s ire, the “Don’t Use This System” essay appears at the end of first edition BW. It’s a completely deadpan essay sarcastically suggesting that you shouldn’t use BW because games aren’t about rules, the best roleplaying involves no dice, and—oh horror—BW might change the way you play other games. It got badly misunderstood and badly taken amiss. I still find it very funny, though, and it’s not half bad as a snarky manifesto for why you should play BW.
(Aha, gotcha. Thanks.
I’ll butt out of the thread now until I think of something constructive to add.)
So the only time you could risk breaking your weapon is by using a lighter shade power with a darker shade weapon and getting no successes.