Hey, sorry if this has been addressed somewhere else, my searching availed me not.
I was just going over the armor rules, and on page 27, it says… “Armor obeys the following general rules: Armor reduces an attacker’s successful or tied Attack or
Feint action by -1s.”
Then on the next page, the entry for leather armor gives rules for the once per fight roll to reduce an Attack or Feint result by one success. But I’m not seeing any indication that leather armor’s rules override the general armor rules from page 27. I assumed that was supposed to be the case, but I just wanted to make sure.
Is leather meant to give the universal -1S on Attack and Feint rules plus a once per fight chance to give an extra -1S, or is it only meant to give the chance for -1S once per fight?
How does this pair with weapons that bypass armor? Is there no check made and thus the armor can be used later against something else? Can you choose not to roll for your armor and thus not have you once per combat effect bypassed and used?
How does this pair with other armor types and weapons that can bypass them? I know chain has to roll to degrade even if bypassed. Are helmets broken if bypassed or can the wearer choose not to have the helmet activate?
Leather armor is the only armor that requires you to roll to determine whether it is effective at negating damage. You must use it if you are targeted by a successful or tied Attack or Feint, but it is only used if you roll the die to see whether it’s effective. If it gets bypassed by an arrow, bolt or spear, it has not been used.
You don’t need to test chain and plate to negate one point of damage. They do so automatically (though chain doesn’t function against maces and warhammers). Instead, you test to determine whether they were damaged. Chain doesn’t function against maces and warhammers, but has the caveat that you must test to see whether the armor is damaged anyway. Plate protects against all weapons, but maces and warhammers are more likely to damage it.
Unlike armor, the player may choose whether or not to use a helmet against a particular Attack or Feint.