Defense...

Defense represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid, damaging blow on a character (or object). Defense replaces the Armor Class rules, but like AC, a character’s Defense score is the result that an opponent needs to achieve to hit the character. This system is based on the same system found in d20 modern. The average, unarmored civilian has a Defense of 10. A hero’s Defense is equal to:

10 + Dexterity modifier + class bonus + equipment bonus + size modifier.

If the character’s Dexterity is high, the character is particularly adept at dodging blows or ranged attacks. If the character’s Dexterity is low, the character is particularly inept at it.

A character’s class and level grant an innate bonus to Defense. This bonus measures the character’s combat savvy and applies in all situations. However, any situation in which the character would normally loose his or her Dexterity bonus causes the character to loose his or her class Defense bonus as well.

Class Bonus

Level              Good             Poor
1  --------------+2  ---------+1
2  --------------+3  ---------+1
3  --------------+3  ---------+2
4  --------------+4  ---------+2
5  --------------+5  ---------+3
6  --------------+5  ---------+3
7  --------------+6  ---------+4
8  --------------+7  ---------+4
9  --------------+7  ---------+5
10  -------------+8  ---------+5
11  -------------+9  ---------+6
12  -------------+9  ---------+6
13  ------------+10  ---------+7
14  ------------+11  ---------+7
15  ------------+11  ---------+8
16  ------------+12  ---------+8
17  ------------+13  ---------+9
18  ------------+13  ---------+9  
19  ------------+14  --------+10
20  ------------+15  --------+10
Good Defense: Rogue, Barbarian, & Defender
Poor Defense: Fighter, Wildlander, & Channeler

If the character wears armor, it provides a bonus to the character’s Defense. This bonus represents the armor’s ability to protect the character from blows.

Armor provides a minimum bonus to anyone who wears it, but a character who is profi cient in the use of a certain type of armor receives a larger bonus to Defense.

Sometimes the character can’t use the equipment’s bonus to Defense. If an attack will damage the character just by touching him or her, the character can’t add an equipment bonus (see Touch Attacks).

Feats: Some feats give a bonus to Defense. Any feat that would grant a bonus to AC, such as Dodge, grants an equal bonus to Defense.

Natural Armor: Some creatures have natural armor, which usually consists of scales, fur, or layers of thick muscle.

Dodge Bonuses: Some other Defense bonuses represent actively avoiding blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies the character his or her Dexterity bonus also denies the character dodge bonuses. Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other.

Magical Effects: Some magical effects offer enhancement bonuses to armor (making it more effective) or deflection bonuses that ward off attacks.

Some attacks disregard armor. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either a ranged touch attack roll or a melee touch attack roll). The attacker makes his or her attack roll as normal, but the character’s Defense does not include any equipment bonus or armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as class bonus, Dexterity modifier, and size modifier, apply normally.

In addition to the added bonus to Defense, armor is also capable of turning a lessening the effect of blows that do manage to hit the character. This is represented as damage reduction.

Certain armors are better suited against different attack methods. See the table below to determine what types of protection each type of armor offers.

------------------Slashing   / Bludgeoning   / Piercing
Padded     ----------0-----------1-------------0
Leather         -------1-----------1-------------1
Studded Leather  ----1----------2--------------1
Chain shirt ----------2-----------0-------------1

Hide ----------------2-----------1-------------1
Scalemail -----------2-----------2-------------2
Chainmail -----------3-----------1-------------1
Breastplate ---------3-----------2-------------2

Splint Mail ----------3-----------2-------------3
Banded Mail --------3------------3------------2
Half-Plate ----------3-----------3-------------3
Full Plate -----------4-----------3-------------3

Magic and the material the armor is composed of can make a difference to its protective qualities. Magical armor adds half it’s enhancement bonus (min +1) to its damage reduction value. Mithral adds a +1 bonus to its DR that stacks with magical enhancement. Armor forged with adamantine adds a +2 bonus and also stacks with magical enhancements.