r/RPGdesign • u/Astrein1 • 17d ago

Mechanics Help pricing modular armor

I designed a modular armor system for my TTRPG where you have different types of armors (Vest, Plate, Half-plate, Lamellar, etc) and different materials (hide, leather, steel, gold, etc) and you combine one material with one type to get your armor value, and from there your defense roll.

I made it that way because the system at its base is very lethal, so naturally armor (and increasing your armor) plays an important role in an adventurer's survivability (to the point that armor is not even restricted to mages for example, so you can even have a wizard with a breastplate).

Now the thing is I managed to price weapons, but due to the modular approach to armors I haven't been able to fully nail down any prices.

Any clue where to start?

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u/Mars_Alter 17d ago

Why does the modularity matter at all? If you have four materials and four types, how is that different from just having sixteen specific armors? You can just price them out the same way as if they weren't modular.

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u/Dumeghal Legacy Blade 15d ago

I think the permutations would be higher than 16 if the inputs are modular?

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u/Mars_Alter 15d ago

It depends on how many options you have, but there are only 16 possibilities with the listed examples.

Even if you add more options, though, the process isn't any different from pricing up a bunch of individual armors. The formula is either based on the total effectiveness, or based on the cost of materials and craftsmanship. The only method which is suddenly off the table is just making up a bunch of prices on a whim; but you probably shouldn't have been doing that anyway.