Reading an old thread discussing why armor is factored into AC against special maneuvers such as: disarm, wrestling, and knock down, I thought about an alternative and came up with the following idea.
Essentially, instead of AC vs. such maneuvers being armor + Dex mod, it would be a number derived from the combatant’s Attack Throw Value + Dex mod. To not get it confused with AC, I’ll term it, for lack of a better term, MC (maneuver class).
For monsters, it breaks down as follows:
HD = MC
1 or less = 1
1+ to 2 = 2
2+ to 3 = 3
3+ to 4 = 4
4+ to 5 = 5
5+ to 6 = 6
6+ to 7 = 7
7+ to 9 = 8
9+ to 11 = 9
11+ to 13 = 10
13+ to 15 = 11
15+ to 17 = 12
17+ to 19 = 13
19+ to 21 = 14
21+ or more = 15
For Mages:
Level = MC
1-3 = 1
4-6 = 2
7-9 = 3
10-12 = 4
13-14 = 5
I haven’t actually implemented this in my own games, but I might try it someday (I’d rather keep playing by-the-book until I become very comfortable with the system). I’m just throwing it out there as an idea for those who feel there is a disconnect to adding in armor as a factor against such maneuvers. In essence, MC would be a numerical representation of a combatant’s experience/skill in defending against such attacks.
It would mean that against heavily armored low-level combatants, you’d be better off attempting special maneuvers than conventional attacks. I don’t know if that’s a bug or feature.
This is the first step towards creating an “armor reduces damage” variant of ACKS, with the values listed above replacing AC for most purposes.
Trailblazer (and Pathfinder, I don’t know which one was first) utilizes the same thing; Combat Maneuver Defense.
Trailblazer is essentially identical - Touch AC (usually just DEX Mod) + BAB, with a bonus or penalty for size. Pathfinder adds the STR mod as well.
I know if I’m a goblin and there’s a human in plate, I’m going to want to knock him down and stab him through the helmet-holes.
Wrestling would get allies a +4 to attack, attacking a prone opponent is at a +2; whether or not you’d give a full +6 to a third goblin attacking a target two other goblins had knocked down and wrestled, I don’t know.
That +6 does essentially negate plate armor, however.
In this case, I’m not sure I’d stack the prone bonus and the bonus to hit on a combatant held with wrestling. I’d rule that the wrestling bonus subsumes the hit bonus granted on a prone opponent.
If pressed, I’d cite as precedent, previous commentary that the +2 bonus from attacking from behind and the +4 bonus from backstab don’t stack (Acrobatics Proficiency on p.57-58 eludes to this as well).