Roll Initiative...

In my (admittedly not huge) DM experience, I've seen a number of rules that are either contested, or not fully understanded by other players.

Here I'm going to talk about probably the most common gripe I've heard... and that's AC (or armor class).

AC is basically a measure of how hard you are to hit when someone attacks you.
Basically - for anyone not in the know - since 3rd edition, AC is a number which an attacker has to match or exceed with an attack roll in order to score a hit; the larger the number, the harder it is to do this.

AC is made up of several factors; a standard 10 base number, size modifier (the bigger they are, the harder they are to hit), natural AC (due to thick scales, hide etc), Dex AC (how well you can duck and weave out of harm's way), Armor AC (due to the specific armour you're wearing, Shield AC (due to any shield you're carrying), and various AC bonuses from magical sources (Deflection, Divine etc).
Sum this all up, and you get your overall AC.

Now here's the controversy:
Some people claim that wearing amour shouldn't give you a boost to your AC, but rather should grant the wearer damage resistance (reducing the amount of damage you take from a sucessful hit).

Now, other than being difficult to implement due to balancing issues (as I've heard from game designers), this is a completely unecessary idea based on incomplete understanding of the mechanics of the game.
The normal AC system is also -in my opinion- far more realistic than the alternative.

This is the misunderstanding as I see it:
When someone fails to make an AC with their attack roll, most people see this as a 'miss':
You've swung your sword and the monster ducked completely under it.

Now, in some cases this is correct... if you roll terribly for attack, you can miss outright, and if your opponent has high Dex but light armour this is also likely to be the case.

At this point, a DR-pusher might say:
"But armour should cause the wearer difficulty in moving, rather than making them harder to miss... by removing the AC bonus, and replacing it with damage resistance"

Again, this is wrong. There is already a system to slow armour wearers down significantly... the Max Dex limit for the armour. Basically, if you're wearing full platemail, the most your Dexerity (and thus your Dex AC) can be is +1. For Leather armour, this is a much more reasonable maximum of +6, meaning that you can duck and weave quite effectively, but unfortunately, you have much worse protection.

So lets look at what AC really means:
AC is a measure of how hard you are to hit, as I already said. The key point to take in though, is not that not making the AC with an attack means you fail to hit your opponent; it means you fail to score a hit that damages your opponent.

Let's look again at the case of full plate armour. Say you made an attack on the warrior in his full plate, and you manage to beat his AC.
You swing your sword valiantly and- ...then what? Do you smack his breastplate with your blade and watch as somehow the slash cuts him inside his armor? Does your blade cut through the steel altogether?

Of course not... that would be silly. What happens is you strike a vulnerable area with your sword... the joints in the steel, or the places where there is less protection.

Let's do a recap. This was in one of the core rulebooks (I forget which one), in an often forgotten section.
What does your attack roll mean?

If your attack roll is less than 10 + your opponent's size modifier, then you missed him completely. He didn't even have to dodge, you were miles out.
If you roll slightly higher than before, but still less than 10 + size + Dex AC, then your foe has nicely dodged your attack.
If your roll exceeds this, but not by enough to overcome the shield bonus as well, then your weapon was deflected away my your foe's shield.
More than the above, but less than his magical AC bonus(es), then your blow was deflected away by an invisible, magical layer of force.
Higher still, but not above your enemy's armor bonus, then CLANG you just smacked his armor, but didn't score a hit.

If after all that, you beat his overall AC altogether you have made an attack that scores a hit in the gaps of his armour, and have wounded him.

All in all, that's a fairly comprehensive system that fully captures actual battle, wouldn't you think (excluding the magic, obviously)?
In the midst of a gaming session, it would really take to long to work out exactly what kind of miss an attack was, so it tends to default to "you missed", thus it's understandable why some people have gotten it into their heads that you miss altogether.

Ok, so now that I've defended the existing system for being completly valid and effective... let's see the alternative.

Damage resistance pops up in various different monsters. It's basically a way of saying that, a creature can take a hit, and not worry about damage from it.
Usually, damage resistance reduces any damage recieved by 5 or 10 points (though cases of greater damage resistance exists). Also, most damage resistance has a certain way of overcoming it.
Magic overcomes *all* damage resistance, but beyond that there are types that are overcome by magical weapons of certain strengths, some which are overcome by certain types of damage (zombies, for instance take normal damage from bludgeoning weapons, but not from slashing or piercing weapons since zombies aren't really using their organs anyway... who cares if you poke a few holes in them?) and some which require a specific material that a weapon needs to be made from in order to overcome it (lycanthropes are a big example here... everyone knows you need sliver weapons to harm a werewolf).
But regardless of the strength or what overcomes it; all damage resistance can be overcome if you do enough damage.

Let's think back to our poor friend trying to cut through his opponent's plate armour.... better yet, let's give him a dagger instead.
If the armour had damage resistance, rather than an AC bonus then if our friend was strong enough, he would be able to stab you quite easily through your steel armour.
That doesn't sound quite right, does it?

There are already rules in place that allow you to try and break your opponent's equipment, armour included... so let's not mess with the rules and make everything unbalanced and silly because of a misunderstanding, eh?

Note: I want to point out that I'm aware I alternated between 'armor' and 'armour' several times there.
This is because terms like 'armor bonus' are written that way, and I don't like messing with technical terms in case it causes confusion. Writing armour, as in the noun 'armour' however I am more than willing to do.

The greatest enemy of the Fair Folk is the drow, the debased followers of the Spider Queen who long ago were enmeshed in her dark web. Redemption and revenge may be achieved through the utter destruction of the drow and the dark deities they serve. Only then may the joy of life begin anew. Hunt fearlessly! - Dogma of the Church of Shevarash.

A night hunter is the embodiment of the ideals of The Black Archer, and the highest among his faithful. Much more than a priest, far beyond a simple hunter, she is a weapon, given wholly to Shevarash to wield, and rewarded with divine power.
While a ranger might train to improve his fighting technique against a few favoured opponents, a night hunter's whole existance revolves around becoming more deadly to drow.

Becoming a Night Hunter of Shevarash
Both the cleric and ranger class are ideal paths to becoming a night hunter of Sheverash, each benefiting from the class in different ways; a ranger gains vast improvements to her Favoured Enemy ability, while a cleric gains more potency in battle without sacrificing her spellcasting.
A multiclass cleric/ranger would gain both advantages, but runs the risk of becoming a jack of all trades, and master of none.
Ocassionally, a fallen paladin with a grudge against drow will embrace this class to partially regain their lost powers and learn how to better kill the dark elves that so wronged him.
Druids also occasionally take a few levels in this class to improve their martial skills, but are rare at best.

Entry Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Type: Cannot be drow
Alignment: Any chaotic
Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3 ranks, Knowledge (religion): 4 ranks
Feats: Weapon Focus (longbow), Track
Patron: Shevarash

Class skills: Concentration, Gather Information, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (religion), Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the night hunter of shevarash prestige class.
Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a night hunter of Shevarash, you must decide which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, and spells known.
Darkvision (Ex): At 7th level you gain darkvision out to 30ft. If you already had darkvision, this extends the range by 30ft. This ability lets a dark hunter see in the drow's dark domains.
Drow Poison Immunity (Ex): At 5th level, you gain a natural immunity to the knockout poison favoured by drow. This ability is in effect even if a non-drow attacks you with a weapon coated in drow poison, but does not ward against any other form of poison, even if used by a drow.
Favoured Enemy (Ex): At first level, your hatred for drow grants you a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot and Survival checks when using these skills against drow.
Likewise, you gain a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against drow.
At 4th level, this bonus increases to +4, and at 8th level it becomes +6. This ability stacks with any other favoured enemy (drow) feature that you gained from another source.
Lay on Hands (Sp): As a champion of the faith, a night hunter may lay on hands to heal herself or another creature involved in the hunt. From 2nd level onwards, the ability works like a paladin's ability to lay on hands, except the divine champion may heal 1 point of damage per dark hunter level times her charisma bonus.
This ability stacks with any other lay on hands ability you may have from another source.
Pierce Drow Defence (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, you gain a +1 bonus to caster level checks made to overcome the spell resistance common to all drow. At 6th level this bonus improves to +2, and at 9th level it improves one last time to +3.
This bonus stacks with the caster level bonus granted by the spell penetration, and greater spell penetration feats.
Smite Drow (Su): Once per day, a night hunter may attempt to smite a drow with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per night hunter level.
At 4th level, she may use this ability a second time per day, and at 8th level this extends further to a third use per day.
Sunbeam (Sp): At tenth level, a night hunter gains access to the greatest weapon in the fight against drow; once per day she may cast Sunbeam, as the spell.

Fallen Paladins
A fallen paladin that takes levels in dark hunter of Shevarash may reclaim some of his lost abilities, granted by Shevarash.

If the character had 2 or fewer paladin levels, he gains an additional smite drow attack per day on top of the number granted by the prestige class.
If the character had 3 or more paladin levels then he also regains his lay on hands ability that he had as a paladin. This ability stacks with the lay on hands ability of this prestige class (if any), but only functions on the faithful of Shevarash or those aiding in the hunt against the drow.

Ok, so let me explain the existence of this blog.

I play pen and paper role playing games; Dungeons & Dragons specifically. I'm a DM, and when I have time I will write adventures, rules and additional features for the two games I run weekly at my university.

This blog will be my record of DMly goings on, and a small archive of anything I create for the game.

I know that it's unlikely that any D&D players (or even fellow DMs) will blunder across this blog, but at least I'm making an effort.
And, hey... it's something to do and somewhere to keep all the crap I keep writing