GreyGriffin:
In reply to jtcbrown (msg # 15):
Armor reducing chance to hit makes quite a lot of sense, especially if you redefine "hit" as "being damaged/wounded/impeded by an injury." A man in plate can be struck by a hundred arrows, but even though they impact on his armor, none of them really "hit" him.
Armor as Damage Reduction in general allows much more chip damage through (since's armor's DR is usually balanced to allow even low level characters to chew through it), but can actually make combat much longer as you can't balance around a soft chewy center in a hard candy shell.
Yes, Armor reducing the chance "to be hit and take damage" does make perfect sense, in those systems that are designed around it.
Any way you slice it, there is no "realistic" way to emulate injury in an RPG. Every system has its own take on it, be it very game-y, or an attempt to emulate reality.
HERO is designed such that only a "telling blow" will truly injure an armored opponent, while an unarmored opponent either has higher DCV (less likely to be hit), or have "armor-like" skills or talents that similarly reduce damage taken.
That isn't to say HERO is better, or anything. It is just designed around this mechanic, while D20 is designed around Armor Class. Changing that would almost require gutting the system.