[TORG] Why don't wizards run around in tin cans?

[Kansas Jim]

Dominick Riesland wrote:

> Why don't wizards operate on that same assumption? Why do we not see
> standard wizards, both in Torg and in traditional fantasy, clamoring
> for the hard crunchy shell that keeps the soft chewy center from being
> Purina Dragon Chow?

Traditional fantasy tends to come up with excuses for why not - it
hinders movement which they need to make their magical gestures,
wizards are all frail old men without the strength to wear heavy
armor, too much metal interferes with the flow of magical energies,
etc etc.

Torg though, I'm not seeing where you get the impression that Torg
magicians don't armor up. The two big spellcasters we have writeups
for, Ardinay and Uthorion, both have armor in their equipment lists.
Most of the magician PCs in my games have worn some kind of armor once
they got over their AD&D-inspired misconceptions that magicians can't
even wear armor.

[...]

> Is there such a tradeoff in Torg other than that of obtaining the
> trades to purchase the tougher armor or claiming it off a fallen foe?
> Should there be?

Others have mentioned that heavy armor imposes Fatigue penalties,
it also reduces your Dodge skill value. Those are the only game-
mechanical penalties, since there are no rules for encumbrance
even a STR 7 Curious Mage is capable of running around a battlefield
in full plate without it hindering him in any way aside from the
penalty to his Dodge skill.

-- 
Kansas Jim, Torg guru (ksjim (at) sdc (dot) org)
Torg website: http://www.sdc.org/~ksjim/index.html