====== Protection ======

{{:items:copper_plate.png?nolink }} **Protection** is a defensive attribute that serves as damage reduction. While [[Defence Skill]] prevents attacks from hitting, and while [[Hit Points]] prevent attacks from killing, Protection reduces the HP impact of most attacks that get through Defence Skill.

Combat in Dominions is similar to that in Fire Emblem and other tactical RPGs, with Defence Skill being Evasion, Protection being Defense, and HP being what it always is. Alternatively, if this were a spaceship game, HP would be Hull, Protection would be Armor, and Defence Skill would be a cross between Evasion and Energy Shields.

===== The Roll =====

When a hit lands, it gets a **Damage** [[DRN]] roll, and the target gets a **Protection** DRN roll. For melee hits, the base for the Damage roll is derived from the weapon strength and the user's [[Strength]]. This is also true for most close-range missile hits (those from thrown weapons), but long-ranged missile hits typically rely on Strength a lot less.

In the most-basic case, the base of the target's Protection roll is their Protection score for the area being hit, and the resulting difference between the two rolls is the base damage dealt. In Dominions 6, the Torso, the Arms, and the Legs are all covered by **Body Protection**, while the Head is only covered by **Head Protection**. Only Area-of-Effect (AOE) attacks such as ??Gifts from Heaven?? hit the target's **Average Protection** (the score shown on the main character sheet), which is calculated by adding 90% of Body Protection with 10% of Head Protection.

==== Armor-Defeating Hits ====

Dominions does have critical hits, but these are more akin to critical failures on the part of the target. If the [[DRN]] on the Protection roll (two d6's, with rolled 6's being counted as 5's and prompting another roll) yields a **2**, the Protection added to that roll is **reduced by 25%**. This is multiplicative. [[Fatigue]] on the target increases the threshold:
  * **50 to 99** Fatigue makes the threshold **3**, increasing the odds of an armor-defeating hit from 1/36 to 1/12.
  * **100 or more** Fatigue makes the threshold **4**, increasing the odds of an armor-defeating hit to 1/6.
    * Immobility (either as a trait or as a byproduct of a temporary trait) also makes the threshold **4**.

==== Damage Types ====

Very few attacks are utterly basic. Most nonmagical attacks have at least one sort of damage type, and a significant amount of [[magic|magical]] attacks are either **Armor-Piercing** or **Armor-Negating**. An Armor-Piercing hit deducts **50%** of the target's Protection from what's applied to their Protection roll, and an Armor-Negating hit has **none of it** apply.

  * {{:abilities:resist_pierce.png?nolink }} **Piercing** hits strike a fine point, deducting **15%** from the target's Protection that's applied to their Protection roll. This is subtractive, so an Armor-Piercing Piercing hit (such as a Crossbow bolt) goes against only 35% of the target's Protection.
  * {{:abilities:resist_blunt.png?nolink }} **Blunt** hits are concussive, making them 25% stronger when hitting the Head. This is multiplicative, and it's applied **after the Damage roll** but **before the Protection roll**. The chance to hit a humanoid's Head varies with [[size]] and reach, but it's normally 10%.
  * {{:abilities:resist_slash.png?nolink }} **Slashing** hits cut flesh and thus harm a wider area of the body, making them 25% stronger **after both the Damage roll and the Protection roll are applied**. This is also multiplicative. 

Note that only **one** of these is applied on a hit, at random if the attack has more than one. A Short Sword can be used to **either** stab or slash, for instance, while ??Flying Shards?? may hit you with either a flat end or a sharp end.

===== Contributions to Protection =====

There are three Protection scores: **[[Natural Protection]]** (which applies to both the Body and the Head), **Armor Protection** (which applies to whichever area it's worn on), and **Shield Protection** (which only applies if the Attack-versus-Defence rolls resulted in a shield hit).

Natural Protection and Armor Protection stack, but with diminishing returns. They cannot add up to be greater than **40**, though a unit with zero Natural Protection or zero Armor Protection could technically have more than 40 in the other. This is enforced by a penalty equal to the two multiplied together and divided by 40, though the result is rounded up.

For example, say a unit with 4 Natural Protection wears armor that provides 15 Protection to the body. \\ Their Body Protection is [15 + 4 - (15 * 4 / 40)], simplified down to 19 - 1.5, or 17.5. This is rounded up to **18**.

Shield Protection is added on without diminishing returns.

====Shield Destruction ====

A shield //can// be partially overwhelmed. Shields can be damaged by a hit whose damage **before the Protection roll** is **triple** the shield's Protection score, plus 15 if the shield is magical; as a result, the shield's Protection is reduced by 20% before the Protection roll is performed, and it remains that way for the rest of the battle. If it's **5x** the shield's Protection (plus 25 if the shield is magical), the shield is broken, and the penalty is 50%.

The above penalties do not stack, neither with themselves nor with each other; however, a damaged shield that is damaged again has a 25% chance to be broken.

{{:abilities:resist_blunt.png?25&nolink}} Blunt hits count as being 25% stronger for damaging/breaking shields, while {{:abilities:resist_slash.png?25&nolink}} Slashing hits count as being 50% stronger.

The Protection penalties are the same for damaged/broken Armor, if it somehow gets damaged or broken. Armor damage most-commonly happens to {{:abilities:rusty_equipment.png??15&nolink}}[[Rust|rusty]] armor; the chance for damage to rusty armor is calculated by taking the Damage roll, subtracting Shield Protection if the hit was a shield hit, and multiplying it by 2%. In Dominions, ordinary hits otherwise don't damage armor.

===== Stat Examples =====

^  Example Monster  ^  Their PROT  ^
|  **An unarmored human**  |  0  |
|  Most unarmored half-Giants (Size 4 or 5)  |  1  |
|  An unarmored [[atlantis-ea|Atlantian]]  |  2  |
|  Most unarmored [[Pretender God|Pretender]] Titan forms  |  3  |
|  An Gygja of [[jotunheim-ma|Jotunheim]]'s head  |  5  |
|  A ??Vine Man??  |  7  |
|  A human in a Ring Mail Cuirass (body)  |  8  |
|  A human in a Ring Mail Hauberk (body)  |  10  |
|  An ??Ogre??'s body  |  13  |
|  A human in a Scale Mail Hauberk (body)  |  13  |
|  A human in a Plate Cuirass (body)  |  14  |
|  A Size-7 ??Earth Elemental??  |  14  |
|  A human's head, with an Iron Cap on it  |  16  |
|  An unarmored human, blocking with a standard Shield  |  16  |
|  Most true Dragons with no adornments  |  18  |
|  An ??Iron Pig??  |  20  |
|  A ??Royal Guard??, in their Full Plate Mail and Helm  |  21  |
|  Most [[Pretender God|Pretender]] Idol forms  |  25  |
|  A ??Triarius??, blocking a hit with their Tower Shield  |  34  |
|  ??Scabiel - Maker of Ruins??  |  35  |
|  A ??Hoplite??, blocking a body hit with their Hoplon  |  37  |
|  A ??Black Knight?? in their armor, blocking with their shield  |  45  |