It does not matter how well a player plays his PC, how tactically smart they are, how carefull, etc... This is rolemaster, PCs die. Players can reduce this chance by being very cautious - but even if they are, they can still end up dieing. We had one game where a house cat killed a character - great for laughs - and it shows how even a carefull character my end up dead if they even offend Tabby (common sense house rules now prevent such humiliatiing defeats).
So, I like fate points, my players like fate points, and I'm sure their PCs appreciate the little extra insurance. Also, the player that runs a gung ho barbian may have a chance of making it past first level, and have fun not playing Miss Congeniality all the time to avoid fights (nice kitty, kitty, kitty).
The armor idea is just another twist on fate points - I like making PCs have to give up something to twist fate (good idea Nejira) - but I do not like having it be something as cheap as armor (bad idea Nejira). Here is how my gamers would play it:
- Wow, that was a tough battle and I had to sacrifice my helmit to keep my brains from getting crushed.
- I agree, are you ready to move on now?
- NO
- No???
- Wait for me to go out to the mules and get a spare before our next battle.
-Oh ya, how many do we have left?