mithral armor and masterwork quality

[Vinja]

hey guys, this seems like a great font of information so i would like to ask what the people here think of this question that came up in my gaming group. when you have a piece of mithral armor, say a breastplate. it is automatically masterwork quality, but does that mean the masterwork quality is already added into the -3 armor check penalty? or would it be -4?

we couldn't come to an agreement on the rules, group is 50/50 i assume its added in but a final verdict from an outside source would be most helpful. thank you for your time.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

The benefits of MW armor are already included in the benefits of mithral armor.

So, a mithril breastplate has an ACP of -1 (-4 base, improved by 3 by mithril).

 

[WHW4]

Special Materials :: d20srd.org

Items crafted from mithral are always masterwork, and the price of masterwork is included; I'd say it is already included with the -3.

Edit: Whoops, forgot which forum I was viewing there. Not sure if this still applies in PF. My bad.

 

[Vinja]

The benefits of MW armor are already included in the benefits of mithral armor.

So, a mithril breastplate has an ACP of -1 (-4 base, improved by 3 by mithril).

all right, thanks brother thats what i figured, i shall inform my group. its appreciated

 

[frankthedm]

And make sure no one forgets mithral armor doesn't change the proficiency required to wear it. It was vague enough in 3E for the FAQ to address the issue. Thankfully pathfinder went with the stricter way to read the 3E text.

Pathfinder
Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. This decrease does not apply to proficiency in wearing the armor. A character wearing mithral full plate must be proficient in wearing heavy armor to avoid adding the armor's check penalty to all his attack rolls and skill checks that involve moving.