D&D 5E Tenser's transformation and armor.

[JonnyP71]

Although, as I stated in an earlier post, if you are relying on this spell for heavy armour proficiency how is you wizard surviving up to this point with such a low AC?

By staying out of the way....

I've got an 11th level Necromancer Wizard whose AC is, and has always been, 11 (12 Dex). He hasn't taken any defensive spells at all, apart from arguably, Dimension Door and Animate Dead - and the creatures animated act as a shield.

 

[jaelis]

You can don the heavy armor in five minutes if you have someone assist you.

Unfortunately that is not actually a rule in 5e... only the time to remove armor is reduced with help.

Could be a good houserule for it thought.

 

[jaelis]

For that kind of high level spell, make it a full plate armour.

Does the spell raise your Str score? I wasn't sure.

 

[Mephista]

Although, as I stated in an earlier post, if you are relying on this spell for heavy armour proficiency how is you wizard surviving up to this point with such a low AC?

There's a difference between being in melee and a ranged unit. Ranged characters avoid damage by not being in the way of arrows, and enemy casters tend to target saves over DC.

 

[cmad1977]

I am sorry. I never said the spell is useless or anything like that. I asked for a solution to make a feature useful.

I personally have 3 solutions:

Either allow this spell being cast in armor.
Or add an optional focus which is a suit of armor or maybe even armor, shield and sword which you have nearby or maybe a suit of armor somewhere stored and teleported to you.
Or you just get the ability to don and doff armor as a bonus action (teleported, magically wrapped around you or hiwever you like.)

It just rubs me the wrong way if you get an ability that is totally useless. Not bad. Useless. :/

I kinda of like the 3rd option.
Alternatively you could just say that the caster is donning the equipment during the ritual.
At the ten minute mark the helm is placed on the head and ritual complete!

I think some folks are over( and under) thinking it.


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[jgsugden]

Does the spell even mention heavy armor? On Beyond, it sweeps all armors in, but it says nothing to indicate they cared to give you heavy armor. I don't think the authors cared one whit about PCs being able to use heavy armor with this spell.

Regardless, clever PCs can find ways to be in heavy armor while this spell is cast. Few are based upon the spells, magic items and class features in the books - but there are some things a DM might allow. For example, about 30 years ago I allowed a PC to teleport into a suit of armor to hide from the bad guys. It doesn't really make a lot of sense (that armor had to be on a stand, so the PC shouldn't be able to teleport into a stand), but it told a cool story and I was young then. I can imagine a PC finding a way to hold armor aloft magically and then teleport into it in a 5E game.

Also, if I really cared to do this, and I was not in an "official content only" game, I imagine a spell that put armor on a person in a single action would likely be no more than a 1st level spell with no concentration required - something an ally could cast, or something you could cast and have a built in delay.

 

[Gadget]

I'd be inclined to play that if you are wearing no armor when you cast it, the spell produces a suit of half plate in place on your body. Disappears at spell's end.

Makes it a little more effective for non-gishes.

I think this is what I would go with. Gives it that extra bit of flair.

 

[MiraMels]

Unfortunately that is not actually a rule in 5e... only the time to remove armor is reduced with help.

Could be a good houserule for it thought.

gasp you're right! Thank you for pointing that out; I've been running that wrong for years.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Or talk to your DM about finding/creating a suit of full plate that you can summon onto yourself as a bonus action.

I am the DM.
In 4e there actually was armor you could don and doff as an action.
Yeah. Some nice solutions. And still no one found a way to make that feature useful.

Just for others to make my intentions clear:

I have no problems finding a houserule solution. It is very easy to find one.
I also don't want to talk about balance concerns or how the wizard survived until then.
I also believe donning heavy armor is risky, because you need to maintain concentration.
Fact is however: RAW there is an explicitely stated feature which is useless for now without house ruling or very lenient interpretation of rules. (At what point in those 10 minutes needed to don armor you are actually wearing too much armor to cast spells.)

Mage armor and decent dexterity will be enough for the wizard usually. You can also wield a shield with your rapier.
You can't use your shield spell anymore but 50 temp hp might take care of that. A war mage has other means of using its reaction.
And still that heavy armor feature needs some love.

My personal favourite:
When you cast that spell, (pieces of) a suit of armor you have nearby wraps around you and is held in place by magical force. If the spell ends, that armor falls off immediately.

Maybe a miniature suit of armor would be even better. Make it a costly optional spell focus.

 

[jaelis]

Fact is however: RAW there is an explicitely stated feature which is useless for now without house ruling or very lenient interpretation of rules.

It is hard to believe this is the only place that happens. But it makes me curious, what are some other examples?

Isn't there a summoning spell that gives you an option you can't take advantage of, because there are no such creatures?