Casting Verbal spells in armour

[5ekyu]

RAW says that wizards can't cast spells in armour they aren't proficient in. I can't figure out how to justify this when it comes to spells that have only Verbal components. How do you explain that a wizard who is tied to a chair with his hands behind his back can still cast Misty Step, but relaxing in chainmail you aren't proficient in is too "distracting and physically hampering" to allow the same?

Anyone see any obvious pitfalls to allowing V-only spells while in nonproficient armour?

How did you justify keeping tarts in a pouch and all the other silliness of material casting? How did you justify the rest of the magic system? Without knowing the framework you established in your game for the physics of magic, cannot say.

And where is "relaxing in chain mail" a thing? Are there lots of cases in your game where folks need to cast spells while relaxing in armor? In my games, folks tend to remove the heavy stuff when relaxing. Not so in yours? You guys got "full-plate party nights" goin' down?

Put another way, if our answers are "while relaxing, sitting around, not in combat it's ok, sure" is that an answer to your final question you are ok with - even tho your last question somehow, amazingly, inexplicably dropped the "while relaxing" part.

Or is what you are really asking about is casting while in these heavier non-proficient armors including combat but that was not as slanted-in-your-favor enough case? Too easy to see how the unfamiliar drags and pinches and such would make "distracted" seem reasonable?

Now, to address the question you asked instead of the question you staged... looking at it from game balance perspectives

Meta-magic subtle spell should then be raised to level instead of 1, at least. That removes the somantic components as well as the verbal and is not currently costed for it being a wide-spread AC boost.

The over-all limits for armour should be re-thought. If you allow spelling but still enforce the other penalties, you wind up make the actual fight-in-armor combat trained guys more impacted by non-proficient armor types than mages with much much less training. You might want to look at allowing simple weapons maybe to be used without penalty while in non-prof armor.

You might want to consider how wearing these armors in a combat situation might affect concentration checks. Remember a GM can require those round by round in circumstances that make it difficult. Would these qualify?

I am sure there are more potential issues, but these are the first thoughts I had.

The net result of the change will be swapping around a few niche edge cases and favoring different builds -especially if features "costs" are not adjusted to reflect the change.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

The same reason druids can’t cast in metal armour despite being proficient. It’s a taboo or it interrupts their Chi or they are unable draw on the power of the Cosmic Weave to empower even a verbal spell. It takes practice.(ie: proficiency)

 

[Shiroiken]

Other than the obvious answer of game balance, I take an old school approach to it. There used to be 4 aspects of spellcasting: Verbal, Somatic, Material, and Mnemonic. While some spells might not need V, S, or M, all of them required Mnemonic, which was the memorization of the spell into a spell slot. While this aspect has been lost over the editions, it appears to have been replaced by Energy (slots themselves). My belief is that you cannot tap into that energy reserve while in serious discomfort (i.e. the examples given). This also helps for some story formats, such as keeping a caster from being able to cast spells while being tortured for information.

 

[akr71]

I would guess that it is more a rule simplicity thing. Rather than breaking down spell casting dos & don'ts for each component type, the rule is a general "you can't if you aren't proficient."

But you are right - it doesn't make much logical sense.

 

[jasper]

Hey, no problem. Since armor and a chair you are tied to is about the same, you can totally cast it in armor... but you leave the armor behind and arrive in just your underwear.

A little bit more serious: I don´t see, why you can´t houserule this. Seems appropriate. Though you should notice that the best armors come with a helmet. So maybe that could be seen as a hindrance if you are not proficient.

OH MY GAWD! MY EYES MY EYES. The Lich is wearing "My Little Ponies" Underroos!

 

[Dausuul]

The same reason druids can’t cast in metal armour despite being proficient.

There is not actually any such rule. The druid class merely says they "won't" wear metal armor. No penalty is spelled out for doing so.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

There is not actually any such rule. The druid class merely says they "won't" wear metal armor. No penalty is spelled out for doing so.

Well, yes, that’s my point. It’s fluff. So find an equally fluffy reason for not letting your wizards cast verbal spells while in armour.

 

[BookBarbarian]

The physical weight of the armor that you haven't been trained to use doesn't allow you to focus your concentration appropriately or muster the magical strength necessary to cast spells as you have to focus so much on just holding yourself up in the armor.

This is how I've always thought about it.

But I don't see the proposed change disrupting balance either.

 

[BluejayJunior]

This is how I've always thought about it.

But I don't see the proposed change disrupting balance either.

Agreed. It would probably rarely come up. Even if you specifically built a caster around this, I don't think there would be enough V only spells to be effective.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I think I have it in four steps:

1) Even light armor is somewhat restrictive

2) Verbal components are loud, you need a lot of air for volume

3) Obviously training in armor proficiency involves a lot of cardio and breathing deeply even while lugging armor around

4) Since the wizard didn't get this training, he/she can't get enough air to bellow out verbal components while in armor

Obviously an ability of the School of Aerobics Wizard will be to use verbal only spells with armor.