The AC on a Budget challenge

[Cyclone_Joker]

Dastana aren't "armor", but count as Shields instead. Similar to a Buckler, they allow 2 weapon fighting, which I would construe as working with a bow as well.

Actually, it explicitly gives an "armor bonus." And is under the "Armor" heading. It's armor that in now way has anything to do with TWF, bows, or really even shields except for a badly-laid-out table.

If we go with actual armor, he could go as heavy as Full Plate if it was Mithral or Glass Steel. (Both drop armor weight by one category). It restricts movement and DEX though. Maybe Mithral or Glass Steel Chain Mail?

Chain shirt is better because you can stack it with both Dastana and Chahar Aina. Full plate, the second best, has a maximum armor bonus of 13. A set of chain and accessories has a maximum of 21.

Over all, I'm thinking Monk's Belt, Periapt of Wisdom, Gloves of Dexterity, a Ring and either Dastana or an Animated Shield.

A monk's belt is terribad unless you're a druid. Wisdom bonus is always going to be less than enchanted armor if you make even the slightest effort to try.

The Periapt vs the Natural Armor amulet is a question. With the Monk's Belt they give the same bang for the buck, but the Periapt also adds to Touch AC, as well as enhancing his spell capacity. It also leaves him open to casting Barkskin on himself.

Flat-footed is easy to inflict.

Dastana get a better bang for the buck than the Shield, but they conflict with actual Bracers.

...No, they don't. There's nothing that says they do at all.

Seems like we should be able to do better than that. Even with Barkskin at maximum level, he's still only at 33.

C'mon you guys, somebody make me look like a piker here.

+6 dex mod(Inc. +2 gloves) +21(Armor)= AC 38. Add on +2 deflection and a +1 animated heavy shield and you're going to hit 43. Given your class choice, I think that's nearing the upper limit without Artificer involvement. I can probably add about three or so to that, but I can't go diving through my books at the moment.

 

[Greenfield]

Okay, I didn't have my A&EG with me so I looked up Dastana on line. My source there said they counted as a Shield bonus. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and that's okay.

But Dastana are explicitly an arm guard, and Bracers describe themselves as "like ordinary protective arm wear". It appears that they're both worn on the forearms, so I'd say they conflict. YMMV, of course.

I described my theoretical Ranger with "decent" numbers in Dex and Wisdom. I was thinking 16s.

With that in mind, the Monk's Belt is +3 AC for 13k. That's somewhere between an item and a shield for that kind of number. Kind of a wash. But add the Periapt of Wisdom for another +2 and it seemed to make sense.

Over all, I like what you did with this one.

 

[Quartz]

If this is a TWF ranger then you could add in a weapon with the Defending quality.

And doesn't the Monk's Belt require at least 1 level of Monk?

Rather than Blink or Displacement, try Blur.

 

[Greenfield]

No, anyone can wear a Monk's belt. Ironically, it helps non-monks a lot more than it helps Monks. The only thing is, you need to have a high enough Wisdom to have an actual bonus, and you can't be wearing any other type of armor.

The neat advantage is, it's a Dodge bonus so it stacks with everything

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Can we make him a Githzerai Monk who became a Ranger?

 

[Greenfield]

Can we make him a Githzerai Monk who became a Ranger?

He's actually based on a Half-Elf Ranger/Druid in my game. At 18th level he's currently AC 25. His nick name is "Target", for obvious reasons.

I've figured that, for any given level, a character's base AC should be Level +14. And by "base" I mean "bare minimum".

Anyway he asked me for some advice and we're working on it. But while I was thinking about it I thought I'd aske the creative minds here in ENWorld and see what you could come up with.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

He needs a wand of Reduce Person. That'll get him a little AC bonus- +1 from size, +1 from Dex boos.

And a buddy who can use Shrink Item on some largish tombstones (+4 modifier)- drop one and have instant cover. Toss a handful like caltrops and have an instant battlement. Make it permanent, and it becomes his own portable, customizable mini-fort.

 

[Quartz]

No, anyone can wear a Monk's belt... The neat advantage is, it's a Dodge bonus so it stacks with everything

I thought Dodge bonuses were verboten for magic items.

 

[Grogg of the North]

He's actually based on a Half-Elf Ranger/Druid in my game. At 18th level he's currently AC 25. His nick name is "Target", for obvious reasons.

I've figured that, for any given level, a character's base AC should be Level +14. And by "base" I mean "bare minimum".

Anyway he asked me for some advice and we're working on it. But while I was thinking about it I thought I'd aske the creative minds here in ENWorld and see what you could come up with.

Should we consider this as him walking around normally? Are his feats set in stone? What combat style is the ranger?

 

[Greenfield]

Yeah, we're talking about walking around AC.

I know there are feats that can add to AC, but we're just talking about gear in this thread.