DDAL Elven chain armour. do you need light armour proficiency?

You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class while you wear this armor. You are considered trained with this armor even if you lack training with Medium or Heavy armor.

the question was raise toward the end of the session. Do have to have light armor proficiency to wear it? Or can a wizard just steal it the elfs and wear it.

I think RAW is no you do not need any proficiency, but I would rule RAI as needing light. I think this magic item granting you the trained ability negates needing training. I would think that boosting your AC would need some sort of training though, even the most basic of light armor.

I don't think so. It's referring to the training in Heavy Armor that is usual for Chainmail or Medium Armor that is usual for a Chain Shirt, but it's telling you that it grants you the training required to wear it.

Nothing in the rules says you need light armor proficiency before you can have heavy armor proficiency.

So a wizard can just wear it. Even a NPC without a class can wear it.

jasper said:

You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class while you wear this armor. You are considered trained with this armor even if you lack training with Medium or Heavy armor.

the question was raise toward the end of the session. Do have to have light armor proficiency to wear it? Or can a wizard just steal it the elfs and wear it.

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No you do not need proficiency and anyone is considered to have proficiency in it when donned, presumably from the magic. The whole point is that anyone can wear it and not suffer from not being proficienct..

It does count as heavy Armor though, so your Bladesinger can wear it, and cast spells, but he can't Bladesong in it. Your Barbarian can wear it but he can't rage in it.

As an aside, let's remember in 5E there are no restrictions on any PC wearing any armor, there are just penalties applied if you are not proficient. Any Wizard can wear normal Chainmail for example, they just can't cast spells and have disadvantage on d20 tests while in it. These penalties would not apply when wearing Elven Chain.

Edit: I see in the 2024 DMG it can be either Chain Shirt (medium) or Chainmail (heavy). Above on heavy armor applies for Chainmail version.

The Elven Chain doesn't grant any armor proficiency, it's no longer a thing in 5E24. Instead, while you wear this armor, you are considered trained with it if you don't have Medium or Heavy armor training already. Armor Training allows you to use armor of a certain category without the following drawbacks, which this magic item let you be considered as such.

So for exemple a Wizard can wear an Elven Chain — mail or shirt — and not have any of the drawback such as ''Disadvantage on any D20 Test that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells.''

ECMO3 said:

No you do not need proficiency and anyone is considered to have proficiency in it when donned, presumably from the magic. The whole point is that anyone can wear it and not suffer from not being proficienct..

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I don't fault you for presuming magic is responsible for the training/proficiency, especially since this item is found in the magic items section of the book, but I must stand up and put in a word for MA* and PAMD**.

I personally would ignore the "rules" and instead rule that if you wear this in an antimagic field, you are still considered trained with it. The chain mail is just so well made by the skillful hands of elves that you don't need training to wear it to gain protection from it as armor. It is as easy to wear as a cloth shirt.

* Magiholics Anonymous.
** Players Against Magic Dependency.


Magic is an illusion; it explains everything without ever explaining anything.

5E24 Elven Chain is TEMU version made of fake mithril. Order 2-3 size larger than normal, and don't take it into Antimagic Field or else it no longer work plus no refund exchange only shipping back oversea to Evermeet takes forever ....

Plaguescarred said:

5E24 Elven Chain is TEMU version made of fake mithril. Order 2-3 size larger than normal, and don't take it into Antimagic Field or else it no longer work plus no refund exchange only shipping back oversea to Evermeet takes forever ....

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Tariffs may apply tho.

How many halfling Shires can I exchange it for? Or is that only for Dwarven chain shirts?