2nd level mage armor

[Magnus]

so you're argument, Cabral, if i understand it, is that in certain extreme circumstances it *can* be a good thing. ... riiiiiiiiiight. this argument about effectively adding 20% to you AC, seems specious. i'll admit to not being a number cruncher so i can't verify or denounce it, but it just doesn't "feel" right to me. your AC never changes, there's just this arbitrary "potential" that the fates will smile on you, and ... no, he didn't hit you after all.

and ... where exactly is this rule about half concealment protecting you from sneak attacks? colour me blind, but i can't find it in my PHB. (thumbing my nose at Mr.Reynolds and his treatise on terminology )

Additionally, if your attacker only misses on a roll of a 1, blur's 20% miss chance effectively requires the attacker to roll a 5 or higher to hit you. (Conversely, an attacker who only hits you on a 20 is not adversely affected by blur)

er ... no, he still only needs a 2. it's just that, theoretically, he'll actually miss 1 out of every 5 hits. i guess you're hoping it'll be the 1st one, and not the 5th ... when it's the 4th that kills you

now you've gone and made me drag this out again! i was gonna leave this alone! damn you! DAMN YOU AAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CRGreathouse]

so you're argument, Cabral, if i understand it, is that in certain extreme circumstances it *can* be a good thing. ... riiiiiiiiiight. this argument about effectively adding 20% to you AC, seems specious. i'll admit to not being a number cruncher so i can't verify or denounce it, but it just doesn't "feel" right to me.

You're right to be suspicious. Blur does not effectively increase your AC by 4. If a character misses you on a natural 10 but hits on a natural 11, he hits 50% of the time. With blur, the attacker hits 40% of the time - an effective +2 AC. If the attacker only hits on a natural 20 (5%), the effective AC increase is +0.2 (4%). If the character only misses on a natural 1, the effective AC increase is +3.8.

where exactly is this rule about half concealment protecting you from sneak attacks?

PH, pages 47-48 (the sentence between the pages).

 

[Cabral]

You're right to be suspicious. Blur does not effectively increase your AC by 4. If a character misses you on a natural 10 but hits on a natural 11, he hits 50% of the time. With blur, the attacker hits 40% of the time - an effective +2 AC. If the attacker only hits on a natural 20 (5%), the effective AC increase is +0.2 (4%). If the character only misses on a natural 1, the effective AC increase is +3.8.

Meep. I jumped the gun and didn't think that through. I stand corrected. (My own comments about attacker needing a 1 or a 20 to hit should have tipped me off ... )

PH, pages 47-48 (the sentence between the pages).

It's part of the description on Sneak Attack "The rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment ..." (So technically a rogue can't sneak attack someone if their toes are hidden ... but that's just silly. )

 

[Magnus]

PH, pages 47-48 (the sentence between the pages).

whoa! ... there it is ... i sit corrected! well, that does make the spell a little more attractive ... but i still think that 20% is lousy. ... then again, i guess it is only a 2nd lvl spell. ah well, to each his own i guess.

*gracefully bows out*

 

[Obese Squirrel]

For a Level 2 spell, i'd say
+6 person would be fine....maybe even +7.
The duration? 10 mins/level ( if u set it to personal).

Though I'd recommend something like a
+2 insight bonus/deflective bonus which increases by +1/3 level to max of +5 or something...so that it would make level 1 major armour still useful. Though something with a non-armour magical bonus ( ie not a +4 armour bonus like mage armour but rather a deflective bonus which means it stacks while wearing armour)would be reasonably powerful so the duration would have to be quite short.

 

[Petrosian]

Greater Mage Armor
Sor/Wiz-3
touch i creature
hour per level

+4 AC plus +1 more AC per 3 caster levels (max +10 at 18th level)

ala the various other Magic such-n-such at 1st and Greater Magic such-n-such at third.

 

[diaglo]

i'm voting slightly 4E biased

 

[pawsplay]

is it just me, or is Blur a complete WASTE of a spell. i mean, 20%??? what's the good of that? that's 1-4 on a d20! how many mages would really trust their lives to the hope that an enemy would roll that badly? waste of a spell slot if you ask me ... oh ... wait ... you didn't, did you ... nevermind me.

Blur is way better than almost any AC bonus. More powerful creatures have a huge to hit bonus... they will never miss except on a 1, anyway. Whereas a 20% miss chance is always at least as good as a +4 AC. So the value of blur ranges from "as good as mage armor, plus makes you immune to sneak attack" to "quintuples your chance of surviving an attack by a dragon."

If you are fighting a dragon, you will want blur.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Blur is useful, but it has the end result of encouraging your opponents to PA for all they're worth. Personally, unless I'm fighting a rogue, I'd rather have an AC boost than a miss chance. I might be more likely to get hit with the AC boost but the damage will be lesser due to the fact that my foe likely can't full PA, whereas I might be less likely to get hit with the miss chance but when I do it will be sudden death. Russian roulette.

I am beginning to think that I should simply make the first spell mage armor give a d4 + 1/ 2 levels, or better yet, make it 1d4+2, and let the caster empower it.

Spell potency increasing with caster level, rather than spell level, is the reason that casters are so weak at low levels and so powerful at high levels. That said, half of all spells are based on this design flaw, so you might as well follow suit. I think your idea will work well. Hey, if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!

TS

 

[Croesus]

For a Level 2 spell, i'd say
+6 person would be fine....maybe even +7.
The duration? 10 mins/level ( if u set it to personal).

My own inclination is to keep the spell the same, but increase the armor bonus to +6. Easy to remember, and not overly powerful for a second-level spell.

Another option is to keep the armor bonus at +4, but give it minor damage absorption, ala Stoneskin. For example, have it grant 2 temporary hit points per level of the caster. When the hit points are gone, the armor bonus continues. It's not a significant boost, even from a high-level caster, but it might be the difference between critically injured and dead.

One thing to consider when improving this spell is that it has a range of touch. What's balanced when cast on a wizard/sorcerer may be unbalanced when cast on another character. Depending on the changes you make, consider making higher-level versions Personal only.