[A&EG] Dastana stacking with armor...

[Cyraneth]

I noticed that the description in the Arms and Equipment Guide states that the armor bonus from dastana stacks with that of armor and shield.. Does that mean you can wear a +5 chain shirt, a +5 large shield, and +5 dastana for a total +22 bonus to AC!?

I mean, the enhancement bonus to a shield's armor bonus does stack with an armor's enhancement bonus, so I assume that they stack with that of a pair of dastana...

- Cyraneth

 

[Spatula]

I don't know about the A&EG, but in OA it states, "A character can wear dastana with padded, leather, or chain shirt armor. A character needs Armor Proficiency (light) to wear dastana without penalty." While getting +5 to AC from three different sources (armor, shield, dastana) is a big bonus, if you're restricted to light armor you only come out slightly ahead - unless you have a high dexterity.

 

[Cyraneth]

Sure, it just seems very enticing to simply drop the heavy armor in favor of something lighter, and then just wear a pair of dastana over that. I mean, then you can enchant both the armor and the dastana, effectively giving your armor +20 worth of magic abilities before it goes epic.

- Cyraneth

 

[Arcturus_Rugend]

I don't own A&EG, but, in OA they have an item called a Chahar-aina which can be used with the same armors that Spatula mentioned but requires the med. armor proficiency. Both the Dastana and the Chahar-Aina stack with "the foundation armor and any shield worn, " but I don't know that they'd stack with each other (as neither is a foundation armor or shield).

But I digress.

 

[mkletch]

Since the Dastana does not take a regular magic item slot, it would be double the cost. Maybe not epic item cost, but not a cheese either.

-Fletch!

 

[Wolf72]

Sage clarified this in Dragon while back (for OA) ...

they do not stack ... and they do. Only the highest enhancement bonus counts.

if you have:

+2 Dastana (+3 AC)
+1 Chain shirt (+5 AC)
+5 Chahar-aina (+6 AC)

your total AC would be 21 (+4 chain shirt, +1 dastana, +6 chahar-aina).

what stacks is the normal +1 for having the additional piece of equipment, but not all the enhancement bonuses.

 

[Mahali]

Still makes it a little cheaper to get other abilities put on armor.

Someone also pointed out that you can do this with Full Plate as well because you're wearing padded armor underneath.

 

[Steverooo]

Someone also pointed out that you can do this with Full Plate as well because you're wearing padded armor underneath.

I doubt it. Dastana are basically bracers, and should take up that slot. Plate already has vambraces. Destana shouldn't help.

Of course, there's a problem with making such a rule... Can a Fighter in plate wear Bracers of Archery?

That's probably why they leave it open to interpretation, eh?

 

[Mahali]

I meant enchanting two sets of armor (padded and plate) not add Dastana to plate.

 

[Arcturus_Rugend]

I don't remember where I read it, but I definitely remember seeing something saying that if you put on more than one item of a particular type (excepting types for which you're allowed more than one, such as rings), the second item simply doesn't function. Thus, no padded / plate combo.