Arcane Spell Failure

[Uller]

Armored Casting
Prerequisite: Ability to cast arcane spells
Benefit: Reduce arcane failure by 10% (not per piece of armor, but total for that character).

This is the simplist way to go. The difference between your version and mine is that dexterity and the quality of the armor plays a role in mine. If a character has the feat, a higher dex bonus results in better success at overcoming the armor(unless the armor has a low Max Dex Bonus...like Half-plate, then it just doesn't matter). We also are considering allowing multiple uses of the feat so that even heavier armor can be overcome(then again, maybe not...)

I like the idea of giving it to bards for free! That gives them helps balance with Wiz/Ftrs, I think.

 

[Uller]

Below is a sample Elf Wizard/Fighter that I made up using my current version of the Armored Casting feat. It was very quick, so there may be some mistakes and the magic items are probably not completely representitive of a character of his level. I did 2nd, 7th and 12th level.

I don't believe this character could outshine a fighter or a wizard at pure melee damage(taking and receiving) or at spell casting(12th level wizard can cast Disintigrate and Circle of Death, while this guy is still stuck at Polymorph and Stone Skin as his best spells). At 12th level, in a single fight where he gets several boosting spells off, he can probably outshine a fighter(Hasted, Flying, Stone Skinned Fire Giant with a longsword!) but that probably doesn't have much to do with his wearing armor...And if he wasn't wearing armor, he could Whirlwind Attack, too!

****************Level 2*******************
Class/Level Wiz1/Fighter1
Abilities:
Str 13
Dex 15
Con 12
Int 15
Wis 10
Cha 10

HP = 10
Skills: 16 Wiz/Ftr4
Feats(1 Wizard, 1 General, 1 Fighter): Scribe Scroll, Armored Casting, Weapon Focus(Longsword)

BAB = +1
Saves:
Fort +3
Ref: +2
Will: +2

Attacks: Longsword +3 melee(1d8+1); Longbow +3 ranged(1d8)
Armor: Leather, Sm Wd Shield(Check Penalty = -2)
AC = 15(22 w/ shield spell)

Typical Spells: True Strike, Sleep*
*10% chance of spell failure

****************Level 7*******************
Class/Level: Wiz5/Ftr2

Abilities:
Str 13
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 15
Wis 10
Cha 10

HP = 33(average)
Skills: 20 Wiz/8 Ftr points
Feats(2 Wizard, 3 General, 2 Fighter): Scribe Scroll, Craft Wand, Armored Casting, Weapon Focus(Longsword), Expertise, Dodge, Mobility

BAB = +4
Saves:
Fort +5
Ref: +4
Will: +4

Attacks: +1 Longsword +7 melee(1d8+2); Longbow +7 ranged(1d8)
Armor: +1 Studded Leather, +1 Lg Stl Shield(Check Penalty = -2)
AC = 20(27 w/ shield spell)

Typical Spells: Shield*, Shield*, Expeditious Retreat*, True Strike, Bull's Strength*, Cat's Grace*, Mirror Image*, Haste*
*5% chance of spell failure

****************Level 12*******************
Class/Level: Wiz8/Ftr4

Abilities:
Str 14
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 16
Wis 10
Cha 10

HP = 51(average)
Skills: 48 Wiz/16 Ftr points
Feats(3 Wizard, 5 General, 3 Fighter): Scribe Scroll, Extend Spell, Craft Wand, Armored Casting, Weapon Focus(Longsword), Weapon Spec(Longsword), Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Improved Crit

BAB = +8/+3
Saves:
Fort +7
Ref: +6
Will: +6

Attacks: +3 Flaming Longsword +14/+9 melee(1d8+7+1d6 crit 17-20/X2); +2 Longbow +11/+6 ranged(1d8+2)
Armor: +3 Mithral Chainshirt, +2 Lg Stl Shield(Check Penalty = -1)
AC = 24(36 or 37 w/ shield, cat's grace & haste spells)

Typical Spells: Shield*, Shield*, True Strike, Magic Missile*, Expeditious Retreat*, Bull's Strength*, Cat's Grace*, Mirror Image*, Extended Shield*, Protection from Elements*, Haste*, Keen Edge*, Dispel Magic*, Polymorph Self*, Stone Skin*
*0% chance of spell failure
Also note that if he Polymorph's into a giant, his AC and Spell casting ability will suffer(although his melee damage dealing ability will increase).

Edit: Whoops! Got BAB and saves wrong at 7th level...

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Probably not pure wizards or sorcerers. For a pure wizard to wear armor and use a shield, he'd have to spend TWO feats to be proficient in light armor and shields or multiclass. Either way, seems a fair price to pay to me. I just don't see that happening very often. I think this rule would mostly effect bards and multiclassed wizards and sorcerers.
[/b][/B]

Not really. The only penalty for wearing armor without the proficiency is applying the armor check penalty to everything you do. Since neither mithril chain shirts nor darkwood shields have armor check penalties, single classed wizards and sorcerors wouldn't suffer from non-proficiency.

I've seen wizard characters achieve this anyway. Mage Armor + Shield + Protection from Evil + Cat's Grace = AC 25. With a 14 dex you could get AC 27. An armored wizard can replace exactly one spell from this list with actual armor, but again, he must be proficient with that armor, so we are looking more at Fighter-type/Wizards and bards(and bards don't have a shield spell).

A mithril chain shirt and darkwood shield and a shield spell adds two points to the mage armor+shield spell combo. More significantly, both the armor and the shield can be given enhancement bonusses. For slightly less than the price of bracers of armor +4 (16k), a character can have a +3 mithril chain shirt (10.15k) and a +2 darkwood shield (about 4.5k) for a walking around AC of 21+dex. Add Shield, protection from evil, cat's grace, and a 14 dex to this and you're looking at AC 35 to AC 36 (depending upon the cat's grace result). Drop expertise, Haste, and/or natural armor bonusses on that and you can see how ugly it gets.

Only option 1 is core rules(PHB, DMG, MM). Everything else is not. My group doesn't use any splat books and I don't think that is going to change anytime soon.


Personally, I've found such characters built with the core rules to be lacking. Which is why I want to give them a little boost by freeing up one or two spells(or magic items) to provide a little variaty. Since 3e came out, EVERY bard and wiz(or src)/fighter-type character in my group has had mage armor(and shield for non-bards). It would be nice if these characters had another option to get a good AC(to compensate for their poor hp) and take some different spells for once.

Also, I'm not too concerned with players running amok on my game. Only one of my players is really a serious power gamer and he really isn't all that interested in any arcane-spell casters. But there are three of us that like fighter/wizard types but we've all generally stayed away from them because we feel like you gotta waste a couple of those prescious spells on boosting AC before you can even think about some more interesting spells...

Anyway...at this point we are actually leaning towards a rule like this...

Armored Casting [General]
Description: The character is trained in casting arcane spells while wearing armor.
Benefit: If a character with this feat attempts to cast a spell while wearing armor, rather than make an arcane spell failure check in the usual, he may instead make a d20 check. DC = 3. result = d20 + dex bonus* + Armor Check Penalty. This feat may be taken more than once. Subsequent applications of this feat give a +2 bonus to the spell failure check. In non-combat/non-rushed situations, the character may Take 10 for this check.

* note that the character's dex bonus is affected by the armor worn and his encumberance...So a character in full-plate with a 16 dex only has a +1 dex bonus.

This feat is really the best of both worlds...it ensures that _ALL_ spell casters must pay a price(a feat) to be able to cast in even the lightest armor without failure(or heavier armor with a reduced chance of failure). So even a bard with a +3 dex must take this feat if he wants to wear studded leather and a shield with no problems. If they want heavier armor, they need to take the feat multiple times(or they could just take Still spell and cast weaker spells...fair trade, IMO).

Edit: Also note that the feat is a [General] feat...so Wizard/Fighters have limited number of feat slots they can actually use for this. At first level, they can take it at most once(twice if human) and can't boost it again until they are at least 3rd level. [/B]

Well, I agree with you that it's probably a good thing for balance if it's a feat and you don't use the splatbook stuff. In my experience (DMing for one and playing another) a very well constructed fighter/wizard can almost equal a moderately well constructed single classed fighter on a good day. Between the fighter/wizard and a single classed wizard there isn't really any comparison. (OTOH, I wouldn't want a return to 2nd edition where the fighter/wizard could outfighter the fighter and hold his own with the wizard at the same time).

By making it a feat, you also remove the somewhat obnoxious proposition of non-proficient wizards wearing armor without penalty.

 

[Uller]

By making it a feat, you also remove the somewhat obnoxious proposition of non-proficient wizards wearing armor without penalty.

Right. My group is going to start a one shot with 15th level characters this weekend and I think I'll introduce this as a test. if 15th level characters can't abuse it, then I think I've got it (we've got a Sorcere who wants to wear armor, a Wizard and a Fighter/Sorcerer/Arcane Archer). If they manage to severally abuse it, then I'll rework it some more...