Swiftbrook
First Post
I like the Heavy Armor Optimization and Greater Heavy Armor Optimization feats from Races of Stone. So I started looking for similar feats for light and medium armor. Most of the feats I found were of the +1 AC, -1 armor check penalty variety. I wasn’t quite satisfied with those so this is what I came up with.
LIGHT ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have trained extensively in light armor, and you have learned to take advantage of the protection and flexibility it offers.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (light), base attack bonus +4.
Benifit: When you are wearing light armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 10% (but not less than 0) and increase the maximum dexterity bonus by 1.
Special: A fighter may select Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
GREATER LIGHT ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have mastered the use of light armor, maximizing its protective qualities while moving easily in it.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (light), Light Armor Optimization, base attack bonus +8.
Benifit: When you are wearing light armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 5% (but not less than 0), and increase the armor bonus by 1. These effects stack with the benefits of the Light Armor Optimization feat for a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 2, lessening of the arcane spell failure by 15%, increasing the maximum dexterity bonus by 1 and increasing the armor bonus by 1.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
MEDIUM ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have trained extensively in medium armor, and you have learned to take advantage of the protection and flexibility it offers.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (medium), base attack bonus +4
Benifit: When you are wearing medium armor, your base speed is not reduced due to the armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1 and increase the maximum dexterity bonus by 1.
Normal: When wearing medium armor if your base speed is 30 ft. it is reduced to 20 ft. or if your base speed is 20 ft. it is reduced to 15 ft.
Special: A fighter may select Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
GREATER MEDIUM ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have mastered the use of medium armor, maximizing its protective qualities while moving easily in it.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (medium), Medium Armor Optimization, base attack bonus +8.
Benifit: When you are wearing medium armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 5% (but not less than 0), and increase the armor bonus by 1. These effects stack with the benefits of the Medium Armor Optimization feat for a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 2, lessening of the arcane spell failure by 5%, increasing the maximum dexterity bonus by 1, increasing the armor bonus by 1 and not reducing your base speed.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Medium Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
Method behind the Madness
This is my thinking.
In looking over the armor table 7-6 in the PHB I noticed a general trend. For every +1 to AC, generally there was a -1 armor check penalty, +5% arcane spell failure and -1 to maximum dexterity bonus. So, being a math person, I gave +1 AC a value of 3 and the rest each a value of 1. Thus an AC increase of 2 would lead to 6 ‘points’ worth of penalties in some form. In Races of Stone, the Heavy Armor Optimization feat gave +1 AC and -1 penalty. This translated to 4 points in my calculation. The second feat, Greater Heavy Armor Optimization gave +1 AC and -2 penalty. Five points in my calculation. I used these numbers as my guide while writing my feats.
Light Armor Optimization: Most of the feats I have seen for light armor are the +1 AC, -1 penalty variety with the greater or improved feat adding a second +1 AC, -1 penalty. I just don’t see there being enough light armor on your body to optimize to a total of +2 AC. That triples the AC value of Padded and doubles the AC value of leather. But I can see reducing the Dex penalty (increasing it maximum) and reducing the spell failure. Basically you’re learning how to maneuver quickly and effortlessly in the armor.
Greater LAO: By the time you take this feat, you’ve spent a long time in the armor and you should get the +1 AC. This gives a maximum AC boost of +1 for light armor, which seems OK. With a very high Dex score, their AC improves by a total of +2 with the maximum dex bonus increased by 1.
Medium Armor Optimization: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go +1 Dex, +1 AC like I did with light armor, or +2 AC like heavy armor. I chose +1 AC, +1 Dex after I thought about increasing the character’s base speed while wearing the armor. This just make sense to me. Again, you get a +1 AC when you take Greater Medium Armor Optimization.
Well, those are my ideas for armor feats. What do you think?
-Swiftbrook
Edit: Corrected typo...LIGHT to MEDIUM in last feat title.
LIGHT ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have trained extensively in light armor, and you have learned to take advantage of the protection and flexibility it offers.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (light), base attack bonus +4.
Benifit: When you are wearing light armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 10% (but not less than 0) and increase the maximum dexterity bonus by 1.
Special: A fighter may select Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
GREATER LIGHT ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have mastered the use of light armor, maximizing its protective qualities while moving easily in it.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (light), Light Armor Optimization, base attack bonus +8.
Benifit: When you are wearing light armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 5% (but not less than 0), and increase the armor bonus by 1. These effects stack with the benefits of the Light Armor Optimization feat for a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 2, lessening of the arcane spell failure by 15%, increasing the maximum dexterity bonus by 1 and increasing the armor bonus by 1.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
MEDIUM ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have trained extensively in medium armor, and you have learned to take advantage of the protection and flexibility it offers.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (medium), base attack bonus +4
Benifit: When you are wearing medium armor, your base speed is not reduced due to the armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1 and increase the maximum dexterity bonus by 1.
Normal: When wearing medium armor if your base speed is 30 ft. it is reduced to 20 ft. or if your base speed is 20 ft. it is reduced to 15 ft.
Special: A fighter may select Light Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
GREATER MEDIUM ARMOR OPTIMIZATION [General]
You have mastered the use of medium armor, maximizing its protective qualities while moving easily in it.
Prerequisites: Armor Proficiency (medium), Medium Armor Optimization, base attack bonus +8.
Benifit: When you are wearing medium armor, lessen the armor check penalty by 1, decrease the arcane spell failure by 5% (but not less than 0), and increase the armor bonus by 1. These effects stack with the benefits of the Medium Armor Optimization feat for a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 2, lessening of the arcane spell failure by 5%, increasing the maximum dexterity bonus by 1, increasing the armor bonus by 1 and not reducing your base speed.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Medium Armor Optimization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see page 38 of the Players Handbook).
Method behind the Madness
This is my thinking.
In looking over the armor table 7-6 in the PHB I noticed a general trend. For every +1 to AC, generally there was a -1 armor check penalty, +5% arcane spell failure and -1 to maximum dexterity bonus. So, being a math person, I gave +1 AC a value of 3 and the rest each a value of 1. Thus an AC increase of 2 would lead to 6 ‘points’ worth of penalties in some form. In Races of Stone, the Heavy Armor Optimization feat gave +1 AC and -1 penalty. This translated to 4 points in my calculation. The second feat, Greater Heavy Armor Optimization gave +1 AC and -2 penalty. Five points in my calculation. I used these numbers as my guide while writing my feats.
Light Armor Optimization: Most of the feats I have seen for light armor are the +1 AC, -1 penalty variety with the greater or improved feat adding a second +1 AC, -1 penalty. I just don’t see there being enough light armor on your body to optimize to a total of +2 AC. That triples the AC value of Padded and doubles the AC value of leather. But I can see reducing the Dex penalty (increasing it maximum) and reducing the spell failure. Basically you’re learning how to maneuver quickly and effortlessly in the armor.
Greater LAO: By the time you take this feat, you’ve spent a long time in the armor and you should get the +1 AC. This gives a maximum AC boost of +1 for light armor, which seems OK. With a very high Dex score, their AC improves by a total of +2 with the maximum dex bonus increased by 1.
Medium Armor Optimization: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go +1 Dex, +1 AC like I did with light armor, or +2 AC like heavy armor. I chose +1 AC, +1 Dex after I thought about increasing the character’s base speed while wearing the armor. This just make sense to me. Again, you get a +1 AC when you take Greater Medium Armor Optimization.
Well, those are my ideas for armor feats. What do you think?
-Swiftbrook
Edit: Corrected typo...LIGHT to MEDIUM in last feat title.
Last edited:
)
