D&D 5E Armored Mages

[DM Howard]

I'm very happy about being able to make an armored wizard more easily. I certainly hope they don't do away with it, but I would be open to a variant rule that makes them unfeasible as well for groups and settings where it doesn't fit.

 

[Thaumaturge]

The problem with spell failure percentages were they gave the illusion of an option, but, in the end, they were the same as saying wizards can't use armor that isn't highly specialized.

I only rarely saw any casters with even a 5% spell failure chance. A few points of armor are almost never worth the slightest possibility of losing a fireball or haste.

Thaumaturge.

 

[TwoSix]

Eh, in the interest of simplicity, I would have dropped proficiency, and just put a STR requirement on armor.

11 Str = wear light armor without being hindered.
13 Str = wear medium armor without being hindered.
15 Str = wear heavy armor without being hindered.

Hindered = Disadvantage on Str and Dex checks, movement rate halved, 50% chance that you cast a spell incorrectly.

 

[ccooke]

If you think AC is what stops you being a glass cannon in D&D, I feel like you haven't played it enough!

I've seen Mages with bonkers ACs since early 2E (stacking various magic items, it's quite possible to get an AC into 2H Fighter territory or even beyond).

They were still "glass cannons". Why? HP. If you have an AC of 28, but only 36HP, say, you are still awfully likely to get downed in 1-3 hits, and not everything that does HP damage rolls to hit...

Likewise in 5E - you can get a good AC, but a couple of high-damage hits (which may ignore AC and go off saves!), and yer out!

This is a thing I really like in 5e, though. The default is traditional, but with a bit of customisation... For instance, a Mountain Dwarf Mage with the Tough and Heavy Armour Master feats. They'd have the same average hit points as a Fighter, good AC and damage reduction in heavy armour. That's a wizard who *could* wade into front-line combat and stay there. With the right spell selection, you'd have a very interesting character that plays noticeably differently. False Life, Shield, Burning Hands, Thunderwave... Haste... There's a ton of fun stuff.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The problem with spell failure percentages were they gave the illusion of an option, but, in the end, they were the same as saying wizards can't use armor that isn't highly specialized.

I only rarely saw any casters with even a 5% spell failure chance. A few points of armor are almost never worth the slightest possibility of losing a fireball or haste.

Thaumaturge.

Sez YOUSE!

I've done it a few times. Had fun.

Plus, 3.X has a variety of ways to circumvent ASF, either by reducing the penalty or by avoiding it altogether.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Sez YOUSE!

I've done it a few times. Had fun.

Plus, 3.X has a variety of ways to circumvent ASF, either by reducing the penalty or by avoiding it altogether.

Oh, you're one of those.

That style of play definitely fit some players, so there is something to be said for it. But by and large, people avoided ASF until they had taken the assortment of feats or PrCs they needed to to squish it.

It seems easier to make it just a proficiency level thing.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Remathilis]

Plus, 3.X has a variety of ways to circumvent ASF, either by reducing the penalty or by avoiding it altogether.

This.

As far back as 3.0, you had the Spellsword prc (which allowed you to ignore ASF as you gained levels in it). You could also get Twilight armor, which made chain shirts ASF-free (If it wasn't nearly so from mithril, or other armor materials). Other options include Abjurant Champion, Runesmith, Bladesinger, or Knight Phantom.

That is, of course, if your class EVEN penalized you for armored casting: Bards, Battle Sorcerers (UA), Warmages, Warlocks, Dread Necromancers, Beguilers, Duskblades, Hexblades, and Spellthieves all ignored ASF for proficient armor anyway.

In the end, ASF was a non-issue unless your DM ran a RAW, Core only game. Better to just jettison the idea than create 20 different ways to get around it anyway.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Oh, you're one of those.

Yeah.

One of my most recent ones was a Core + Completes PHB Sorcerer with the Draconic Breath feat. He used a maul, wore scale mail, and breathed lightning in combat. Almost all of his spells were either cast outside of combat (and thus, armor), or had no somatic components.

Quite fun!

 

[Wrathamon]

Eh, in the interest of simplicity, I would have dropped proficiency, and just put a STR requirement on armor.

11 Str = wear light armor without being hindered.
13 Str = wear medium armor without being hindered.
15 Str = wear heavy armor without being hindered.

Hindered = Disadvantage on Str and Dex checks, movement rate halved, 50% chance that you cast a spell incorrectly.

This seemed like the solution to me as well, base it on str.


I would dumped the 50% miscast.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Eh, in the interest of simplicity, I would have dropped proficiency, and just put a STR requirement on armor.

11 Str = wear light armor without being hindered.
13 Str = wear medium armor without being hindered.
15 Str = wear heavy armor without being hindered.

Hindered = Disadvantage on Str and Dex checks, movement rate halved, 50% chance that you cast a spell incorrectly.

That's ... actually a really slick solution. Elegant.