Arkhandus
First Post
Bracers of Natural Armor would be SOOOO much better than the Amulet of Natural Armor, or the Bracers of Armor. There are HARDLY ANY magic items that go in the 'bracers' slot normally, and they're very limited in usefulness, whereas the 'amulet' slot is very valuable and there are a number of very useful magic items which go in that slot. There are several very useful magic items competing for a character's one meager 'amulet' slot, especially for monks, clerics, druids, and any melee type.
But the 'bracers' slot is pretty useless to most characters, or just not very valuable; there's hardly anything useful to go there, and only monks really have any use for Bracers of Armor (wizards and sorcerers can just cast Mage Armor and/or Shield; although a very expensive set of Bracers of Armor would be superior, arcane casters have much better and more useful things to waste their money on at upper levels).
Bracers of Natural Armor would be very useful to melee types, unlike the Bracers of Armor, since melee types could wear breastplates or full plate along with the Bracers of Natural Armor, benefitting from both. Bracers of Armor generally have little use to melee types; they don't often have high enough Dexterity to worry about the MDB from armor, nor do they care about ASF, and at middle or upper levels they won't likely care about the ACP either (especially if they bother to get mithral armor). But melee types have use for their amulet slot; it could be used for an Amulet of Natural Armor, an Amulet of Health, a Necklace of Regeneration (or whatever it's called), a Periapt of Wound Closure, or that one that protects against diseases (I forget the name; Periapt of Proof Against Disease maybe?).
For instance, a monk would covet Bracers of Natural Armor and get to use their neck slot for a Periapt of Wisdom or Amulet of Health or something; the monk can easily get armor bonuses from his friendly neighborhood wizard's (or sorcerer's) extra 1st-level spell slots with Mage Armor prepared; it's tougher to get natural armor AC, generally requiring a druid in the party who can and will spare a 2nd-level slot for Barkskin. Also, Barkskin doesn't last as long as Mage Armor, and is only equal (or marginally superior) in AC bonus at middle and upper levels.
Bracers of Armor cost what they do because 1) they are classic staples of D&D, and 2) they aren't all that useful any more anyhow, as mentioned, except to monks (who are pretty much doomed anyway if they stay in melee for more than a round) and the occasional sorcerer or wizard who doesn't bother with Mage Armor (or perhaps the occasional druid who doesn't bother with Hide armor, magical Rhino Hide, magical Leather armor, or whatever).
But the 'bracers' slot is pretty useless to most characters, or just not very valuable; there's hardly anything useful to go there, and only monks really have any use for Bracers of Armor (wizards and sorcerers can just cast Mage Armor and/or Shield; although a very expensive set of Bracers of Armor would be superior, arcane casters have much better and more useful things to waste their money on at upper levels).
Bracers of Natural Armor would be very useful to melee types, unlike the Bracers of Armor, since melee types could wear breastplates or full plate along with the Bracers of Natural Armor, benefitting from both. Bracers of Armor generally have little use to melee types; they don't often have high enough Dexterity to worry about the MDB from armor, nor do they care about ASF, and at middle or upper levels they won't likely care about the ACP either (especially if they bother to get mithral armor). But melee types have use for their amulet slot; it could be used for an Amulet of Natural Armor, an Amulet of Health, a Necklace of Regeneration (or whatever it's called), a Periapt of Wound Closure, or that one that protects against diseases (I forget the name; Periapt of Proof Against Disease maybe?).
For instance, a monk would covet Bracers of Natural Armor and get to use their neck slot for a Periapt of Wisdom or Amulet of Health or something; the monk can easily get armor bonuses from his friendly neighborhood wizard's (or sorcerer's) extra 1st-level spell slots with Mage Armor prepared; it's tougher to get natural armor AC, generally requiring a druid in the party who can and will spare a 2nd-level slot for Barkskin. Also, Barkskin doesn't last as long as Mage Armor, and is only equal (or marginally superior) in AC bonus at middle and upper levels.
Bracers of Armor cost what they do because 1) they are classic staples of D&D, and 2) they aren't all that useful any more anyhow, as mentioned, except to monks (who are pretty much doomed anyway if they stay in melee for more than a round) and the occasional sorcerer or wizard who doesn't bother with Mage Armor (or perhaps the occasional druid who doesn't bother with Hide armor, magical Rhino Hide, magical Leather armor, or whatever).
