dastana

[the_mighty_agrippa]

the entry under dastana in the arms & equipment guide says dastana are a pair of metal bracers that stack with some light armours & shields to provide an additional +1 ac mod.

does this mean you can enchant dastana?

could a character have +1 chain shirt, +1 dastana & a +1 shield?

thanks!

 

[Pax]

the entry under dastana in the arms & equipment guide says dastana are a pair of metal bracers that stack with some light armours & shields to provide an additional +1 ac mod.

does this mean you can enchant dastana?

could a character have +1 chain shirt, +1 dastana & a +1 shield?

thanks!

In a word: Yep.

 

[Sejs]

I'm inclined to say no, just to avoid potential abuses.


Full Plate +5, Large Shield +5. Ac = (10+8+5+2+5) Ac 30. Severly hampered movement.

Chain Shirt +5, Dastana +5, Large Shield +5. Ac = (10+4+5+1+5+2+5) Ac 32. Unrestricted Movement.


Edit: Whoops, that's supposed to be a large shield in the full plate example, not a tower shield.

 

[LokiDR]

Another poorly thought out item in Arms and Equipment.

 

[Skinwalker]

Judgement call:
Destana are *bracers*. Bracers with an enhancement bonus = Bracers of armor. AFAIK, you can't stack Bracers of Armor with the enhancement bonus from magical armor.

 

[Hackenslash]

does this mean you can enchant dastana?
could a character have +1 chain shirt, +1 dastana & a +1 shield?
[/B]

Yes, I would say that these were a type armor and can be worn with other peices of "light" armor, so why not add them together, you would if they were any thing else right? say for instance you found a +3 Helmet, then surely as a piece of armor, that would indeed stack with other armor bonuses. Oh well hope that helps.

 

[the_mighty_agrippa]

kinda torn on this one...

on the one hand, it works great for characters that have been sacrificing protection for flavor. my mystran cleric would love the option to expand his defenses in this manner.

on the other hand - flat bonuses aside - the character could be immune to most energy attack, invulnerable, fortified, etc.

hmmphf.

 

[drnuncheon]

Dastana and chahar-aina are originally from oriental Adventures - I think that the Sage answered this question in the OA FAQ by saying "yes, they can be enhanced separately".

Many people, myself included, feel that this is a load of hooey and makes a mockery out of the +10 limit on armor enhancements. It also makes getting a large number of enhancements much cheaper than it would be otherwise - it's like adding more 'armor' slots to the number of magic items you can wear.

It also opens up the frightening possibility of something like this: "Well I've got a +5 heavy fortification chain shirt, +4 spaulders of fire and cold resistance, +4 greaves of acid and electricity resistance, +5 shadow silent moves dastana, a +5 codpiece of invulnerability, +5 chahar-aina of etherealness..."

In any of my campaigns, I would rule that the dastana counted as part of the suit of armor that was being worn. The enhancement bonus of the dastana and the armor would then overlap, and you would only get the special abilities of the first one donned (just as if you tried to wear two cloaks).

J

 

[LokiDR]

I like the idea of limiting the use of Dastana to light armor, those which don't already have bracers.

 

[Grendel303]

Hee hee had to deal with this questoin with a Rogue of mine. From the official WoTC OA FAQ;

"If you use a dastana or chahar-aina that has an
enhancement bonus, does that bonus stack with or
replace any enhancement bonuses the foundation armor
might have? If you’re also using a magic shield, how does
using a dastana or chahar-aina affect that? What
happens if the armor and the dastana or chahar-aina
both have additional special properties?

When you add a dastana or chahar-aina, you get either the
enhancement bonus of the added piece or the enhancement
bonus of the foundation armor (not a shield), whichever is
bigger; if you add both a dastana or chahar-aina, you use the
biggest enhancement bonus of the three.
A magic shield’s enhancement bonus still stacks with
whatever enhancement bonus you’re using for the armor
you’re wearing on your body.
No matter which enhancement bonus you use for the armor
you’re wearing on your body, you get the benefit of any
special armor qualities any of the items you’re using have,
except that similar qualities don’t stack. For example, you
wear a +3 chain shirt of light fortification, a +2 dastana of
spell resistance (13), a +1 chahar-aina of spell resistance
(17), and a +1 shield of heavy fortification. Your panoply of
armor has a total enhancement bonus of +4 (+3 from the
chain shirt and +1 from the shield), and you benefit from the
heavy fortification and spell resistance (17) qualities of the
shield and the chahar-aina."

So no, the armor bonuses do not stack. I ended up keeping them though just to stack abilities more than anything but only left them at the required +1 armor bonus since it didn't mean anything. That still doesn't mean you just can't take the Armor Focus Feat from the OA book for each piece and still get a +2 to the AC for each piece I was wearing