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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4990800" data-attributes="member: 3424">This is more of a fix for stat disparity leading to significantly lower non-AC defenses at higher levels than the broader problem of monster attack bonuses increasing faster than bonuses to the non-AC defenses in general. Because the standard game rules only allow for two ability scores to increase at 4th, 8th, 14th, 18th, 24th and 28th level, at most two (and for some characters, only one) of the non-AC defenses will benefit from the increases to ability scores. At higher levels, this sometimes means that equal-level monsters will hit the characters' lower non-AC defenses on any d20 roll except for a natural 1.When it comes to AC, the standard rules have got around the problem by introducing heavy armor for characters who would otherwise not have a reason to increase Dexterity or Intelligence. Instead of granting a small bonus to AC on top of the bonus to AC granted by Dexterity or Intelligence, heavy armor grants a larger bonus to AC, but characters in heavy armor generally cannot add their Dexterity or Intelligence bonus to AC. Effectively, the bonus from a high ability score is factored into the overall bonus to AC granted by heavy armor.So, I was wondering if the same approach could be applied to the non-AC defenses. The following are three special materials which can be added to a magic item to allow it to grant a flat bonus to a non-AC defense in place of the normal ability score bonus. My initial inclination is to add the bonus for free (after all, it fixes what I consider to be a flaw in the base rules), but DMs who are not comfortable with that approach may either add a premium for magic items that have one of the following properties (e.g. increasing the cost of the magic to that of an item 1 or 2 levels higher) or by making it a 2nd+ or 3rd+ level magic item (effectively, adding it as a property to a +X magic armor or amulet of protection).Guardsteel replaces the bonus to your Fortitude defense normally granted by Strength or Constitution with a bonus equal to the enhancement bonus of the item, or a +1 bonus for every 5 levels of the item, i.e. +1 for a 1st to 5th level item, +2 for a 6th to 10th level item, etc. If you do not wear or use an item made with swiftmetal or wardiron, the bonus to your Fortitude defense increases by 1. Guardsteel can be used in any item, but it is normally placed into a suit of armor, a neck slot item, or a waist slot item. Swiftmetal replaces the bonus to your Reflex defense normally granted by Dexterity or Intelligence with a bonus equal to the enhancement bonus of the item, or a +1 bonus for every 5 levels of the item, i.e. +1 for a 1st to 5th level item, +2 for a 6th to 10th level item, etc. If you do not wear or use an item made with guardsteel or wardiron, the bonus to your Reflex defense increases by 1. Swiftmetal can be used in any item, but it is normally placed into a suit of armor, a neck slot item, an arms slot item, or a foot slot item. Wardiron replaces the bonus to your Will defense normally granted by Wisdom or Charisma with a bonus equal to the enhancement bonus of the item, or a +1 bonus for every 5 levels of the item, i.e. +1 for a 1st to 5th level item, +2 for a 6th to 10th level item, etc. If you do not wear or use an item made with guardsteel or swiftmetal, the bonus to your Will defense increases by 1. Wardiron can be used in any item, but it is normally placed into a suit of armor, a neck slot item, or a head slot item.The additional one-point bonus if you do not wear or use an item made with one of the other materials is to give a small advantage to those who only need to boost one defense. If you need to boost two, you will be slightly worse off.What do you think?</blockquote>

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