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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4991843" data-attributes="member: 3424">First of all, thanks for the feedback!The +1 to +6 by 26 to 30 level is primarily for neatness, and also to more or less allow the user to catch up to a starting ability score of 14 increasing by 8 points over approximately the same range of levels (starting ability score of 16 if you only shore up one non-AC defense). Given that many characters could have a starting score of 18 in a primary ability score, and may be able to increase it by 10 points total by selecting an appropriate epic destiny, a bonus of +6 or +7 would still be behind the "best" ability score progression.In addition, the "worst" heavy armor starts at a 3-point premium over the "best" light armor, and increases the difference by about 4 points over the same range of levels, effectively compensating for an ability score bonus of +7. As for the interaction with other fixes, it probably makes adding a third ability score boost unnecessary since it replaces the ability score modifier completely. Some characters might still find a third ability score boost to be useful, but not for the increase it grants to a non-AC defense. As mentioned, it also does not address the issue that non-AC defenses generally increase slower than monster attack bonuses. A 30th-level character using just one of these items and a +6 neck slot item would have a non-AC defense of 38 before other modifiers. A 30th-level monster with an attack bonus of +33 (level+3) against a non-AC defense would still hit him 80% of the time, on a 5 or better. Depending on whether you think this hit chance is too high or not, there may be scope to shore this up further with automatic bonuses (+1 at 5/15/25 or +1 at 11/21), feats, and/or magic items that grant item bonuses to the relevant defense. Good point about the class coping mechanisms, though. Together with these items, the eventual effect would be like starting with an ability score of 20 and boosting it by 10 points - still within the parameters of the game, but at a much lower opportunity cost. Allowing it to stack probably isn't going to break the game, but to avoid the potential cheese, I should probably add the clause that a barbarian's bonus to Reflex from Barbarian Agility does not apply when he is using swiftmetal, etc.</blockquote>

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