How does my dwarf fighter have the lowest ac of my party?

[Rafe]

~ don't be rude. Saying 'honestly...' first doesn't make it not-rude. ~ PS

 

[frankthedm]

in the PHB it says "If you're wearing light armor or no armor, also add your dex or int mod, whichever is higher. They get to add to their ac almost every level, while mine just gets the bonus from half level. This doesn't seem to make sense. How does a dual wielding rogue with light armor have a higher AC than a shield wielding dwarf with scale armor?

Because the ruleset was designed from the ground up to make sure every[/] PC has a AC monsters can hit, no matter how hard you try to defend yourself. If your class's prime stat adds to AC, most your work for a decent AC is already done for you, though you'll find qualifying for armor and shield proficiency feats somewhat taxing on your stats. If your class's prime stat does not add to AC, then you generally have armor proficiencies to somewhat balance that out along with the option to burn feats on more armor and shield proficiencies.

 

[Nail]

I have scale, and every 2nd round I have a shield (25 ac with shield)... the rogue and cleric have over 27...

It's possible there are errors.

Please post:

• The levels of each PC involved,
• The INT or DEX of each,
• the armor type of each,
• the enhancement bonus of the armors,
• the shields used (or TWF),
• whatever feats they've spent, and
• your shoe size.

Of those, your shoe size is most important.

 

[nimisgod]

I think I understand what is happening here.

the OP is adding scale + shield + 1/2 level

his friends are adding dex +1/2 level + armor + 1/2 level. They might be thinking that "dex mod" means "dex + 1/2 level"... Which is wrong (if this is the case).

 

[MrMyth]

I have scale, and every 2nd round I have a shield (25 ac with shield)... the rogue and cleric have over 27... They wear light armor or whatever so the rogue adds his dex mod (which is extremely high) to his ac... and the cleric adds his int (very high) to his ac... Did they read the rules wrong or something? It says if you're wearing light or no armor you add the highest of your dex/wis mod to your ac. I really don't understand how a lowly rogue can have more ac than a shielded fighter...wtf?! help plz!

Ok. I am assuming you are around level 8, given your AC. (10 + 7 (Scale) + 4 (1/2 level) + 2 (Armor Enhancement) + 2 (Shield) = 25)

If the rogue and cleric have over 27, something is very, very wrong.

A rogue, at your level, might have the following: 10 + 3 (Hide) + 6 (Dex) + 4 (1/2 level) + 2 (Armor Enhancement) + 1 (Two-weapon Defense) = 26

Now, this is a rogue who has the highest possible Dexterity for his level, has invested in feats (and stats) to let him wear hide armor, and has taken other feats to be able to gain extra defenses. With all of that, he can come out slightly higher than your fighter - you are heavily armored, while he is extremely nimble and dodgy.

However, there is no real way for him to have over 27 AC at that level. So either you guys are level 8ish, and his AC is incorrect and too high, or your guys are higher level, and your own AC is incorrect and too low.

Similarly, I can't imagine any way for the Cleric to have gotten higher AC than you without something being very, very unusual. I would highly recommend going over everyone's AC and making sure everything has been applied correctly.

 

[Rafe]

his friends are adding dex +1/2 level + armor + 1/2 level. They might be thinking that "dex mod" means "dex + 1/2 level"... Which is wrong (if this is the case).

Good call; I think you're right.

I'm still confused as to why, on many character sheets, there is a column under stats for stat mod + 1/2 mod. The combined modifier doesn't apply to everything (it doesn't affect damage, for instance) so having a "blanket" column like that is a bit confusing, as this thread shows. Modifier from the stat hould be separated out from the 1/2 level bonus to avoid this confusion.

 

[jadrax]

It looks to me from the OPs post that the Rogue and Cleric are increasing thier AC with their Stat modifer*Every* level. Which is wrong.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Good call; I think you're right.

I'm still confused as to why, on many character sheets, there is a column under stats for stat mod + 1/2 mod. The combined modifier doesn't apply to everything (it doesn't affect damage, for instance) so having a "blanket" column like that is a bit confusing, as this thread shows. Modifier from the stat hould be separated out from the 1/2 level bonus to avoid this confusion.

My group just went to 2nd level last weekend and was confused by this as well. Stat mod + 1/2 level is what is used for untrained skill checks (or attribute checks, which are pretty much the same thing).

I can see the use of having that precalculated, but the decision to place it next to the regular attribute modifiers on the sheet seems to cause a lot of confusion.

 

[DreamChaser]

I'm still confused as to why, on many character sheets, there is a column under stats for stat mod + 1/2 mod. The combined modifier doesn't apply to everything (it doesn't affect damage, for instance) so having a "blanket" column like that is a bit confusing, as this thread shows. Modifier from the stat hould be separated out from the 1/2 level bonus to avoid this confusion.

Because of:

Untrained skill checks
Ability checks
Attacks for which you didn't already stat yourself out (my wizard grabs a long sword and takes a swing, what's my bonus?)

One thing that I did on the sheets I created for my group was to label that section "Check" (as apposed to modifer). This way it is clearer that this is only used for d20 rolls...for other applications, you need to use the Modifer.

(of course, a shortcut would be to realize that with you defenses you just use this number in place of stat + level but this is a math leap that some less math minded people don't do as well).

DC

 

[Nail]

We ever gonna hear from the OP?




...or did we scare 'im off?