Imposter's Cloth?

[glitchwraith]

Is there any reason I shouldn't allow the Imposter's Armor magic item enchantment be allowed on armors lower than chain?

I have a player whose character is a doppelganger warlock who would like to avoid changing clothes everytime he shapeshifts for a specific disguise. Only items I see that could help is Imposters Armor or Hat of Disguise. The hat seems like overkill, since it grants the general shapeshifting ability Doppelgangers already posess, but warlocks arn't proficiant with any of the armors Imposter's Armor works with. He could just take the feat for chain proficiancy, but I think he'd rather use the feat slot for something else. I'm thinking of just houserulling it, but wanted the opinions of more experianced players before I decide.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Is there any reason I shouldn't allow the Imposter's Armor magic item enchantment be allowed on armors lower than chain?
.

In my opinion, most of the armor restrictions are nonsensical, but perhaps they think light armors could be worn under clothes normally. I am sure it will not break the game by allowing it on any armor, though.

 

[CapnZapp]

I agree, most restrictions on item type (only plate armor, or only bladed weapons, etc) seems to have been made for color only.

Im sure theres the odd exception, but in most cases I think its safe to ignore those restrictions altogether.

(One example where the restriction on item type makes some sense is "rod only". Some of the rod powers are only useful of you have a Curse class ability, which makes it kind of pointless to allow these on Holy Symbols or Orbs...)

In other cases its probably just tradition - why otherwise restrict Vorpal to "big" weapons only?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I agree, most restrictions on item type (only plate armor, or only bladed weapons, etc) seems to have been made for color only.

Im sure theres the odd exception, but in most cases I think its safe to ignore those restrictions altogether.

(One example where the restriction on item type makes some sense is "rod only". Some of the rod powers are only useful of you have a Curse class ability, which makes it kind of pointless to allow these on Holy Symbols or Orbs...)

In other cases its probably just tradition - why otherwise restrict Vorpal to "big" weapons only?

Sometimes it is just "tradition" (Vorpal certainly) or archetype enforcing, but I think there is also some hidden balancing going on.

 

[CapnZapp]

Sometimes it is just "tradition" (Vorpal certainly) or archetype enforcing, but I think there is also some hidden balancing going on.

You mean "lets not give the Rogue easy access to this power, lets give it to heavy blades and axes only" kind of deals?

What about the Transfer Enchantment ritual. Would it then be broken if you lifted its (on the face if it nonsensical) limitations on transfers from type to type.

Transfering the magic from an Ogres hide armour to your halfling leather armor would be allowed, but not to the Dwarfs Plate...?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

You mean "lets not give the Rogue easy access to this power, lets give it to heavy blades and axes only" kind of deals?

Exactly.

What about the Transfer Enchantment ritual. Would it then be broken if you lifted its (on the face if it nonsensical) limitations on transfers from type to type.

Assuming that the restrictions to certain armor also exists for game balance reason, then of course it would be broken.

Would it be broken if the Rogue could sneak attack and use all his powers with a Greatsword? Yes it would be!

Transfering the magic from an Ogres hide armour to your halfling leather armor would be allowed, but not to the Dwarfs Plate...

Not would be. It is not allowed (assuming the property has such a restriction, of course).

 

[glitchwraith]

On second thought, I'm wondering if I'm even understanding the fuction of Imposter's Armor correctly. I was assuming it could change into any type of clothing the wearer wants for the purpose of disguise, but it may instead just change into one type of clothing to hide the fact that the wearer is wearing armor at all. The fluff in AV hints towards the former, but the armor restrictions make more sence for the latter. The acual power dscription seems pretty vague though. Thoughts?

Anyway, like I said before, I mainly just want a magic item that will assist a doppelgangers disguise by only changing the apearance of the clothing, and thus would be a lower level than Hat of Disguise. If Imposter's Amrmor doesn't do this, i'll just make a simular item around it's level. That seems like it would be balanced.

 

[ChristopherA]

It looks to me like the armor is intended to allow you to transform it into any normal set of clothes - hence the Bluff bonus. But the wording is somewhat vague, unfortunately.

Some armor restrictions are actually meaningful for game balance - particularly when the armor is restricted to only the less desirable armor types, like cloth and chain. But in other cases, I think the restriction is just for color. I'm not sure about Imposter's Armor. It has the same level as Magic armor, so you are getting the ability for free. It could be intentional that the classes who are most likely to have the Bluff skill are light armor classes that are not allowed to wear the armor.

 

[CapnZapp]

Would it be broken if the Rogue could sneak attack and use all his powers with a Greatsword? Yes it would be!

I'm pretty sure you're already aware of that this is outside what we're discussing, but just for clarity:

What we're discussing is whether it would be broken to allow the Rogue to pick up the monster's Greatsword of Peculiar Power +3 and reuse its magic (through Transfer Ritual, or any similar method that doesn't lose you 4/5ths of the power/value) for a Shortsword of Peculiar Power +3.

That is, the character would still use his ordinary weapon type. Its the power of the magic item - the Flaming, the Lifedrinker, or the Vorpal - we're transferring across.

Or not, as the case may be.

 

[Nikosandros]

Sometimes it is just "tradition" (Vorpal certainly) or archetype enforcing, but I think there is also some hidden balancing going on.

It would be helpful it the balancing was less hidden so as to be able to clearly distinguish between "flavor" restrictions and balance restrictions.