Is Clothing considered armor...?

[KarinsDad]

If no spells are included in the prerequisites, use the following default guidelines:

Item Nature - School
Armor and protection items -- Abjuration

[rant]
Another thing I have a problem with is defaults like this. Although the magic of armor being abjuration is somewhat ok (it really should be transmutation though), magic armor changes size in 3E for fit the recepient.

Hence, armor should also radiate transmutation.

Plus, armor should revert back to its original size in an Antimagic Field, but that's a different issue.
[/rant]

 

[Hypersmurf]

Except that an Armor bonus is not an Enhancement bonus to AC.

Neither is anything else; there's no such thing as an Enhancement bonus to AC.

An Enhancement bonus on a protective item increases the Armor bonus of a suit of armor (or in 3.5, the Shield bonus of a shield). It does not directly increase AC.

That's why Enhancement bonuses are ignored by touch attacks - they increase the Armor bonus, which is bypassed.

-Hyp.

 

[KarinsDad]

Neither is anything else; there's no such thing as an Enhancement bonus to AC.

I wasn't trying to be 100% literal there. You knew what I meant.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I wasn't trying to be 100% literal there. You knew what I meant.

Well, then I'm not sure what your point was.

What's the effective difference between a shirt with a +5 Armor bonus, and a shirt with a +5 Enhancement bonus to a +0 Armor bonus?

Magic Vestment won't stack with either of them. They're both ignored by touch attacks.

-Hyp.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

As has been said before, it's easy to do this by making "X of armor", where X is shirt/vest/pants/whatever.

The rules already exist (I forget where, but I've seen it in either the DMG or SRD) that tell you the cost multiplier to make an item that goes in a different slot than usual. Say, for the sake of argument, it's x2. Then if you can make Bracers of Armor +2, you can instead make a Shirt of Armor +2 for twice the cost.

As for specialist wizards being able to make magic items, well, the system's abstracted. If it bothers you as a DM, you could certainly change it.

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, then I'm not sure what your point was.

What's the effective difference between a shirt with a +5 Armor bonus, and a shirt with a +5 Enhancement bonus to a +0 Armor bonus?

Magic Vestment won't stack with either of them. They're both ignored by touch attacks.

For 3E (do not know the 3.5 rules on this), an Armor Bonus does not stack with armor (they are the same bonus type) and its associated Enhancement Bonus, nor with a shield and its associated Enhancement Bonus.

The Enhancement Bonus from Magic Vestment on clothing, though, will stack with the Enhancement Bonus on a shield.

So, a +5 Enhancement Bonus to clothing would be superior to a +5 Armor Bonus to clothing and very cool for Arcane semi-Fighter types like Bards since they could combine the Enhancement magic from their clothes with Enhancement magic from shields (with low or zero arcane spell penalty, depending on the material of the shield).

 

[Hypersmurf]

For 3E (do not know the 3.5 rules on this), an Armor Bonus does not stack with armor (they are the same bonus type) and its associated Enhancement Bonus, nor with a shield and its associated Enhancement Bonus.

Point. It doesn't matter in 3.5, since shields now have a Shield bonus, which stacks with any Armor bonus.

Of course, for enhanced clothing to stack with a shield in 3E, it would have to take up the armor slot (since the armor bonus from shields in 3E only stacks with "worn armor"), which would mean that duellists and monks would have problems if they wore it.

-Hyp.

 

[Camarath]

The rules already exist (I forget where, but I've seen it in either the DMG or SRD) that tell you the cost multiplier to make an item that goes in a different slot than usual. Say, for the sake of argument, it's x2. Then if you can make Bracers of Armor +2, you can instead make a Shirt of Armor +2 for twice the cost.

It is in both the 3.5 DMG and SRD. Here are the rules from the SRD. It appears that the Robe slot could be used with out the cost increase (mabye the shirt slot as well).

Uncustomary space limitation Multiply entire cost by 1.5

BODY SLOT AFFINITIES
Robe Multiple effects
Shirt Physical improvement
Vest, vestment Class ability improvement

 

[KarinsDad]

Of course, for enhanced clothing to stack with a shield in 3E, it would have to take up the armor slot (since the armor bonus from shields in 3E only stacks with "worn armor"), which would mean that duellists and monks would have problems if they wore it.

Basically, but that wouldn't matter to a 3E Bard who wants a relatively cheap set of armor bonus that stacks with his shield, but doesn't interfere with his spells.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Plus, armor should revert back to its original size in an Antimagic Field, but that's a different issue.

And not necessarily true.

Magic armor certainly shouldn't resize to fit someone in an Antimagic Field... but then, while it's in the Field, it isn't magic armor, so that's kinda a given.

But you're assuming that the resizing is an effect with a duration, or a continuous effect, that can be suppressed. What if when someone goes to put it on, it transforms to the new size as an instantaneous effect? Now it's not fat dwarf armor masquerading as skinny elf armor... it's skinny elf armor that was, once upon a time, fat dwarf armor.

Since the effect was instantaneous, there's nothing to suppress when it hits an AMF...

-Hyp.

Edit - now, this interpretation could cause a problem if the armor is being worn by a magically transformed (Polymorphed, Enlarged, whatever) creature, since the armor would not change when it hits the AMF, but the wearer would...