CapnZapp
Legend
The rules on masterwork armors are presented in an annoyingly obtuse and non-systematical way. Read this for the clearly presented alternative 
These rules replace everything masterwork-related in the rules, but they aim to change no actual game effects.
§ The Armor bonus to AC of any suit of armor is decided by the type of armor. Cloth always have +0. Plate always have +8.
§ Armor can have a Quality bonus to AC as well (stacking with its Armor bonus to AC and its Enchantment bonus to AC, if any). This bonus ranges from +1 to +2 for Light armor, and from +1 to +6 for Heavy Armor.
§ Armor can be made out of rare materials. Rare materials have a specific Quality bonus to AC, and may confer additional bonuses as well. For instance, Nagascale (from Adventurer's Vault) provides a +4 Quality bonus to AC and a +1 bonus to Fortitude.
The following guidelines apply when handing out Armor as treasure:
* For light armor, the minimum Enchantment bonus for any armor with a Quality bonus is +4. Armor with a +2 Quality bonus should be restricted to the very best armor (i.e. +6 armor).
* For heavy armor, it's simpler. The Quality bonus should generally be lower than the Enchantment bonus, except for the very best armor (so a +2 Scalemail could be given a Quality bonus of +1)
This way, things are - to me - much simpler.
First off, no need to remember which of Forgemail or Spiritmail was the strongest, and what their bonuses were. Now an Angelsteel Warplate +5 would simply be handed out as Angelsteel Platemail +5 (+3 Quality bonus).
Thus, you don't need to remember the masterwork names - unless you want to. A +4 Platemail simply has its +3 Quality bonus, say, for a total bonus to AC of 8+3+4=15, which is exactly the effects of wearing Warplate +4.
This also solves the issue when you upgrade or change the magic on a suit of armor. If you change your +2 Chainmail into a +4 Chainmail, the core rules are silent on whether or not your armor "automagically" transforms from chainmail into forgemail. With this rule, this kind of hand-waving doesn't need to happen. In the rare case you actually find a suit of Nagamail, you will have to decide how long you want to keep it, considering its Quality bonus will remain +4.
Now that the bonus has been divorced from the material, you could experiment with handing out rare materials for non-standard armor types. If you defeat a few Nagas, perhaps you can fashion "Nagaleather" as well as Nagascale. Nagaleather could then provide a +1 Quality bonus to AC plus its bonus to Fortitude.
Finally, the rules are clear enough for me to introduce non-magical versions of plain magic armor... more on that in a separate post.
These rules replace everything masterwork-related in the rules, but they aim to change no actual game effects.
§ The Armor bonus to AC of any suit of armor is decided by the type of armor. Cloth always have +0. Plate always have +8.
§ Armor can have a Quality bonus to AC as well (stacking with its Armor bonus to AC and its Enchantment bonus to AC, if any). This bonus ranges from +1 to +2 for Light armor, and from +1 to +6 for Heavy Armor.
§ Armor can be made out of rare materials. Rare materials have a specific Quality bonus to AC, and may confer additional bonuses as well. For instance, Nagascale (from Adventurer's Vault) provides a +4 Quality bonus to AC and a +1 bonus to Fortitude.
The following guidelines apply when handing out Armor as treasure:
* For light armor, the minimum Enchantment bonus for any armor with a Quality bonus is +4. Armor with a +2 Quality bonus should be restricted to the very best armor (i.e. +6 armor).
* For heavy armor, it's simpler. The Quality bonus should generally be lower than the Enchantment bonus, except for the very best armor (so a +2 Scalemail could be given a Quality bonus of +1)
This way, things are - to me - much simpler.
First off, no need to remember which of Forgemail or Spiritmail was the strongest, and what their bonuses were. Now an Angelsteel Warplate +5 would simply be handed out as Angelsteel Platemail +5 (+3 Quality bonus).
Thus, you don't need to remember the masterwork names - unless you want to. A +4 Platemail simply has its +3 Quality bonus, say, for a total bonus to AC of 8+3+4=15, which is exactly the effects of wearing Warplate +4.
This also solves the issue when you upgrade or change the magic on a suit of armor. If you change your +2 Chainmail into a +4 Chainmail, the core rules are silent on whether or not your armor "automagically" transforms from chainmail into forgemail. With this rule, this kind of hand-waving doesn't need to happen. In the rare case you actually find a suit of Nagamail, you will have to decide how long you want to keep it, considering its Quality bonus will remain +4.
Now that the bonus has been divorced from the material, you could experiment with handing out rare materials for non-standard armor types. If you defeat a few Nagas, perhaps you can fashion "Nagaleather" as well as Nagascale. Nagaleather could then provide a +1 Quality bonus to AC plus its bonus to Fortitude.
Finally, the rules are clear enough for me to introduce non-magical versions of plain magic armor... more on that in a separate post.
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