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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 4618201" data-attributes="member: 12731">The rules on masterwork armors are presented in an annoyingly obtuse and non-systematical way. Read this for the clearly presented alternative <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" />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. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />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. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" /></blockquote>

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