Please identify my wizard's armour!

[Archer]

I think the elf is wearing that bark or thorn armor from Dragon with the reduced penalties. Its falls midway between regular and mithril. The non-metal armors are replaced by leaf armor with the same game mechanic.

 

[Darklone]

Hennet and Lidda are wearing armour?

You've never seen real hardened leather armour right?

Reminds me of those guys who come to LARP cons in leather jeans and call it armour...

 

[jgbrowning]

Hennet and Lidda are wearing armour?

You've never seen real hardened leather armour right?

Reminds me of those guys who come to LARP cons in leather jeans and call it armour...

no, i have seen boiled leather. very different, ridged and strong, not the bs you make a leather jacket out of.

but even a leather jacket, one made for someone riding a motorcycle, provides some armor, just ask anyone who's wrecked.

padded is only quilted cloth... something like the basic peoples of siberia wear to keep out the cold. hennet's wearing leather, with metal buckles all the way up to his midsection on 1/2 of his body, with one shoulder guard and two bracers (not bracers of armor, the picture is for a first level character).

Also for all of you out there who have never fought in a sword battle, hitting the opponents legs is a very useful tactic. Excavations from battlefields show many deep wounds on the legs. Limit someone's movement and you have a big advantage.

I understand spell failure is based upon the need for precise body movements, but covering more than 1/2 your body in leather and only leaving 2/3 of one leg and the upper part of your chest, the bicep and shoulder of the left arm uncovered would imply to me that there is some kind of spell failure for hennet possible.

honestly, the pictures are supposed to make the characters look kewl, not to be representative of any real kind of armor. i mean, just what the hell is Alhandra wearing? khaki pants and and some strange triangular scale? who knows? Krusk is wearing less armor then hennet fer gods sake

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Hennet's armor is a way of protecting large portions of his body while keeping it off of his arms and shoulders for his casting. Just like a breast plate covers only your chest, it gives a decent AC because it is metal and covers vital organs. Hennets leather covers more of his body, but is only a couple layers of leather and dosn't cover the chest, hence a lower AC, but some protection. It also looks cool. Not midevil, but cool.

Also, if you want to use that picture without having to have a spell failure chance, or just want to go anime, make Shoulder pads, er, I mean a mantle of armor, as opposed to Bracers. Looks good and frees up the slot for gloves of dexterity and all the benifits therein.

 

[gamecat]

Hennet's first, best, and only line of defense is his perennial nippliness.

 

[Jalkain]

Also, if you want to use that picture without having to have a spell failure chance, or just want to go anime, make Shoulder pads, er, I mean a mantle of armor, as opposed to Bracers. Looks good and frees up the slot for gloves of dexterity and all the benifits therein.

I've already got Bracers of Armour (I'm glad I won't have to discard these now!), but I like the idea of incorporating the shoulder guards into a magic item of some kind. I'll have to think about that one...

Presumably a magic Mantle of Coolness won't take up a slot useable by something else?

 

[Jeremy]

Mantles such as mantles of spell resistance are their own slot. Check the DMG limits for magical items worn.

They're just one of the less commonly used one like eyegear.

 

[drnuncheon]

James McMurray: Interesting point - I suppose that a pair of heavy shoulder guards could be added to much lighter armour. Not sure how that would affect AC/arcane spell failure...

Bastion's Arms & Armor has spaulders, which cover the shoulders and upper arms. They're normally components of full plate, but can be attached to light and medium armors. However, they're brutal on spell failure, adding +20% to the chances.

Mithral armor or spellsword levels can help, but your best bet is getting Still Spell and putting it on anything you're going to have to cast in the heat of combat - then there's no chance of failure at all, although you pay by losing access to higher-level spells. Don't bother with using it on spells that aren't of immediate need - you can always take off enough of the armor to avoid the penalty, or wait until you make camp for the night.

J