SRD v MIC: Bracers of Armor

[Agamon]

The "If it quacks like a duck" argument. They certainly match up well enough.

That's what I was getting at. It kinda makes sense out of context, but it doesn't properly balance in game.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The "If it quacks like a duck" argument.

But if you have a rule stating "This is a goose", we don't need to resort to the 'quacks like a duck' argument, and if that argument should conclude "This is a duck", there's a flaw in the argument.

It's unambiguously a goose, by direct statement of the rule.

The duck argument has its place, when there isn't an existing rule. This isn't that place.

-Hyp.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Whereas actual armor bonuses cost:

+1: 5 gp
+2: 10 gp
+3: 15 or 25 gp
+4: 50 or 100 gp
+5: 150 or 200 gp
+6: 200 or 250 gp
+7: 600 gp
+8: 1,500 gp

ignoring sizes other than Small or Medium, shapes other than humanoid, special materials, and the masterwork quality.

Ciao
Dave

 

[Darklone]

It's a farm. Ducks and gooses everywhere but the farm rules apply.

 

[ElectricDragon]

I just meant that if the bracers were priced as armor bonuses, who wouldn't be wearing them?


Ciao
Dave

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I just meant that if the bracers were priced as armor bonuses, who wouldn't be wearing them?

Someone who had armor that was carrying its own bonuses (up to +13 armor bonus) and additional things, like Fortification.

Now, someone might want to cart around Bracers of Armor in addition to their +5 Full Plate to partake of the bonus vs. incorporeal touches, and because, frankly, there's little to fill that slot anyway. But, historically, the Bracers of Armor exist to provide armor bonuses to non-armor-wearing classes (and by this, I mean wizards and monks).

Brad

 

[Ilium]

So would this be legal?

Padded Armor (+1 Armor to AC)
Bracers of Armor +4 (+4 Armor to AC, does not stack with padded armor, so +4 total)
Magic Vestment cast on Padded Armor (+X Enhancement bonus to armor, DOES stack with bracers)

Seems OK to me...

 

[irdeggman]

So would this be legal?

Padded Armor (+1 Armor to AC)
Bracers of Armor +4 (+4 Armor to AC, does not stack with padded armor, so +4 total)
Magic Vestment cast on Padded Armor (+X Enhancement bonus to armor, DOES stack with bracers)

Seems OK to me...

Nope.

An enhancement bonus increases the bonus of something else.

So in this case the padded armor has a +1 Armor bonus to AC and then an additional +X enhancement bonus to that armor bonus to AC. To see what I mean check out what happens in an anti-magic field – the enhancement bonus is suppressed but the regular armor bonus is maintained. Same effect as for a suit of magical armor.

The Bracers give a +X Armor bonus to AC.

So what you are in effect saying is that bracers of armor stack with a magical suit of full plate. The question to ask is equivalent to: Would a +3 suit of full plate armor stack with a +3 bracers of armor?

 

[Deset Gled]

It's a farm. Ducks and gooses everywhere but the farm rules apply.

The internet is not a duck. It is a series of goose.

 

[Ilium]

So what you are in effect saying is that bracers of armor stack with a magical suit of full plate. The question to ask is equivalent to: Would a +3 suit of full plate armor stack with a +3 bracers of armor?

I think you could argue that it does. Not the whole value of the magical plate armor, but the enhancement bonus. In your example, the bracers are lower value than the base armor, so it's irrelevant. But in my example, the bracers are better "armor" than the padded armor. So I think you could argue that the enhancement bonus stacks with the better armor bonus (provided by the bracers).

So if you had +3 padded armor and bracers of armor +3, you'd have a grand total of +6 to AC (the +1 from the padded armor itself is lost because it doesn't stack with the bracers).