Ulimate Monk Armor....?

[jarlaxlecq]

If it's in character, take a Vow of Poverty [BoED]



you're not suggesting combining vow of poverty with those robes right?

 

[Thanee]

---->Monks only, magic item restriction reduces cost 30%

If I were your DM, that part would be a simple no!

Notes:

• The example given for "different abilities" specifically calls out attack, save, & AC bonuses. It says that one item with two or more of these has "different" abilities, and therefore is priced a x1.5. ....but that implies that any one of those, taken as different types, is *not* a different ability.

Actually, it is. They are all different abilities.

• I left out insight bonuses...not sure how to price that. Is that 5000gp times bonus squared? Where do I look that up......

Insight would be 2,500 gp x bonus² as all the "other" bonuses.

• I'd love to hear of other ways to boost AC....as long as it doesn't involve multiclassing. And yes, I've already got Dex and Wis -boosting items, thanks.

You could just write down a higher AC on your sheet. Ok, maybe not.

Alter Self, Polymorph, Shapechange item?

+6 Dex item, +6 Wis item, +6 armor bonus item, +6 shield bonus item, +3 natural armor bonus item, +3 deflection bonus item, +2 insight bonus item, +2 sacred bonus item. Guess that should be affordable by that level (roughly 200,000 gp by a quick estimation, how much does a 16th level character have?). That should give you an AC of over 40 with high Dex and Wis. Combat Expertise for another +5.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nail]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

Let me reply to some of 'em (in order, I think.)

Nail, I assume you're statting this robe out as a player?

Nope. As the DM.....therefore no need to "check with the DM". I'm far more interested in the general opinion of these boards in any case.

All of the secondary abilities essentially require no "slot" on the body, and thus should cost 2x as if they were multiple items.

Nice try, but no. These powers are in an item that does take a slot. So the "x2" multiplier is not even in consideration. The real bone of contention is whether these properties are "similar" (therefore only x1 cost) or "different" (therefore x1.5 cost).

I can understand how confusing those few paragraphs in the DMG are....one wonders how they made it through the revision......but that's how it works. As you can see from the other responses here, lots of people have mistaken impressions.

If it's in character, take a Vow of Poverty [BoED].

It's not, but thanks for the suggestion! IMO, Vow of Poverty really hits the Monk where it hurts: the "average damage per round" Department. Monks already have trouble there, in comparison to warrior types, because of their low Atk bonuses and lack of magical weaponry.

"Similar" is generally not applicable; an example of similar abilities are spells on a staff that all use charges from the same pool. Bonuses to different parts of AC are dissimilar and increase the price as above.

Generally, DMG text notwithstanding, D&D designers have suggested no change or a price increase for an item only useable by a small subset of classes/races/whatever, since it's actually more useful to the character (can't be stolen and used against him).

As ususual, CRG has put his finger on the two key problem areas. I've heard them before. But in this particular case: Why?

"Similar" is not meant to be solely a magic staff power; several rods, rings, and even an occasional magical Robe or two use the formula. Why not here?

In this Robe's case, all the bonuses are to AC. How much more similar can you get?

As for "limited use": In spirit, I agree with CRG's sentiment. But in practice.....hey, if the designers "didn't mean it", then why did they include it in both 3.0e and the revision? <shrug>

What can you get if you combine
Bracers of armour
Amulet of natural armour...

I'm all out of body slots, frankly. I've already got 3 stat boosting items(Str, Wis, Dex) + boots of speed + ki straps(gloves slot). That's 5 slots taken up....which leaves me with too few to boost my AC sufficiently . Hence the temptation of combining it all in one slot.

I would probably also put a 50% or so cheese surcharge on it

Cute! ...but misguided. The point is to make an item that obeys the rules of the game. If you'd like to change the rules - by all means! - the House Rules forum is next door.

That said, I wouldn't have posted here if I didn't value the opinions of fellow gamers. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Nail]

If I were your DM, that part would be a simple no!

Awwwww....!!!

+6 Dex item, +6 Wis item, +6 armor bonus item, +6 shield bonus item, +3 natural armor bonus item, +3 deflection bonus item, +2 insight bonus item, +2 sacred bonus item. Guess that should be affordable by that level (roughly 200,000 gp by a quick estimation, how much does a 16th level character have?). That should give you an AC of over 40 with high Dex and Wis. Combat Expertise for another +5.

...which would leave me witha GREAT AC and not much else!!!

I've currently got:
Circlet of Wis +4 (total Wis 22)
Vest of Dex +4 (total Dex 22)
Belt of the Monk
That gives me an AC 25 (+6+6+3). I'd like my end AC in the high 30's, at a minimum.

Why settle for second best???

 

[Darklone]

Is a normal bracers of armour +8 really that much more expensive...

 

[Nail]

+8 AC bracers of armor are 8*8*1000 = 64,000 gp. ...and my proposal comes in at +12 AC, for 52,000gp. There's enough of a difference to make it interesting.....

 

[Thanee]

It works only if you split it up on several items, because of multiple different abilities.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

...which would leave me witha GREAT AC and not much else!!!

At least something...

Hey, I have no idea how much resources a 16th level character has. I can only guess right now.

I'd like my end AC in the high 30's, at a minimum.

Anything less and you can ignore AC altogether. 30 is laughable at that level. 40 is probably the bare minimum to be somewhat competitive.

Attack bonuses of around +30 (1st attack) should be fairly common for fighter types.

Tank fighters will get beyond 40 easily with +5 mithril full plates and +5 shields as well as some other stuff granting natural armor and deflection bonuses to AC.

Anyways, you might want to look into stuff like major cloak of displacement also.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Deset Gled]

+8 AC bracers of armor are 8*8*1000 = 64,000 gp. ...and my proposal comes in at +12 AC, for 52,000gp. There's enough of a difference to make it interesting.....

Interesting isn't the word I would use. "Cheesy", "broken", "bad form", and "just plain wrong" all come to mind.

Your game, of course. If you're monk's really that underpowered, it might not be too bad, but I would consider rebuilding the character instead.

 

[Thanee]

It's not really broken... it's part of the system.

Since costs are exponential and you can stack the bonuses together, it is obviously better to aquire multiple low bonuses than single high bonuses. Noone would get a +2 armor, if they can get a +1 armor, a +1 shield and a +1 weapon for the same price.

But it comes at a disadvantage. For example, if you have covered all standard bonuses there, you won't be able to benefit from a spell cast on you.

If you have bracers of armor, an amulet of natural armor and a ring of deflection, you won't benefit much from a Mage Armor, Barkskin or Protection from Evil.

Bye
Thanee