What is the rationale for not allowing magic bracers to work with magic shields?

[Crazydwarf]

but it's already the case that a shield fighter cannot approach the damage of a two-handed weapon fighter

I'm not sure I agree...But different topic

The advantage isn't huge, but it is there. With the fighter's power selection, using two weapons is probably sub-optimal, but it's doable with a ranger multiclass.

Sure, but probably done better with a pure ranger ? Especially since the multiclassed fighter still cannot use a non-offhand in his offhand (I think atleast AFB so ca't check it)
I don't see how it affects the outcome much.

 

[Mengu]

One of the goals with 4e, was to have fewer slots for magic items, and combining shields and bracers into one slot accomplishes part of that goal.

Also looking at the abilities granted by arm slot items, you can tell there is a good bit of flavor for your character built into these items. For instance when you make the choice to wield a great weapon, you suddenly have some interesting bracer options. Bracers of Mighty striking is a very attractive option for the greatweapon fighter. However for an Avenging Paladin, the Bracers of Defense stands out as a great option. For a warlord choosing between shield and two-handed weapon, the Bashing shield is an excellent option to add to his battlefield control, but Bracers of Defense can easily cover forgoing the shield for a reach weapon.

I think allowing two arm slot items would tip the balance toward the shield quite considerably. If you could have both bracers and a shield, there would be little reason to give up that shield.

 

[DracoSuave]

In game rationale: Magic items feed as much off of the user as they do their own residual energies. An item user cannot maintain two magic items from the same location on their bodies, so they have to choose one and stick with it. In the case of shields and bracers, that node happens to be on the arms. Think chi, pressure points, etc.

Out-of-game rationale: Magic items aren't as powerful as they were in previous editions. In 1 and 2, a lot of characters defined themselves by the loot they had, as that's where the bulk of their abilities and powers came from. In 3.x, you had more character abilities, so they ramped up magic item powers even more. Instead of a system designed to build characters, it was a system designed to hang magical hats and robes off of.

They got away from that by making powers the cornerstone of the character, and by making magic items a lot more limited in their scope. Part of that direction was lowering the number of slots a character had available for items. Now, bracers and shields use the same slot on the body, for that simple reason. You're no longer a loot-container with combat stats, you're a character who just happens to have a few nice things he takes to battle with him.

Frankly, as a player and as a DM, I rather welcome that change.

 

[abyssaldeath]

I hear you. I used to think about what magic items I wanted all the time. Now with 4e, I'm so focused on powers I almost couldn't care about magic items.

 

[Kzach]

Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Ok, you're wrong.

 

[KarinsDad]

I simply don't understand it, so I'm hoping someone can explain it.

You can hold a non-magic shield just fine. You can hold a magic weapon just fine (dual-wielding), so why not a magic shield?

It just seems to me to be an unnecessary and unfair disadvantage. What am I missing?

It's totally fair.

As a general rule, each PC can have the same number of different types of magic items.

There are some exceptions, all of them dealing with items that give enhancement bonuses to attack and damage:

1) Clerics who get their Holy Symbol for free (i.e. as an additional free slot)
2) Staff Wizards who can combine their weapon with their implement
3) Rangers who use two weapons

But even in these cases, it's not as if they are getting more power. Sure, the Cleric can use his magic Holy Symbol or his magic weapon whereas the Fighter just uses his magic weapon, but since they are both used for attack, it really means that the Cleric is both at a disadvantage due to having to own two magic items instead of one for the same gain, and at an advantage (typically with the daily power of the extra magic item). Ditto for the other examples.

They are all bonus items to attack and damage powers. And, this is the important part. Typically, the magic from the two items cannot be used at the same time. The user has to decide to use one or the other on an attack (the exception to this is a two weapon wielding Ranger and even in that case, each roll has to use one or the other).

So, the off hand can be either a magic shield or a magic bracer. Each PC has to decide what he will put in that slot. The only way to get bracer magic while using a shield is to use a mundane shield. That's totally fair. It applies equally to all PCs.

 

[Mirtek]

It just seems to me to be an unnecessary and unfair disadvantage. What am I missing?

It would be an unfair advantage if it would work.

A shield already grants up to +2 AC/Ref which is a huge advantage in 4e. Adding a second set of magic powers to this slot would make it overpowered

 

[RigaMortus2]

Shouldn't you be asking WotC about this? None of us here are the designers, so we can't possibly give you an answer as to the rationale the desingers put into creating these rules, we can only give you our opinions. If you really want to find out the rationale why, I might suggest emailing the people that came up with the rules.

 

[Kzach]

Shouldn't you be asking WotC about this? None of us here are the designers, so we can't possibly give you an answer as to the rationale the desingers put into creating these rules, we can only give you our opinions. If you really want to find out the rationale why, I might suggest emailing the people that came up with the rules.

Why bother doing that when my opinion is always right?

 

[Saeviomagy]

The shield-wielder and the two-weapon/two-hander wielder need to be balanced against one another. That means they need to have the same number of slots. You could achieve that by simply not having magic shields in the game, but people would whinge about that, so instead you just allow people to use one or the other.