Armor and Shields: Difference between revisions
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m (→Penalty to Dexterity Bonus to AC: the phrase "Dex Penalty to AC" only appeared in tables, and wasn't in the definition) |
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The entire POINT of wearing armor is that it grants a native, non-magical, Armor Bonus to the Armor Class of the user. Even better, this armor bonus is always on, it cannot be negated in any way, and if you are willing to wear the heavier armors and shields, it can be extremely large. War Plate and a Tower Shield, without any other bonuses at all, can get a typical level 1 character to an AC of 24, which is...pretty incredibly good. As an added benefit, Armor is not worn in a 'normal' magic item slot, which means that if you wear armor, you get the benefits of an 'extra' magic item, and it is a really nice item, as Armor Properties can be applied to Armor (and only armor) which can be really, really nice. And on top of that, Armor can be made out of Dweomermetals, which adds another entire stack of amazing effects. Armor is very, very nice indeed. Of course, all these great benefits come with some pretty heavy downsides, so there are tradeoffs to all these sorts of things. | The entire POINT of wearing armor is that it grants a native, non-magical, Armor Bonus to the Armor Class of the user. Even better, this armor bonus is always on, it cannot be negated in any way, and if you are willing to wear the heavier armors and shields, it can be extremely large. War Plate and a Tower Shield, without any other bonuses at all, can get a typical level 1 character to an AC of 24, which is...pretty incredibly good. As an added benefit, Armor is not worn in a 'normal' magic item slot, which means that if you wear armor, you get the benefits of an 'extra' magic item, and it is a really nice item, as Armor Properties can be applied to Armor (and only armor) which can be really, really nice. And on top of that, Armor can be made out of Dweomermetals, which adds another entire stack of amazing effects. Armor is very, very nice indeed. Of course, all these great benefits come with some pretty heavy downsides, so there are tradeoffs to all these sorts of things. | ||
===Penalty | ===Dex Penalty to AC=== | ||
And, speaking of downsides, here is a big one. Armor and the biggest Shields are heavy, bulky, and hard to wear. This causes LOTS of big problems for wearing super-heavy armor and shield, and the first one is, many suits of armor are so heavy and difficult to wear that they penalize the amount of AC you can get from your Dexterity. If you are wearing a suit of armor and carrying a shield that BOTH have a penalty to your Dex Bonus to AC, then those bonuses add together, to a minimum of zero. Yes, thankfully, this penalty cannot ever lower your 'Dexterity Bonus to AC' below zero, so there's that, but if you want to be extremely 'dodgy', you need to carefully choose armor that is light and easy to move in, or, you need to check for magic items ([[Warrior Harness]]) that can make this problem less of a problem. War Plate and a Tower Shield is incredible, but with a total penalty to your Dex contribution to your AC of five points, you're not going to be dodging nearly as well in that massive tank-like outfit. | And, speaking of downsides, here is a big one. Armor and the biggest Shields are heavy, bulky, and hard to wear. This causes LOTS of big problems for wearing super-heavy armor and shield, and the first one is, many suits of armor are so heavy and difficult to wear that they penalize the amount of AC you can get from your Dexterity. If you are wearing a suit of armor and carrying a shield that BOTH have a penalty to your Dex Bonus to AC, then those bonuses add together, to a minimum of zero. Yes, thankfully, this penalty cannot ever lower your 'Dexterity Bonus to AC' below zero, so there's that, but if you want to be extremely 'dodgy', you need to carefully choose armor that is light and easy to move in, or, you need to check for magic items ([[Warrior Harness]]) that can make this problem less of a problem. War Plate and a Tower Shield is incredible, but with a total penalty to your Dex contribution to your AC of five points, you're not going to be dodging nearly as well in that massive tank-like outfit. | ||