Make ALL Armor Useful

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Flights of Fantasy
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Re: Make ALL Armor Useful

Unread post by Flights of Fantasy »

On that note, why not make all material types a bit more useful as well? Does anyone even make use of Dark Steel armor? How about you make it increase the Armor Rating and Dex bonus by 1, making it stronger than Mithral but lighter than Iron. And have Adamantine increase the Armor Rating by 2 but no change to the dex bonus. But, if you decided to keep the /3 DR, also increase it's weight to counter balance. Adamantine will then become the armor of choice for the muscle heads.

We can also do the same with the hide materials. With dragon hide, change the bonus from a +3 AC bonus to a direct increase to the armor rating. The same goes for Salamander, Umber Hulk, and Wyvern hides with their AC bonus respectively . Here's some examples:
Wyvern Full Plate
Heavy
AC Bonus: 10
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 1
Arcane Spell Failure: 35%
Armor Check Penalty: -6
+4 Saving Throws vs. Poison
20% Weight Reduction *

Dragon Half-Plate
Heavy
AC Bonus: 10
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 2
Arcane Spell Failure: 30%
Armor Check Penalty: -5
20/- Fire DR
20% Weight Reduction *

Dark Steel Banded Mail
Medium
AC Bonus: 7
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 4
Arcane Spell Failure: 25%
Armor Check Penalty: -4
5/- Acid DR

Adamantine Breastplate
Medium
AC Bonus: 7
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 4
Arcane Spell Failure: 25%
Armor Check Penalty: -4
(3/- DR w/ 20% Weight Increase) *

Salamander (Hide) Armor
Medium
AC Bonus: 4
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 6
Arcane Spell Failure: 20%
Armor Check Penalty: -3
10/- Fire DR
40% Weight Reduction *

Adamantine Chain Shirt
Light
AC Bonus: 6
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 5
Arcane Spell Failure: 15%
Armor Check Penalty: -2
(3/- DR w/ 20% Weight Increase) *

Studded Salamander Armor
Light
AC Bonus: 3
Maximum Dexterity Bonus: 6
Arcane Spell Failure: 10%
Armor Check Penalty: -1
10/- Fire DR
40% Weight Reduction *

Heavy Umber Hulk Shield
AC Bonus: 4
Arcane Spell Failure: 15%
Armor Check Penalty: -2
Immunity: Mind Affecting Spells
* Change the armor's weight directly to save on enchantment slots.
Why does Mithral have to be the best? Ironically, Dragon Hide should be the best because it has the highest DC for crafting at 30. I think Mithral's crafting DC is just around 15.
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CrimsonMist
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Re: Make ALL Armor Useful

Unread post by CrimsonMist »

I'm definitely on board with having adamantine be as good as mithral - maybe a +1 flat AC bonus and increase the weight and armour check penalty as this allows PCs to dump dexterity more effectively.

Dragonhide could be better than both. Is it possible to change the qualities included with "Material (x)" as the one big flaw with the other material types is that their special qualities are considered enchantments rather than base qualities as mithral does.
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Marathados
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Re: Make ALL Armor Useful

Unread post by Marathados »

CrimsonMist wrote:I'm definitely on board with having adamantine be as good as mithral - maybe a +1 flat AC bonus and increase the weight and armour check penalty as this allows PCs to dump dexterity more effectively.

Dragonhide could be better than both. Is it possible to change the qualities included with "Material (x)" as the one big flaw with the other material types is that their special qualities are considered enchantments rather than base qualities as mithral does.
I actually always thought the dragonhide armors are way too bad, considering where they come from.
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Flights of Fantasy
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Re: Make ALL Armor Useful

Unread post by Flights of Fantasy »

Nope, dragon scales are supposed to be the tougher than any metal you can find. That why's it has such a high DC for crafting. The problem is they made the armor bonus an unstackable enchantment rather than changing armor AC itself. Pretty sure the only ones that use dragon hide armor are druids since it doesn't violate their no metal rule.
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