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View Full Version : Balance and Effect on Game- Silver and Spell Resistance.



Justin B.
2009-06-23, 10:51 AM
This could potentially belong in the Homebrew forum, but I'm more interested in the way it will interact with the rules as stated, and opinions about balance, and those are best found here in Roleplaying Games. There's also a fun bit of fluff to go along with the mechanics...

Few questions:

Is this balanced?
Would you use it in your world?
Does the Crafting Check and cost seem appropriate?
Is it alright to fly in the face of currently existing Spell Resistance armor? (Current spell resistance armor sucks and this is more flavorful and fun.)

The Big Reveal:
For long has silver been considered an element of goodness and purity, and a ward against evil and magic. It is known that even the greatest mages and arcanists of the world have found silver amazingly difficult to enchant or work with magic in any way. However, where the magicians of the world have failed, those merchants and warriors of deep wisdom have turned the powerful resistance of silver to their own uses.

Though expensive, the art of inlaying silver into the metalwork of steel and iron has proven a great boon to those who would face great and dangerous spell casters with naught but steel weaponry. Though magical conjurations can easily still melt the flesh from the bone of a proud warrior, oftentimes the warrior wise enough to arm himself in silvered armor finds that spells fizzle harmlessly against him.

Some have theorized that the silver itself is so powerful at resisting magic that it passes some of its powers onto a wearer. Others have postulated that silver generates a field of potent magical protection, and the greater the silver is wrought in terms of purity and amount, the greater the field becomes. By its very nature, however, it is impossible to tell for sure.

This process cannot be achieved by creating an alloy of steel and silver, for this particular pairing makes for a very weak metal that is poorly suited for defense against blades. Instead, it has been found that silver traceries and designs inlaid onto the armor provide a very effective method of benefiting for the potent anti-magic properties of the silver.

However, while the silver inlaying of a breastplate or a fine weave of silver thread through a chain shirt is useful for a warrior, many find the cost prohibitive. The purification of the silver is difficult and costly. Craftsmen skilled in purification techniques charge large sums for the greatest and most effective of the substance. As well, armorers that can weave the metal are few and far between, and also charge greatly for their service.

Those who can afford the process, however, can speak of nothing higher than its effectiveness on the field of battle.

Silvering armor is an enhancement that adds spell resistance equal to armor bonus for a poorly purified (or common everyday) silver, is equal to it’s armor bonus for moderately purified silver, and armor bonus x2 for well purified silver, and for the most pure and greatest silver, spell resistance equal to the armor bonus x 3. For the purposes of determining the armor bonus of an item, include any magical enhancements the armor may have. +3 Fullplate with moderately purified silver would then grant spell resistance of 22. +5 Fullplate with the greatest purified silver would grant spell resistance of 39.

The guidelines for determining the cost of creating a silvered armor are as follows. 180 times the Armor bonus of the item (including magical enhancements) times the spell resistance modifier for the level of silver purity.

For instance, to silver a +5 Full plate armor set with the best level of silver purity, it would cost (300*13) * 3 or 11,700 gp, plus the cost of the magic armor itself.

A silvered shield grants the same bonuses. The SR from a silvered shield and silvered armor stack when determining the total spell resistance for a character wearing silvered gear. To determine the price of a silvered shield, use the same calculations as for the armor, but substitute the shield bonus and its enhancement bonus for the purpose of determining total cost.

A Silver shield or armor does not interfere with other magical properties imbued into the regular steel or wood of an armor or shield. A magical weapon is still magical when it strikes the character wearing silvered armor, for instance.

Inlaying Silver into armor or shield requires a Craft (Armorsmithing) check equal to 15 + Armor bonus of the item (including magical enhancements) + the spell resistance modifier for the purity level of the steel. So, enhancing a +5 Full plate armor with the highest level of silver requires a check of 15 + 13 + 3, or 31. This follows all the regular rules for crafting, except as noted above.