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View Full Version : Question On the subject of Monks and Items from Libris Mortis



Mitth'raw'nuruo
2009-07-08, 03:18 PM
What I am wondering is if monks can wear the Shadow Veil or Chost Shroud listed on page 76 of LM. A shadow veil appears as an indistinct, enveloping covering. IT precludes wearing any other kind of armor. Grants +2 deflection bonus, is hard to distinguish in shadow, and is treated has having a 20% miss chance against creatures without darkvision, blind sight, or other sensory apparatus that does rely on light.
Honestly it looks like a robe in the picture.

the Ghost Shroud appears as a winding cloth in which the body is wrapped, and sometimes looks ghostly and partially translucent.

I think the Ghost Shroud & shadow veil were put in the armor section because they provide a boost to defense, but are actually wondrous items along the lines of a Cloak of Displacement, or Robe of the Archmagi.
all of the other examples in the section compare it to some sort of traditional armor or shield, which lets you know what proficiency's would be required for their use, and so on. . For example the Zombie hide is a +1 hide armor, the wight shield is a +1 light steel shield. The exoskeleton is a +2 breastplate and so on.


additionally, if you are feeling froggy:
I am currently toying with the idea of building a monk archer using the Zen Archer Varent. Since I am somewhat out of the loop advice for making an arher is appreciated. I am building a "normal" and Gestalt model. I really like the flavor of the monk variant; I am willing to multi-class- but to not what to end up with a / / / / / / / / situation. Just about any book is a go in my group except oriental adventures (although I only have LM, Frostburn, PH/DMG Draconomicon, Drow of the underdark handy, I'll track it down online if I have to)

Flickerdart
2009-07-08, 03:19 PM
If it says "the wearer may not wear any other armour", then it's armour. If it says "the wearer may not wear a suit of armour and this item at once" then it's not.

Mitth'raw'nuruo
2009-07-08, 03:31 PM
see; that was the phrase that made me indecisive; but nothing in the description even remotely makes it sound like armor. I was wondering if that was just to make sure people could not try to wear it with armor.

The next question is; would it (hypothetically) stack with bracer's of armor?

Flickerdart
2009-07-08, 03:32 PM
Bracers of armor provide an armor bonus, which the shrouds don't seem to do. So it would stack.

T.G. Oskar
2009-07-08, 05:32 PM
What I am wondering is if monks can wear the Shadow Veil or Chost Shroud listed on page 76 of LM. A shadow veil appears as an indistinct, enveloping covering. IT precludes wearing any other kind of armor. Grants +2 deflection bonus, is hard to distinguish in shadow, and is treated has having a 20% miss chance against creatures without darkvision, blind sight, or other sensory apparatus that does rely on light.
Honestly it looks like a robe in the picture.

the Ghost Shroud appears as a winding cloth in which the body is wrapped, and sometimes looks ghostly and partially translucent.

I think the Ghost Shroud & shadow veil were put in the armor section because they provide a boost to defense, but are actually wondrous items along the lines of a Cloak of Displacement, or Robe of the Archmagi.
all of the other examples in the section compare it to some sort of traditional armor or shield, which lets you know what proficiency's would be required for their use, and so on. . For example the Zombie hide is a +1 hide armor, the wight shield is a +1 light steel shield. The exoskeleton is a +2 breastplate and so on.

Ghost Shroud appears in the Magic Item compendium, and it is considered a wondrous item but it specifies the body slot, which is the slot for Armor and Robes. It's pretty useful for a Monk, IMO, since it combines a Ring of Protection with the Ghost Touch property for your weapons (and this extends to your fists). I would say the same about the Shadow Veil, as well: not armor, but a robe or an item worn on the body slot.

And yes, both stack. Notice that the kind of bonus is a deflection bonus, so it stacks normally. You specified the Veil to be a deflection bonus, and the Shrouds are also a deflection bonus (I know that since I'm using a Monk with Ghost Shrouds, and the description specifically says deflection), so it stacks with Bracers of Armor, Mage Armor spells or the Inertial Armor psionic power.

Though, technically, you can't wear a robe or a body slot item alongside magic armor. It's one of the specifications of the MIC and is based on the original magic item stacking rules. Unless the item allows for stacking, of course.

As for the build: Monks don't generally know how to use bows, so a race that grants you that wouldn't cripple your choice (basically, elves). As well, you could dip into Psychic Warrior and get the proficiency and skills from it; it's basically one of the best dips you can do. It's much better if you go with PsyWar as a Kalashtar, so you can take advantage of the Tashalatora feat. As well, try if you can get a feat that allows the use of longbows as special monk weapons: otherwise, you won't be capable of using the bulk of the special abilities of the Monk (flurry, Stunning Fist if you decide to take it, the Decisive Strike ACF from PHBII, and so on) If you're trying to use a Monk for the Wis synergy, you won't be useful as an archer since the class features rely upon close-range combat, and on the fists or special monk weapons. A PsyWar works much better for what you seek (Wis-based attack AND psionic powers)

Still, I don't recall seeing a Zen Archer variant anywhere else...