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caith
2009-09-14, 06:04 AM
It's been a while since I've dabbled in the arcane, so here goes. Does the 'enhancement bonus' from say a set of +2 leather armor stack with the +4 Armor bonus from a Mage Armor spell or Bracers of Armor?

So to clarify, I am wearing +2 leather armor, current AC is 14(+2 Armor from the Leather, +2 Enhancement).

I cast Mage Armor, granting +4 Armor bonus. Will my AC now become 16?

I dismiss the mage armor, and equip Bracers of Armor +4. Will my ac again become a 16?

It seems the enhancement bonus is qualified as a separate type of bonus from the Armor, it's just an Enhancement bonus, not an Enhancement[Armor] bonus. Am I correct in my thinking here?

Tyger
2009-09-14, 06:07 AM
Nope, the enhancement bonus is an armor bonus, and does not stack with other armor bonuses. Your +2 leather armor and Mage Armor spell nets you a total of +4 to your AC. You can read the rules on stacking HERE (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#stacking) on the d20 SRD.

kamikasei
2009-09-14, 06:10 AM
No, +x armor has an enhancement bonus to your armor bonus, not an enhancement bonus to your armor class. "Since enhancement bonuses to armor or natural armor effectively increase the armor or natural armor's bonus to AC..." to give a reference (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#enhancementBonus).

Curmudgeon
2009-09-14, 07:41 AM
This just came up in the "Simple Q&A" thread for D&D 3.5. Here's my answer:

A 82

While armor bonus and enhancement bonus are different bonus types, and therefore should usually stack, the specific wording of enhancement bonus makes this a little tricky.
Stacking

In most cases, modifiers to a given check or roll stack (combine for a cumulative effect) if they come from different sources and have different types (or no type at all) ...

Enhancement Bonus

An enhancement bonus represents an increase in the sturdiness and/or effectiveness of armor or natural armor, or the effectiveness of a weapon, or a general bonus to an ability score. Multiple enhancement bonuses on the same object (in the case of armor and weapons), creature (in the case of natural armor), or ability score do not stack. Only the highest enhancement bonus applies. Since enhancement bonuses to armor or natural armor effectively increase the armor or natural armor's bonus to AC, they don't apply against touch attacks. It's clear from the reference to "the armor" being enhanced that they didn't think about an armor bonus being separate from physical armor. The FAQ author treated "effectively" as if it were "literally" and extended the rules beyond what was written.
I have a bard in my game who has a bit of money to spend. She buys a set of bracers of armor +3 and a suit of +3 leather armor. If the bard wears both at the same time, the armor bonus from the bracers (+3) overrides the armor bonus from the leather armor (+1). Our question is, does the +3 enhancement bonus from the armor still get applied for a total of +6, is it subsumed by the magic of the bracers, or is it just ignored completely? Since the enhancement bonus and armor bonus are different types of bonuses, the bard thinks her total Armor Class bonus should be +6.

The magic leather armor’s +3 enhancement bonus applies to make the armor’s armor bonus bigger (+4 in this case). The example character uses only the larger armor bonus (+4) when wearing both the armor and the bracers.

The overlapping +3 bonus from the bracers is still there, however. (It is just irrelevant most of the time.) If something bypasses the +4 bonus from the magic armor, the bracers might still prove effective. For example, an incorporeal touch attack bypasses the whole armor bonus from the magic armor. Since the bracers provide a force effect, they protect the bard against the incorporeal touch attack. The example character still has a +3 armor bonus against the incorporeal touch attack. However, by RAW I'd have to agree with your player; armor bonuses and enhancement bonuses to armor don't have to be on the same piece of equipment to stack.
Armor Bonus

An armor bonus applies to Armor Class and is granted by armor or by a spell or magical effect that mimics armor. Armor bonuses stack with all other bonuses to Armor Class (even with natural armor bonuses) except other armor bonuses. There's no exception made for enhancement bonuses here. Armor bonuses and enhancement bonuses are different modifier types. An enhancement bonus to armor makes the total AC bigger, but remains independent of the armor bonus. While the FAQ author's answer is perhaps a reasonable approach for game balance, it doesn't accord with the written rules.


So no, it's not such a stupid question.

Eldariel
2009-09-14, 09:23 AM
The heart of the matter is, to what is "Armor Enhancement Bonus" applied. If it's applied to your armor class, it stacks with your highest source of Armor Bonus, while if it's applied to the Armor bonus, it does not stack.

Yora
2009-09-14, 10:33 AM
I always ruled that "armor enchantment" raises the armor bonus of a suit of armor, and the combined total of base armor bonus and armor enchantment bonus makes up the total armor bonus.